Redipuglia- WWI

First let me apologize for having two post in two days. But today my family took me to the largest WWI monument in Italy, and I had to share my experience.

Redipuglia is dedicated to the memory of over 100,000 Italian soldiers, who died in the First World War. There are 22 steps that contain 39,857 identified soldiers; in the largest step, in two mass graves on both sides of the Votive Chapel, lies the remains of 60,330 fallen unknown soldiers.  It is the largest war monument in Italy and one of the largest in the world. It opened in 1938. Surrounding the monument are a few open air museums and trenches. The trenches were facing the Austrian border. These pictures do not do this monument justice. If you ever find yourselves in Italy, I recommend going to Redipuglia. (Its a must for me!)

My host family has family buried here

Votive Chapel

One of the unknown tombs

An entrance to the trench

 

 

 

 

 

After we left Redipuglia, we went to Groizia. Groizia is right on the border with Slovenia, so for lunch we went to a local restaurant that served Slovenia food... IT WAS SO GOOD!!!!!! Then we went to the "Castello di Groizia". The view was breath taking. You could see for miles in every direction! I'm so thankful that my host family gave me this amazing experience today!

 





 

With out rotary or my host family I wouldn't have had the opportunity to see this amazing monument, and city. Thank you!!

This Week

Well like I said in an older post, you won't always be doing fun things. Some days you must study! This week my class had 3 different test. Thankfully, I only took one of those test.

The test I took was a chemistry one, and thanks to my amazing chemistry teacher Mrs.Simmons, I passed with a 6. (The schools here grade 1-10, so a six is sufficient, but for me not understanding anything in class, a 6 is great!) 

Most of my classes are getting better, and I'm kind of understanding what's going on, except in math! In case you don't know, I'm HORRIBLE, let me repeat HORRIBLE at math! My math teacher is fantastic and tries her hardest to help me understand, but I'm always lost.

Honestly what is this?

At least I try!

In my English class, the students learn British English. I would like to thank Mr. Corley for what he taught me last year. Its been extremely helpful! Especially the Canterbury Tales part!
Thank you Mr. Corley!

Now onto more interesting topics...

My classes mates are slowly opening up to me. They love it when I speak Italian and always say "bravo" or "good!" which makes me feel better about speaking it.

 

Most days after school I go into town and explore. In my town there is Castle that over looks the whole city... that is my favorite place. I literally spend hours up there! Its got quite a climb to get to it, buts its worth every step!

There's more after these!

 

 

 



My perch! <3

And last but most definitely not least, is Juppi! He owns a pizzeria  (which I go to almost everyday) and is an amazing person! He is always smiling and laughing! He has some of the best waiters too. They are always very welcoming, and I always look forward to going. Also he makes the best pizza I've ever had! I'm not even going to try and explain it, because I won't be able too!

Roast beef and French Fries is another one
of my favorite dishes.

The famous Juppi

Oh Mio Dio

Oh I have a story for you!

This weekend was our Rotary weekend in Bassano del Grappa. For those of you who don't know what is significant about this place, this is were during WWI the Italians had trenches, and they were fighting against Austria. The trenches had been covered by shrubbery and trees for years, but now thanks to the work of one man (I feel really bad I forgot his name!) they are being restored. They are amazing. I can't wrap my head around the fact that they not only lived in these tiny trenches, but they ran through them! I could hardly walk through them.
Also Bassano del Grappa is where Ernest Hemingway got his idea for his book Farewell to Arms.



A little fact about Hemingway, he loved hunting. ( I didn't know that!)

GUYS I met Ernest Hemingway!!!

We came out of the trenches to this Gorgeous view!!!! You could see for miles! We stayed in a house with bunk beds. It was a lot of fun. I think my favorite part was when we had a bonfire! We sang songs, talked about our feelings, told scary stories, laughed, and froze our butts off! ( we were at 1000m elevation, so it was FREEZING at night!)

 

 

Okay, now comes the " Oh Mio Dio" part:

 Well on Sunday we were supposed to leave to go home at 5:25... well the train drivers decided they weren't going to work, and go on strike. So here is my crazy, long, and scary train ride tale...

Okay so we had to take a bus from Bassano to Padova. When we got to Padova, the trains never showed up, so we had to wait an hour for a train to come. Once we got our train to VM, the train we were supposed to take home, wouldn't open its doors, so we were forced to wait yet again for another train. Once the other one showed up we had a two hour ride home on a JAM packed, hot, and smelly train. It was not fun, but we made it! When I arrived in Udine it was 10:30, so I had to take taxi (for the first time) home. Well the taxi driver didn't know where he was going so we had to turn around 3 times, and he still charged me $30 ! But I finally made it home at 11:02!

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 


 












I thought that would be the end of my crazy public transportation experiences... I was wrong!
Today I had to take the bus home after school. Well I got on the wrong bus and ended up in
Grado, an hour and half away from home. There I had to wait 2 hours for a bus to take me back to Udine. Then once I got to Udine I had to wait 30 minutes for my bus to Pagnacco, but once again I made it home!

at least I had a nice view

Double-Decker view

 

 

Grado is a beautiful island

So if you have transportation issues, just stop, take a breathe, and ask for help. I meet this bus driver who spoke English almost perfectly, and he was so helpful! He waited to make sure I got on the right bus before he left. I'm forever grateful to him!

 

 

 

I say it a lot, but I will never be able to say it enough... Thank You Rotary! You have given me a different perspective of the world!

 

 

 

(((Sorry about the photos in the post, my tablet was acting up)))