A TRIP TO FLORENCE// UN VIAJE A FLORENCIA

                                 CIAO A TUTTI!!!!

Voglio salutarvi in italiano prima da quando il mio viaggio Erasmus è stato a Firenze, nel Iuglio del 2017.

Sono state due meravigliose settimane dal 10 al 21 Iuglio che non dimenticherò mai!!

LA TOSCANA/ TUSCANY

Florence is a city situated in the north of Italy, in the Toscana region. It has over 378236 inhabitants. Romans called it Fiorentina, which means bloom in latin. It is widely known for its art and architecture. Renaissance was born here with artists such as Leonardo Da Vinci, Miguel Ángel, Brunelleschi, Alberti, Dante, Boccaccio, Maquiavelo, etc. 

                                            TOP ATTRACTIONS

Ponte Vecchio: It's thought that the Romans built this bridge that crosses the Arno river. There is a modern tradition for lovers to lock a padlock onto the bridge and throw the key into the water, to symbolize their eternal love. This tradition is called "love locks" and is practised in several countries on famous bridges, not only Italy. Of course, I locked my own padlock and I threw the key to the water. Unfortunately, policemen usually get rid of these padlocks as people from Florence do not like this tradition due to the massive tourists that practise this. So, my padlock disappeared in two days!!

Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral: This cathedral in Piazza Duomo is an example of the magnifience of the Renaissance designed by Filippo Brunelleschi. It was built in the 7th century, although the cathedral was begun at the end of the 13th century by Arnolfo di Cambio and the dome was added in the 15th century by Brunelleschi. Can you imagine it took two centuries for the cathedral to be completely finished? It's worthy to visit the cathedral and don't forget to climb up the very top of the cupola! The views are breathtaking!

Uffizi Gallery: One of the world's top art museums, the Uffizi Gallery has the most important works of the Renaissance, including works by Leonardo Da Vinci, Botticelli and Michelangelo and a large collection of Greek and Roman sculptures. 

The Accademia Gallery: The Accademia has Michelangelo's David, the most famous sculpture in the world. 

Other interesting places to visit: Santa Maria Novella Church, Piazza della Signoria, Piazzale Michelangelo, Piazza Santo Spirito, and many more!!

THE COURSE: " BEHAVIOUR AND CONFLICTS: NEW METHODOLOGIES , MOTIVATION AND COOPERATION STRATEGIES".

This two-week course was aimed to teachers who often have motivation problems in their classrooms. For this reason, teachers from all over Europe came to Florence to do this course and learn new strategies to motivate students, especially those in risk of a social exclusion.

One of the techniques that our teacher taught us was mindfulness, which means a brain-training technique to get a calmed atmosphere in class.

Antibullying plans were also a need among the teachers of the course. Techniques like the KIVA method or mediation are highly used in some European high schools.

Furthermore, we discussed the main problems thay we may find inside the class: what happens when a student finishes homework earlier than the rest, students hurting each other and making laugh, students correcting all the time the teachers, etc. 

All in all, the course was very useful for me and I will use most of the things learnt in it to improve my lessons and the relationship among students. 

My Spanish mates from the Canary Islands and Ibi ( Alicante).

UNFORGETTABLE MEMORIES...

The best of my afternoons was meeting my friends, getting lost in those awesome narrow streets in Florence and having a good white wine together while listening to classical music in the streets!! So colourful!

Tourists can climb to the top of the city and witness the beautiful views from it. There were too many people in fact, but worthy though!

I love Italian pasta!!! It was delicious and tasting its gastronomy was a great experience!

Touring the Tuscany with all my mates from the course. We spent a wonderful day together!

Caroline, my German room mate, and I being invited by some nice pizza men.

I also visited Pisa. I had to own a funny pic to remember that moment for good!

Art in Florence is everywhere, as you can appreciate.

My trip was full of magical moments. This was one of them!

No, it's not a fake decoration on a theatre stage, it's FLORENCE at night!

Legend says if you put a coin inside the pig's mouth and it falls inside the hole, you will be very lucky all your life. I got it in my second try! hahaha!

THE END!