July 2009

Well, the blog is finally typed up from my meticulous journaling during the trip. Now that I typed this with plenty of time to focus on it, it has grown very detailed, but that is how our trip was – intense, full, and informative.

A few of the posts were originally written and posted on the specified dates, the majority of them were written very recently (July!). I’ll note the originals.

I completely understand that few of you will read every word I write here, but glance through the photos and know that if you want more back story and information than can be seen or read in the caption, it is there for you in the text! And if you still want more about a particularly interesting-sounding visit or meeting, leave a comment and I'll answer or drop me an e-mail!

I hope you enjoy and maybe get some ideas for your own travels! I certainly enjoyed it, as tired as I became at times, and appreciate the amazing opportunities for growth, learning, and connection this Group Study Exchange to Northwest Italy provided.

Grazie per tutti!

-Katherine, GSE Team Member

SATURDAY, MAY 9, 2009 (AN ORIGINAL POST!)

Welcome to our travel blog!

Hello! Welcome to District 5970's Group Study Exchange (GSE) blog!

We depart for District 2030 in Northeastern Italy today!

I wanted to have an intro here before we get on the road so you'd know you are in the right spot when you stop by.

I do not know how often I’ll be able to update, but I'll do my best so you can find out what we've been up to.

One week ago our journey really began with a presentation at District 5970's District Conference in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.We gave our presentation on Iowa in Italian both to practice and to challenge the local Rotarians, who probably knew most of the information we shared anyway! It went very well. We also had the opportunity to talk with the GSE team from District 2030. They translated parts of our itinerary for us and offered wonderful advice for our upcoming journey. We were able to see their presentation and are simply stunned by the amazing things we will be seeing shortly.

That is all for now! I must finish preparing to leave in . . . less than 3 hours!

Arrivederci!
-Katherine

Ruth at Hickory Hills, where we all met for the first time and began preparations.

Luca and Marco, team members from Italy, with Kelli and Stefano, the Italian team leader, at the District 5970 Conference.

Paula, Italian team member, and Ruth, our team leader, at the District 5970 Conference.

Saturday/Sunday, May 9/10 - Flights and the first evening

Tuesday, May 12, 2009 (an original post!)
Siamo Arrivato

We are here! It is the end of the second full day.This is not the only blog we have going and as the others have computers along they have already been updating theirs. I'll link to them in posts so you can follow us there too, if you are interested.

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Saturday/Sunday, May 9/10 - Flights and the first evening

Our flights stayed on time and went well, although none of us really slept. The layovers in Minneapolis and Amsterdam were long, as expected, but not bad. We had complete individual control of movie viewing on the long flight and many recent Oscar nominated films and blockbusters to choose from. The final flight had unexpected, wonderful hospitality with good sandwiches and beverages.

The team, ready to go, in the Waterloo airport.

Moonshine out the window during the transatlantic flight.

Wingtip of the plane.

We had a welcoming committee (Fabio and Giuseppe, the Rotarians in charge of our visit for the district) at the airport and got in our bus (our transportation for the month) to travel from Milano to Aosta, where we are now.

Fabio and Gianni load the bus.

Fields and mountains on the road from Milano to Aosta.

Layers of mountains somewhere around the Valle d'Aosta.

A restored, private castle overlooking the Valle d'Aosta (this photo wasn't actually taken on that first drive, but here it fits!).

We had a brief breather upon arrival at the hotel and then went to dinner at a nearby restaurant with Serge, our Aosta coordinator, and Gianni. We are in the old city part of Aosta, within blocks of Roman walls, arches, and other well-preserved ruins. The dinner (and all of our meals so far) was a proper feast! (I think others have covered some of our food in our blogs, so I won't right now).

A double room, Aosta style. (it was really two full rooms, complete with their own bathrooms, with only one entrance and separated by thick curtains...as you can see here!).

Serge explains the layout.

Jim, Gianni, and Serge. The men's side of our first dinner table.

Serge and Ruth.

Our first Italian meal!

A courtyard entryway at night.

Aosta's city square at night. (around the corner from our hotel!)

Monday, May 11 - Cogne and Attempt at Forte di Bard

After a morning informational meeting with Serge, Charrère, Fabio, and Giuseppe, we went to Forte di Bard, which was unfortunately and unexpectedly closed. It is still impressive from the outside though. We may go back yet this week. It overlooks Valle d'Aosta and protected and charged Crusaders traveling through the valley.A fantastic lunch was followed by a drive up to Cogne, a high Alpine village by Gran Paradiso National Park.

Giuseppe, Fabio, and Gianni ready to Forte di Bard (unaware it is closed!).

The team in front of Forte di Bard. We are sporting our lovely Rotary club of Aosta wooden choker things.

Fabio hangs out while we snap many pictures of Forte di Bard...sorry I only showed you the one. If you really want more let me know and I can send you 50 different perspectives on it taken over the course of 5 days with 5 cameras!

Our first Italian lunch. DELICIOUS!

A Carabinieri car (we met the head Carabinieri three times in our stay in Aosta - on the acqueduct, in Cogne with the mayor, and in an Aosta restaurant!). This photo was taken at some point in Aosta, probably not this day.

We stopped at a Roman aqueduct, met the Mayor of Cogne and the head Carabinieri (high level police) for the Valle d'Aosta, visited museum displays in the Hotel Bellevue, watched/participated in a rehearsal of folk music and dance by local children, saw ibex in the wild, and walked up to a waterfall, the path to which had been recently covered by an avalanche. It was a busy, amazing day!

Ruth in front of some beautiful mountains.

A Roman acqueduct.

On top of the acqueduct.

Ruth, Jim and Kelli inside the acqueduct.

An avalanche/mudslide near Cogne.

Another avalanche near Cogne. (we saw many, luckily they had all stopped moving when we were there).

Jim with the Mayor of Cogne, in the beautiful valley the Mayor oversees.

Ruth with Alex and Serge (our Cogne hosts) talking to the Carabinieri.

The team poses in the valley.

Stephanie and Serge in Cogne.

Laura, the proprietess of the Hotel Bellevue.

Ruth poses with the Hotel Bellevue's cool car.

Kelli and Jim join the folk dancers in a promenade.

Swing your partner!

Me on an avalanche over the path to the waterfall behind me.

Kelli, me, and Ruth by a stream.

View down the valley.

Tuesday, May 12 - Courmayeur

Today we went up to Courmayeur by Mount Blanc. It was a rainy, cloudy day and we never saw more than some of the base of Mount Blanc, but the area was still amazing.

Alpine architecture in Courmayeur.

We toured the Grivel factory/museum of the history and art of crampons and mountain climbing equipment. We walked around town with wonderful hosts from the Rotary club and had a personal tour of the Alpine Climbing Society museum of Courmayeur. A wonderful dinner finished off the evening.

I hope I can be more informative in future posts, but I'll need to type when I'm not online for that (prepare ahead of time). In the meantime check out Kelli's blog (written specifically for her students – lower-elementary level) at: http://teacherweb.com/IA/MISD/MrsStoa/apt2.stm

To fill in a bit about Courmayeur (the rest of this entry being written in July!): After the Grivel tour we went on an excursion up into a valley. Giorgio, one of our hosts, had been cross-country skiing there only 2 weeks before, but the snow was only on the mountain slopes by the time we were there. Gabriella and Giovanni, wife and husband, were with us throughout the day. Giovanni presented us with crocus, the first flower of spring, in the valley. Wonderful gift!

Laura, our Grivel guide, in the climbing area.

Jim with Alpine climbing advertisements.

Jim receives a new award-winning shovel.

Stephanie and Ruth in front of a closed Gelateria...the weather wasn't quite right for one anyways.

We strolled through town, eating a many course meal at a restaurant of everything from pizza (with capers & anchovies), salamis, and sliced octopus with potatoes. Afterwards we toured the town (the exteriors) circling through alleyways, streets, and stairs. Shops were closed as it was the off season, but started opening a bit later in the day for the locals. I purchased Harry Potter #1 in Italian at a stop, and lost the group when I came out (yes, they knew I had stopped in the store!)

Ruth finds herself a mountain man.

Eating lunch with some Courmayeur Rotarians.

Giorgio keeps us laughing.

Banner exchange with Giorgio.

Drinking the fresh mountain spring water.

A dog checks us out through its balcony peep-hole.

Gabriella's shop...delicious!

Turns out they assumed I knew where the Alpine museum was (as it was across a square near the bookstore) so didn’t wait outside for me. I eventually joined them (Giovanni found me wandering and worried after a while) and learned about climbers from Courmayeur and their world climbs and climbing innovations, plus seeing a bizarre rock that looked like soft fur (we couldn’t touch it, but our guide assured us it was hard as rock!)

The Alpine Guide museum.

A relief of Courmayeur and Mount Blanc, although we never saw more than the lowest slopes of Mount Blanc through the clouds.

Ruth and Giovanni listen to the tour guide.

Giorgio points some things out to Jim.

Looking out over Courmayeur.

We had some time to wander in the evening and I wandered some shopping areas and Roman remains. Dinner was back in Aosta with Giorgio, Sergio, friends, and family. Our Carabinieri friend was dining there as well. A wonderful evening!

An ancient archway in Aosta.

An accordian sculpture in Aosta - a city known for wood carving.

An ivy-covered statue.

Jim tries a fish.

This is by far my favorite picture of food. Yes, I ate a couple of them (and they were tasty!).

The team, Giorgio & his wife, Sergio & his wife, and Gianni with our new Carabinieri friend.

Giorgio and Sergio serenede us.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 2009 - A Università

Steph and I (Katherine) are at the Università della Valle d'Aosta. We have had a wonderful guide/informant at the university (he is currently giving an exam) and attended a French lecture on didactics. We will soon go upstairs to see the other campus buildings.

Jim and Kelli are at an elementary school while Serge and Ruth wander around town somewhere. We have a beautiful afternoon to look forward to, seeing a castle and possibly a lake in the area.

To cover food in more detail: we have been eating everything under the sun. Wild boar, deer, duck, fondue, octopus, squid, mussels, clams, shrimp, pasta (of course!), various fish, and fantastic desserts. Of course each meal is accompanied by wine. We have sampled various types from the Valle d'Aosta and yesterday one from the Amalfi coast. We are all going to need new clothes by the end of the trip as we cannot figure out how we won't gain weight!Arrivederci!

Wednesday, May 13 – Around Valle d’Aosta

(written: Monday, May 18, 2009)

Buona sera!

We are in Torino. We will be here all week (our longest stop) as we visit Torino, surrounding towns, and attend the district conference this coming weekend. Yesterday was our first free day. Saturday evening was free as well, it was a nice break. I'd better go check where I left off before continuing!

For now I'm just going to recount our days, but I promise to return within the next couple of days and add photos and some other links before continuing the recap!

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Wednesday, May 13 – Around Valle d’Aosta
We split up in the morning, Kelli and Jim to the Elementary School San Francesco and Stephanie and I to the Università della Valle d'Aosta (where I posted from briefly!) We did not see the other campus buildings (as I previously mentioned) but sat in on a lecture on French didactics (that was not like it might sound - we both know some French and didactics are very related to my field of study - teaching language, so it was very interesting).

Me in a Università d'Aosta office with our guide, Alessandro.

Lunch was at the hotel. There was then some time free before our afternoon tours. I set out for the Roman theatre (which, since noticing it on a postcard, I had discovered was meer blocks from our hotel).

Me in the Roman theatre.

A side view of the Roman theatre from a side street.

In the afternoon we set off with Sergio, the president of the Courmayeur club, and his son Lorenzo, 15, to see various sites around the valley. We started at the hunting lodge of the last kings of Italy. It was spectacular in a disturbing, gut-wrenching way for me. The "hunter" king came to the valley to do what he was nicknamed for - hunt anything and everything. He pretty much singlehandedly wiped out various animal populations in the Valle d'Aosta. The animals have since returned from other parts of the Alps (brought back in some cases), but the relics of his destruction remain on display in the lodge. The long, curved horns of the animals are used like crown molding in one room, perfectly and intricately planned and displayed. In another room, mounted skulls of the animals with the horns attached make up the architectural details of the walls. Both rooms are impeccably designed, but they were very disturbing to me. The rest of the castle was extremely interesting, with a mix of older and modern art and furnishings (as the last king didn't leave until shortly after WWII).

Castello Reale di Sarre overlooking the river of the Valle d'Aosta.

Me near Lorenzo and Sergio.

Stephanie and Jim by the outside castle wall.

The courtyard below the lodge.

We then went on to a much older castle. Castello Fènis (the link is in Italian, but google or something should be able to translate for you!) This was the type of castle you picture when the word 'castle' is said (vs. the king's hunting lodge castle). There were multiple layers of stone walls protecting it, all containing windows to shoot bows and arrows from. The interior courtyard is breathtaking - with old, original frescos including depictions of St. George and the Dragon and St. Christopher. The furniture is massive and old, not original to that castle, but authentic from the time period and chosen to match an inventory they have of the castle's contents from around 1500. There is a HUGE fireplace and chimney in one kitchen that was used for smoking meat. You can still smell it from all those years ago.

Sergio explains things while we wait for our castle tour time.

Gianni and Ruth listen in.

Castello Fenis.

Lorenzo and Jim outside the walls.

Jim gets locked up.

A slot for arrows.

On the way back to Aosta we "broke into" a wonderful little church (although not actually locked up, the latch was very difficult to use, Stephanie figured it out, and we surprised the priest who was inside, who then turned on the lights for us). Beautiful old frescos again. Sergio and Lorenzo were wonderful, informative hosts for the afternoon, with patience for us and much knowledge about the history of the area.

Some of the group in front of the church in the Fenis area.

We then returned to the hotel to prepare for our first official Rotary Club meeting and presentation. We had a wonderful meal and conversations with Charrère, the Aosta club president, his wife, Giorgio, and Serge. The presentation went wonderfully, especially with how nervous we all were (I know I was shaking!) giving our first presentation in Italian in Italy for Italians. Thank you to the Aosta Club for a fantastic evening and stay!

Drinks after the Rotary meeting and presentation. (I think we were all too nervous and focused to remember to take photos at that first meeting/presentation! Sorry!)