Mr. Philp just reminded me of something, indirectly - I haven't given you direct links to view the hotels where we'll be staying! This is tentative until SPI officially books the hotels (which, I think, is happening this week), but here are our hotels:
Rome - Hotel Diana
Siena - Hotel Sangallo Park
What Mr. Philp had mentioned was concerning hairdryers. In a future entry, I'll discuss how I discourage bringing ANY electronics on the trip (because of loss or theft), but, if you MUST bring something, make sure it has an official European plug with it (like Apple products).
These hotels are NICE hotels - they have the necessary amenities, too, like hair dryers and shower products. Helps reduce your packing, right? We'll eat dinner at our Rome hotel every night - they have a ROOF GARDEN with a really nice view. I know - I've stayed there with SPI groups in the past!
Hope you all have a Merry Christmas!
Laura :)
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Buon Natale!!!
Christmas in Italy!
BabboNatale (Father Christmas, literally) shows up for the Italians, too. But for Epiphany (January 6), the official 12th day of Christmas, Italian children celebrate the arrival of the good witch, La Befana. People will buy La Befana dolls, and, in Vatican City, a procession of people dressed in medieval garb process along the Via della Conciliazione, carrying symbolic gifts for the Pope who says a morning mass in the Basilica.
Some traditional Italian Christmas songs (and one American one in translation):
Gesu Bambino
O Bambino
Tu Scendi Dalle Stelle
Bianco Natale
And then there's the not so serious . . .
Dominick the Italian Christmas Donkey
Wishing you all hope, peace, love, and JOY of the season!
Laura : )
BabboNatale (Father Christmas, literally) shows up for the Italians, too. But for Epiphany (January 6), the official 12th day of Christmas, Italian children celebrate the arrival of the good witch, La Befana. People will buy La Befana dolls, and, in Vatican City, a procession of people dressed in medieval garb process along the Via della Conciliazione, carrying symbolic gifts for the Pope who says a morning mass in the Basilica.
Some traditional Italian Christmas songs (and one American one in translation):
Gesu Bambino
O Bambino
Tu Scendi Dalle Stelle
Bianco Natale
And then there's the not so serious . . .
Dominick the Italian Christmas Donkey
Wishing you all hope, peace, love, and JOY of the season!
Laura : )
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Learn some Italian
There are so many resources out there to help you learn some Italian, whether you think you can learn it on your own or you'd want to attend a university to study. At this post, I'm going to add random web resources, in case you're interested in exploring!
My Quia site: http://www.quia.com/pages/lhudec/spiitaly
Where I'll encourage you to go, if you want to study Italian: http://www.dantealighieri.com/
Web Blogs and resources (I claim no responsibility for material found on these):
http://italingua.ning.com/
My Quia site: http://www.quia.com/pages/lhudec/spiitaly
Where I'll encourage you to go, if you want to study Italian: http://www.dantealighieri.com/
Web Blogs and resources (I claim no responsibility for material found on these):
http://italingua.ning.com/
The Euro
I'm going to be brief and careful about what I say in this entry, lest anything should be skewed or misunderstood.
Greed is an ugly thing. We know this through what our domestic economy has suffered since 2008. However, greed is not just an American thing. If you have people in power, they're going to always want more if their focus is on earthly gain. Nothing fulfills like a relationship with Christ and God, right?
Every country entered into the EU for their own domestic reasons. Some countries hoped to boost their weaker (nay, more settled, perhaps?) economies, and some hoped it would reinforce their already-strong economies. Some entered because they had to. When the use of the Euro began, it was crazy-strong, and held that way for years. It started in 2002 at 1 Euro = 1 Dollar, and quickly surpassed the Dollar (or, in hindsight, is it that the dollar just weakened?). Some summers it got as high as 1 Euro = $1.73 . . .CRAZY and painful for the students who were on my study-abroad experiences!
Please don't maintain any concern about travel being affected by the "crisis" with the Euro right now. Our dollar has been in "crisis" for years (really, since 9/11), and we're not in revolt. (well, the situation is REVOLTING to me, but that's another topic.) Europeans maintain status quo even more than we do - we took the revolutionary nature from the French in the 1700's.
Not that I'm a gambler, but if I were going to buy some Euros before the trip, I'd wait a little more and see what happens in January/February. Right now, 1 Euro = $1.34. Keep an eye on it at www.xe.com!
Either way, the best way to get Euros while overseas is by using a Debit Card (check card) - rather than paying transaction fees for exchange (you can often lose as much as a QUARTER of what you're exchanging in this), you only pay the bank's withdrawal fee. It's how I've gotten money overseas for YEARS. Also, parents, you can keep an eye on the activity of the card while we're in Italy, and make sure your child is spending responsibly!
pax,
Laura :)
Greed is an ugly thing. We know this through what our domestic economy has suffered since 2008. However, greed is not just an American thing. If you have people in power, they're going to always want more if their focus is on earthly gain. Nothing fulfills like a relationship with Christ and God, right?
Every country entered into the EU for their own domestic reasons. Some countries hoped to boost their weaker (nay, more settled, perhaps?) economies, and some hoped it would reinforce their already-strong economies. Some entered because they had to. When the use of the Euro began, it was crazy-strong, and held that way for years. It started in 2002 at 1 Euro = 1 Dollar, and quickly surpassed the Dollar (or, in hindsight, is it that the dollar just weakened?). Some summers it got as high as 1 Euro = $1.73 . . .CRAZY and painful for the students who were on my study-abroad experiences!
Please don't maintain any concern about travel being affected by the "crisis" with the Euro right now. Our dollar has been in "crisis" for years (really, since 9/11), and we're not in revolt. (well, the situation is REVOLTING to me, but that's another topic.) Europeans maintain status quo even more than we do - we took the revolutionary nature from the French in the 1700's.
Not that I'm a gambler, but if I were going to buy some Euros before the trip, I'd wait a little more and see what happens in January/February. Right now, 1 Euro = $1.34. Keep an eye on it at www.xe.com!
Either way, the best way to get Euros while overseas is by using a Debit Card (check card) - rather than paying transaction fees for exchange (you can often lose as much as a QUARTER of what you're exchanging in this), you only pay the bank's withdrawal fee. It's how I've gotten money overseas for YEARS. Also, parents, you can keep an eye on the activity of the card while we're in Italy, and make sure your child is spending responsibly!
pax,
Laura :)
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