Italy Study Tour

A group of PCW and CBC St Kilda students and staff have spent the past couple of weeks on an Italy study tour, immersing themselves in the language, culture and school life of Italia.  The group arrived home safely just before midnight on Wednesday, 11 December - benvenuto a casa (welcome home)!  In addition to lifelong memories that they have no doubt made, we are sure that this experience will greatly assist them in their language studies, not to mention the life skills gained by travelling to a foreign country.

Student Reflections

We arrived in Rome on a Saturday afternoon and took a bus from the airport to the hotel.  The next day, we explored the city on the hop-on, hop-off bus and visited the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain, which even having seeing them before, blew my mind again.  We later went to an exhibition on some of the ancient ruins in the city which was very educational.  On the Monday we met up with our tour guide, who called herself ‘Mama Marissa,’ and she gave us a guided tour of the Roman Forums and the Colosseum, which were so much bigger than I remember and filled with so much history that we could not learn it all.  We also went to the Musei Capitoline with Mama. 

The next day, we spent the morning with Mama again at the Vatican, which was incredible with the architecture and incredible paintings. After lunch, we walked down to the Caffè del Pincio and spent some time watching the view and hanging out.  Afterwards we got some more free time down at the del Corso and then went out for a late dinner.  Overall, Rome was a gorgeous city filled with so much history and incredible sights to see.  It felt like every time you turned a corner there were more ancient ruins waiting for you!

India Spragg-Harris

Year 11, Loyola

We arrived in Florence excited for the stay ahead. The next day we began classes at the ABC school in the city - some enjoyed a walk around Florence drawing the ponte vecchio and santa croce, the next few days we drew portraits and some hands. We learnt the art of beginning with a quick sketch and then focusing on details later, as well as finding our own art style.  Some others enjoyed language classes with Silvia and played games to improve their existing language skills or learn some entirely new words that they were able to use around Florence and in conversation. 

As well as the classes we have enjoyed beautiful walks around the city of Florence and seen some incredible art. We were able to enjoy a game of Italian calcio (soccer).  We all cheered on Fiorentina with passion but sadly they lost to Lecce😔. We were all still able to go and get some merchandise afterwards. I enjoyed the football a lot more than expected. 

My favourite part has been becoming locals of Florence when we were able to make our own way to school.  Becoming immersed in Florence culture has been an unforgettable experience.

Bridget Saundry

Year 11, Kostka