Orchestra Performance, Class Visits to Remida and Tappo di Sughero, Family Time, and Florence: Week 13

This week, I had the absolute pleasure of watching the Camerata Salzburg Orchestra perform with Alessandro Taverna, an Italian pianist, in the Pavarotti-Freni Theater, which is a beautiful theater in my town!

The theater was gorgeous. There are no other words to describe it.

The performance was magnificent. As someone who played the violin for 8 years - not very well, might I add - I genuinely appreciated the immense talent that was on the stage. I could not sit still throughout the performance; I had to move with the music, so I would sway back and forth in my seat or stand up and move my body to the rhythms. Now, I will make sure to see local orchestra performances back in America because I really enjoyed it!

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As part of my Early Childhood Education course, I had a class visit to Remida, which is a "creative recycling center" in Reggio Emilia. Essentially, companies will donate items they are throwing away to Remida and then local teachers will come to Remida to get some of these items for their classrooms and lessons. Remida also hosts workshops and research labs that are designed to educate individuals and improve the Reggio Emilia approach to education.

This is an example of some recycled materials that they offer to teachers. This is the material that the inside of bags are lined with.

Here are some other recycled materials that are offered to teachers.

This is an example of how flexible the Reggio Emilia approach to education is! In this picture, a book was transformed into a pot for a plant, which represents the value of flexibility and shows that materials can have multiple ways of being used!

Another way that Remida models flexibility is by using colors to name the various rooms inside of the building; this allows the rooms to be fluid based on the needs of the people using them.

This display of books teaches children that items can be organized based on their physical properties (though you should never judge a book by its cover). I really enjoyed getting to visit Remida and am grateful for the work that they do in the community and in education!

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I had another class visit this week with my Child Development and Neurodiversity and Inclusion courses, as we visited the Tappo di Sughero, which is a center for neurodivergent children to receive neurodiveristy-affirimig care and therapy.

As part of the visit, we got to play! I actually had a lot of fun. The designers of this building wanted this center to be a place that children enjoy coming to and feel safe at, so this is the first thing you see when you walk through the doors. Some of the therapy is done in this room as well. I felt like a kid again.

We played a game in which there were 2 teams that each had to build a "fort" to protect their "queen." The goal of the game was to capture the other "queen" and get them to touch your "fort." As you can see, I was Zoe's "protector," and through I tried with all my might to protect her, I failed...lol! Apart from having a lot of fun in this game, I learned that children that struggle with violence may play this game to learn boundaries regarding physical play and what is appropriate in these situations. Since I want to be a therapist for part of my career, I found this visit really interesting. Plus, who doesn't want to play for class credit?

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This week, my family came to Italy to visit me! I am so happy that I got to see them all because I missed them a lot.

This is my family on the plane coming to see me!

My family spent a couple of nights in Reggio Emilia, so I was able to show them around my town and take them to all my spots.

The Christmas lights in Reggio Emilia turned on the night my family arrived! It was so nice.

While they were here, we visited Galleria Parmeggiani, which is a museum and art gallery in Reggio Emilia that I didn't even know about.

These are displays of womens' and mens' clothing dating back to the 17th - 19th centuries.

This is a collection of knightly armor from the Middle Ages. Some of these were original and others were copies, but, nonetheless, it was so cool to see!

Before we left Reggio Emilia, we came to my apartment and had Parmigiano Reggiano with salami and prosciutto for dinner.

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I went to Florence, Italy with my family last weekend and had an amazing time!

This is my family on the bus to the AV station.

This is my siblings and I waiting for our train. They really enjoyed getting to ride on one of the fast trains.

When we arrived, we had the MOST delicious sandwiches.

The Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore took 146 years to build; construction started in 1296 and didn't finish until 1436.

It is beautiful from the inside and outside.

We climbed the dome, which had 463 steps.

We got a view of the inside of the dome, which was absolutely beautiful.

The views were worth the climb! It was beautiful.

We could also see Giotto’s Bell Tower...

...which we also climbed. It had 414 steps.

This is the "Apostolica" bell and was cast in 1401.

This was the top of the tower.

I was able to get a good view of the dome. As soon as I took this picture, I started retreating because I am scared of heights lol.

We also shopped at the Piazza Santa Croce Christmas Market.

My mom found a stand selling Christmas ornaments that were made in the Czech Republic. She was able to speak in Czech to the workers and it was cool to watch.

I found poppyseed strudel...and of course had to get some.

I am not the only one in my family obsessed with tea. This is my mom smelling various tea flavors at the market.

I couldn't leave Florence without getting a leather wallet. Before going to Florence, I knew I wanted to buy myself a new wallet with my initials engraved on it. This is the man doing the engraving on my wallet.

We also saw Michelangelo’s sculpture of David, which was made in 1504. It was so cool to see in person!

These are other ancient sculptures in the Galleria dell’Accademia, the museum where David is housed.

We also visited the Baptistery of San Giovanni, which was constructed in the 11th - 12th centuries.

Additionally, we explored the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo. Pictured above are pieces from a door of the Cathedral and date back to 1404.

These are historic building tools and instruments from the 15th century that aided in the construction of the duomo.

This is a figure of King Solomon that used to be a part of the cathedral and dates back to 1337 - 1341.

This is a figure of Mary that used to be a part of the cathedral and dates back to the second quarter of the 14th century.

This scene, "God Creating Adam," used to be a part of the cathedral and dates back to 1334 - 1343.

This scene, "God Creating Eve," used to be a part of the cathedral and dates back to 1334 - 1343.

This scene, "Plato and Aristotle: Dialect," used to be a part of the cathedral and dates back to 1437 - 1439.

We also explored the Officina Profumo‑Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella, which is considered to be the first pharmacy established and dates back to 1221. It was so pretty!

Now, they sell perfume.

We walked along Ponte Vecchio, which was picturesque.

We took a seat in the Giunti Odeon, which is a book store with a cinema inside of it.

We admired the beauty of Florence from Piazzale Michelangelo. It was SO beautiful.

I also got to see Ivliani, one of my close friends from middle school! We met when I was 12 and have remained good friends since then. She is studying abroad in Florence this semester and it was great to see her!