Le lezioni cominciano!

Another beautiful spring day greeted us as we set off bright and early for the first day of lessons at the Torre di Babele Language School. After both a written and an oral test, the students were allocated into a class led by their teacher Francesca and the conversations began, including how to ask for help. This was followed by an information session about Rome and then it was time for lunch al fresco at the nearby Casina dei Pini restaurant. Having eaten the traditional Roman dishes, everyone needed a siesta due to the mental exhaustion brought on by concentrating so hard in the lessons. At 3:30 we returned to the school for a seminar on the history of Italian music led by Luigi. Here we discovered the eclectic mix of songs that the students knew, like the 'Tomato' song suggested by Ben and the 1970s retro classics chosen by Giselle. The students also got to listen to a range of different styles, including some interesting past winners of the Sanremo song competiton such as the 'alien' song. With the sun still shining, after the seminar we strolled through the nearby park of Villa Torlonia, which we discovered was requisitioned by Mussolini to use as his residence for the grand sum of one lira a year. Since this meant that the prince whose family owned the estate was forced to move into one of the cottages in the grounds, it seemed a little harsh. After Italy was liberated by the Allies, the villa was then used by Anglo-American forces for several years, and then it fell into disrepair. The state of the park echoes that of many in Rome - with so much history to maintain, it seems an impossible task but the grandeur is still there in the classical symmetry, the fountains, and the obelisks. Even better, the park was full of locals enjoying the sunshine, playing soccer, celebrating birthdays and walking their dogs. By now the students were rather tired, so we returned to the hotel for a short rest before a delicious dinner in the restaurant next door and an early night ready for our big day of walking tomorrow.