Friday May30th

Vittoria mangia I monumenti (Victoria eats monuments).

After our first night at the Hotel Flora we began one of two days of language lessons at Monash University. It was raining, and the idea of over six hours of Italian was not too appealing, however, once we started the lessons it become clear that it would be enjoyable and beneficial to out Italian studies. From the street, the university looked more like a small apartment, however, inside it was very modern and spacious. After a short tour, we were divided into two groups for the day depending on which level we of Italian we are studying. One of the first activities assigned involved venturing out to interrogate the Prato public with some questions that our professors had helped us create. We met some interesting people, some were co-operative, the majority were not. Two of our victims were Angelo, a nineteen year old photographer who enjoys McDonalds and Luca a 22 year old man studying, working and living in Prato.

At around 1 had lunch and within our allocated hour set out to do some shopping but soon realised that Italians close their shops for lunch and go home. We continued with some language activities after lunch, one of which involved Victoria stating the day’s headliner, much to our amusement, and then also watching an Italian film, about which we answered some questions. 5.30 came along more quickly than we expected and after receiving information about day 8 we said our goodbyes and thank yous.

Since we had yet had time to explore the area of Prato around our hotel the teachers allowed us some time to check out the shops before freshening up for dinner. By then it was raining heavily and the umbrella street sellers seemed to be doing a roaring trade. We decided to return to have dinner at the same place as day 6 and were delighted with our meals yet again. Pizza, pasta, risotto and salad were some of the meals we enjoyed along with drinks such as coke, sprite, frappes and our old favourite water. Back at the hotel after dinner everyone was feeing pretty tired and most retired to their rooms to watch the free movies offered for the VCRs (yes they still do exist).

Buona notte from Eliza, Vicki & Paige.