On March 6 – 11, 2017, under the supervision of prof. Grzegorz Harabasz and prof. Wojciech Rak, we set off for an exchange in the Italian town of Piacenza.
On Monday, March 6, in the morning we all arrived at the airport to bravely face the hardships of the journey. In itself, it did not last too long – an hour and a half on the plane, a minute on the bus … and here we were, in front of the Liceo di M. Gioia building, romantically situated near the famous Palazzo Farnese.
The promised Italians were waiting for us. After a short refreshment and careful examination, we went to the homes of the families assigned to us to eat, unpack and tighten our bonds.
The second day of the exchange was mainly in Mantua, where we had the opportunity to admire the Palazzo Te, a palace complex in the mannerist style. It was built in the 16th century by order of Frederick II Gonzaga and thanks to the courtesy of Giulio Romano, an architect skilled in his art. After looking closely at the center of Mantua itself, we returned to Piacenza to spend the evening there in the company of Italian colleagues.
On Wednesday we were catching up at school by distilling alcohol from wine
and philosophizing together. We also saw Piacenza very carefully and had a meeting with the mayor of the city himself.
The highlight of the program was Thursday’s trip to Milan.
In the Pinacoteca di Brera gallery we had the opportunity to see, for example, Il bacio, the most famous painting by Francesco Hayez.
On the last day of the trip we visited the mysterious Palazzo Farnese, a memento of the reign of Prince Ottavio Farnese over Piacenza. In the afternoon we headed to Rivergaro. In honor and glory to the former heroes, on a beautiful sunny day, we reconstructed the memorable battle of the Romans with the Carthaginians at the Trebia. Fortunately for the Punic troops, history graciously decided to repeat itself. 2: 0 for Carthage!
After the battle, we went to a farewell dinner to celebrate
and summarize the past few days. On March 11 in the morning we said goodbye to the Italians effusively, but not too heartily – we will see you again this month! Non vedo l’ora!
Text: Sara Kolańska, class 2h3
