Classes Begin

Today we had our first day of class. We started the day by hitting up Billa once again to get dinner and then returned for a quick lunch before our Italian literature class was to begin at 2. We all met in the library which overlooks the grand canal on the first floor of Casa Artom and began our two hour class discussing Lampedusa's the Leopard. Following class we had a short break before we met all together again with Laura and Roberta, the Lubins, and Kim to discuss the past couple of walking tours we had taken through the city and had a quiz over our student handbook. The prize was a 20 euro that I won with two other students and we have decided on taking the group out for pizza tomorrow after we finish our second class/first week of school in Venezia! Also during our weekly meeting we were debriefed on our upcoming overnight stay in Verona this coming Friday where the whole group will be taking the train in the city to see Bizet's Carmen in the Roman amphitheater. We plan to also get a city pass which will take us to Juliet's house and the various museums throughout Verona on Saturday after we spend the night at a local B&B. Following the meeting we met again in the parlor to watch the first half of the Italian film, none other than the Leopard staring Burt Lancaster. A lengthy film of 205 minutes, at about 8 pm we paused and started the complex task of shifting turns on taking dinner in the kitchen upstairs. Four of us grilled chicken breasts to create a pasta which was complimented with artichokes prepared with olive oil, certainly the highlight of the meal! As we dined rather late tonight instead of eating on the terrace we opted for the inside dining room and we were able to overhear our neighbors at the Guggenheim museum toasting to some visiting architect during a function that was held on their roof maybe 20 feet away. After dinner we ended up walking around Santa Margherita before we ended the night with some sorbetto and turned in to blog, of course!