Valerie and Doug have fitness apps on their phones which predict we have walked over 80 miles this week, including climbing up and down countless stairs and hills. Our top day was a 12.5 mile trek across the city of Rome! In addition to finding out things about ourselves, we are also discovering characteristics about Italy that only a visit here would reveal.
For example, when our tour guide Lorenzo graduated from middle school, his teacher bought a bottle of wine to share with the class in celebration...Students in Italian high schools attend 8 am to 1 pm Monday through Saturday for a total of 200 school days per year. (Texas has 187 school days.) Lorenzo also attended university in Germany for only 120 euros per year. How's that for out-of-state tuition! And to compare, it costs approximately 1,200 euros to take driver's education!! Only professional schools are allowed to teach the course and students must be 18. Because driving in general is considered so dangerous, most young people continue to rely on public transportation and do not start driving until they finish college in their early twenties. They do have the option of driving a 50cc moped beginning at the age of 15.
We saw lots of mopeds on the isle of Capri today. Due to rough seas, our mini-cruise around the island was exchanged for a trip to Anacapri, an exclusive village 'above' Capri. Students rode a chair lift to the very top of the highest promontory for views that made them gasp. Sheer cliffs, blue-green water, and Capri's rooftops shone in the distance. Quite a different island from our's in Galveston!
Back at the port, students bought gifts flavored with local lemons and relaxed for some lunch. Many of the girls sat while craftsmen fashioned hand-made sandals for them. The ferry came too early for us all, taking us back to the mainland where we will reunite with our bus on the way to Rome for a few hours sleep before we are off to the airport. It has truly been a "highlights" tour, giving us just a glimpse of places we could all spend much more time given the opportunity. But even for those in our group who say they might never return (the 'other seniors'), none regrets the time spent here. The memories will never be measured in mere miles.
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