This past Friday I had the opportunity to attend a field trip with Liceo Bellini. We were visiting the historic synagogue at a nearby town, Vercelli. Thankfully, I had already studied Jewish history and religion so I was able to follow along decently well.
At one point in our visit however, I thought I misunderstood our guide because I thought he said that he was not Jewish yet he know everything and spoke and read Hebrew like a pro. Well, turns out I was right! He’s an Italian Catholic that just happens to love Jewish culture. Even the Jewish tour guides in Italy are catholic…
On Saturday, I had the opportunity to attend a bus trip with a bunch of retired Novara teachers; needless to say I was the youngest in the group. It was a great time! We met the bus at 7:15 am and arrived in Trento (Trent in English) 3-ish hours later for a museum tour. We had a guided tour of a medieval/Renaissance exhibit, Antonello da Messina, and a modern/contemporary one, This Other Portrait. Thankfully, I studied lots of art also and I was able to follow along. Surprisingly, I preferred the contemporary exhibit – I think I’ve seen too much “old” art while in Italy and I needed a change. I stayed in the museum an extra hour to see the permanent exhibit with two travel companions.
After the Trento museum, we bussed off to a town on Lake Garda for a super super late lunch – I was starving and had already eaten all my snacks! The town was very picturesque and we had a nice walk on the boardwalk. We then got back on the bus and arrived in Novara around 8:30 pm.
Needless to say, I spend Sunday in my bathrobe and slippers.
JMO
