My Middle School Field Trip (2005)
Near the end of my third and last year of Middle School, in March 2005 (I was 13 years old), our teachers organized the last-year-field trip on mainland Italy. A week of cultural learning in the center of Italy with 2 of my professors and my classmates. We went by “school bus” (in Italy, they’re just normal busses rented by schools) on the ferry from Cagliari to Civitavecchia, on the west coast (after 1 hour of bus from Oristano to Cagliari).
The professors organized us (for the rooms) in same-sex groups of 4 people. We spent a night on the ferry, and I didn’t get seasick: 1 - the sea was calm; 2 - I used a pair of special soft bracelets with a solid lump that you have to press on your wrist if you’re starting to feel sick. Since I was in the most chaotic class of our school (because of my classmates, not me), the professors put duct tape seals on the doors, like the crime scenes, to check if we went out during the night. We broke them. They put ‘em only on the first night.
The next day, we set to go, with our bus, from Civitavecchia to Pesaro, literally on the opposite coast, where we had our hotel. Thankfully, I don’t remember the hotel, because, after the first night there, we had to change to another one. There were fleas! Anyway, in our voyage to Pesaro, we stopped near Spoleto for lunch, and between the DVDs on sale, I saw the theatrical show of Italian comedic duo Ficarra & Picone “Diciamoci la verità (tell ourselves the truth)”. I didn’t have the money to buy it, but I wanted it so badly that professor P. bought it and gave it to me! That was one of the best souvenirs ever!
After the flea hotel, the rest of the field trip went swimmingly: we were in Pesaro, as I said, then, in the next few days, we went to Gradara, Urbino, Recanati, Loreto and the Republic of San Marino.
In Gradara, we saw the Gradara Castle. In Urbino, we saw the Palazzo Ducale. In Recanati, we had a tour of the poet Giacomo Leopardi’s house, and saw one of Leopardi’s descendants and the famous “ermo colle (solitary hill)” from his poem “L’infinito (the infinite)”!
The Republic of San Marino is actually another State, separate from Italy. So, it was literally my first time outside of Italy! In the Republic, we visited the City of San Marino, which is the Republic’s capital. Imagine that the City of San Marino has 4.000 inhabitants and the city where I live in has 30.000! We saw the guards at the entrance of the castle and a wonderful red F1 car in the square, promoting the upcoming F1.
Near Pesaro, we went to the museum of Ducati motorcycles. It was absolutely amazing!
The last night, we took the ferry back from Civitavecchia to Cagliari, and I hummed the tune at the beginning of the Mickey Mouse’s cartoon “The Karnival Kid (1929)”, as if I just dreamt it, to a few of my classmates.
