MEETING 1, ITALY

[gerli]

Let's write everything concerning our meeting in October in Italy here!

[gerli]

To keep things clear, I copy the first message of Giovanni here, too.

NOTES ABOUT MEETING IN ITALY (the table about the program will have to be attached as it doesn't show what I wrote)


Flights

Ryanair flies to Milan / Bergamo Orio al Serio “Il Caravaggio” airport (5 km from Bergamo), which is 20 km from Treviglio (where me and Cristina live) and 25 from Caravaggio (where the school is located). Buses link the airport with Bergamo train station
the second nearest airport is Milano “Linate”, Milano city airport (in the Milano outskirt). Local bus service is available
Milano “Malpensa” lies some 40 km north of Milan. Buses and train run frequently to Milano Centrale, the main train station.

School - Location
The “Liceo Galileo Galilei” secondary school (language and scientific courses, 1.000 pupils)is in Caravaggio, the (some say) hometown of XVI century painter Michelangelo Merisi called “il Caravaggio” (his family was actually from Caravaggio). Caravaggio has 13.000 inhabitants.
It lies some 4 km from Treviglio (30.000), the second biggest town after Bergamo (120.000) in the province of Bergamo. Treviglio is well connected both to Bergamo and Milan thanks to its quite important train service. The train from Treviglio to Milan takes 30-40 min (6.90 euro return – trains run every 10 min peak hours or 30 min off peak); Treviglio to Bergamo is 30 min (5.50 euro return – trains run every 30 min). Caravaggio has its own small train station, for trains going to Cremona (1 hour). Cremona is renowned for its luthiers, such as Guarneri and Stradivari. Connection to Treviglio for journeys to both Bergamo and Milano are also possible (for timetables see www.trenitalia.it, also in English)

Accommodation
Three are, in my opinion, the alternatives. You could decide to stay in
1) Caravaggio-Treviglio area
2) Bergamo
3) Milano

each has its pros and cons

Caravaggio-Treviglio
+ near the school, “learn” about and live the local life
- nothing much to do after meetings, if not relax and socialize. Treviglio has a pretty pedestrian centre with nice shops
rooms hotel/b&b= from 60 euro, b&b, single per night

Bergamo
+ lovely town, in particular its upper part
- not much to do at night
rooms hotel/b&b= 70-120+ euro, b&b, single per night

Milano
+ interesting place, maybe one of the best places in Italy for its cultural life. International atmosphere in its city centre. Good nite life (all tastes)
rooms hotel/b&b= from 100 per night, b&b, single

When having hosts from abroad, we suggest staying in the Caravaggio-Treviglio area when teachers are taking kids with them.
Otherwise, Bergamo and Milan are definitely more interesting. If so, you will have to take the train a couple of times and reach our school, either from Milan or Bergamo. I guess we'll need to have 3 work-meetings, right? Two could be at our school and one in the place where the accommodation is (Milan or Bergamo, maybe in the premises of the University).

Program
Please, do feel free to suggest anything you think might be suitable/useful.
These are just notes I am writing now, in a sort of brainstorming:

when where what

Wedn 10 arrival

Thurs 11 1st meeting, School- Caravaggio-Treviglio, lunch + meeting, visit Treviglio, dinner with us and colleagues in our area, back to hotel

Frid 12 Visit Milan/Bergamo, 2nd meeting, concert (?)

Sat 13 3rd meeting, free (Milan/Bergamo), dinner in Milan/Bergamo

Sun 14 departure

TAKING STUDENTS?
By the way, if you are thinking about taking students with you, we will have to look for families. Please, do let us know as soon as possible.
e will first try to accommodate them at the houses of students that will take part in the project (still to be selected – we'll do that in the next few weeks), then in families of students from my and Cristina's classes.
If taking students, the program will maybe have to be changed a bit. What, in my opinion, should not change is the number of meetings. I guess we need those moments to plan everything properly.
« Last Edit: Today at 10:46 by giovanni »

[gerli]

Thank you, Giovanni, for such a fast reaction and information! Now I am ready to make some concrete propositions.

Firstly I would like to propose 2 options for exact dates:
1) TUE, October 9 - FRI, October 12
2) SUN, October 14 - WED, October 17

Searching our timetables and flight options I found that these 4 days options are best for us. For others they also leave option to add one day, SAT, October 13 for visiting Milan for example. EVERYBODY, PLEASE GIVE YOUR OPINION ON DATES THIS WEEK! (latest on sunday, september 9)

I would prefer us to stay in Treviglio or Bergamo. Because socializing with each other and keeping the transport times short seems important and good. I would suggest 1 or 2 extra nights in Milan for those who would like it and can find time for it.

As we have many things to discuss and to settle the plans and it is teachers meeting - taking students does not seem an option... don't you agree?

[nicole103]

Hello everybody, it's good to hear that Estonia now can participate in the project. At the time of the meeting, we have holidays in Germany. Because I got married, my husband and I do in the first week of our holidays, 8th-14th Octobre, a little honeymoon. If I should takte part at the first meeting I would prefere the week after the 14th octobre. Uli and I discuss this problem tomorrow with the other musicteachers. Maybe another musicteacher can fly to Italy!
Greetings, Nicole

[gerli]

Congrats, Nicole! It would have been so nice to meet you in Italy, but we cannot beat honeymoon, of course;) Hope you can find a solution for participating with your colleagues.

[giovanni]

HOTEL IN CARAVAGGIO:

HOTEL VERRI
- BB singola € 57,00 (per camera al giorno)
- BB doppia € 82,00 (per camera al giorno)
- Dinner at the restaurant= 15 euro, included drinkls

HOTEL TRE RE
cam. singola 50 euro B&B
cam. doppia 70 euro B&B
cam. tripla 85 euro B&B
cam quadrupla 120 euro B&B

[giovanni]

WEBsITE OF above HOTELs:

verri: www.hotelverri.it/

tre re: www.albergotrere.it/home.html

[puri]

Hello everybody! And congratulations for the project!
Sorry to answer you so late but we are starting with the exams of september, making timetable for the teachers,...
Spain has a problem with dates you propose in october. We have free october 12 to 14 because is Community party and normally teachers go out with their families. Then, could we change the week? In the week Monday 15 to Sunday 21 for us could be OK. For example Wensday 17 to Sunday. This week travel with Rynair is cheaper too for us, the difference is the double. Nicole has problem too. Think about.
I'm agree with remarks of Gerli, we can stay near school in Caravaggio or Bergamo; no students in this trip, I'll see if it's possible change the week in Spain for exemple 22 to 28 April.
Next week I'll send you information from Spain, now we have a lot of work but It isn't any problem. Paiporta is 5 Km far from Valencia capital. We are connected to the city by metro. The airport it's about 10 Km far from the city and connected to the city by metro. When we were preparing the project I asked for information in a Youth hostel in the city center they said me that they have place for groups but we have to reserve early. After the meeting in October?
It is possible that we travel 4 teachers to Italy. Is it any problem to you? They are teachers who work in the project and who will help me in the organitation of Spain week.
Greetings from Spain

[gerli]

Hello, everybody!
17-20 (21) october is ok with Estonia. We preferred to do the meeting earlier, because our group goes to German school 24 october. Nicole and Uli, is it a problem for you?
4 teachers is no problem, I think!
No hurry with the details of April meeting yet, take your time! But everything you wrote sounds good. We wanted to propose the dates 22-28 April (or 23-29 April).

Please give your opinions on October meeting dates, everybody! It is necessary to lock the discussion soon!

[gerli]

I liked both hotels, probably TRE RE even more! But Giovanni, I think you can make the choice yourself - which one is easier / more convenient for you - the location, transport, other organizational details...

[giovanni]

"tre re" more convenient for us, then

once u know dates and number of people / rooms, I'll try and book them for you

yours

giovanni

[heidi]

Hello!
Germany also approved the later dates, 17-21 october. So everybody seems to be ok with this dates, still no comment from Poland. If they say "yes" or don't say anything within this week we consider the dates locked and buy the flight tickets!
Greetings from Estonia,
Heidi

[nicole103]

Hello!
Yes, the later dates would be great!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Greetings,
Nicole

[gerli]

Hello, people!

So the dates for our meeting in Italy are settled now: 17.10 (Wednesday) - 21.10 (Sunday). Can't wait to meet you all!

1 tip about flights: Try to find a flight on 17.10., that arrives before 18 pm, if you can. So we could have a first informal meeting (dinner) in the evening. If necessary you can also leave on Saturday, 20.10., no problem. For work we only need 2 days, Thursday and Friday.

1 tip about communication: Try to write most of information, remarks etc to cantamus.proboards.com instead of email. So everybody can see it and the information does not get lost later. If some of you cannot login to cantamus, forgot the password etc, create a new account!

And about uploading attachments to cantamus... mea culpa! I had not enabled the option of uploading for members;( Did it now, try again!

[Puri]

Hello everybody,
thank you to revise the dates meeting in October!

Giovanni, the two hotels seem nice; you can reserve the most you like. On Monday I'll tell you the number of rooms we need, we are 3 0r 4 teachers.

We are waiting the meeting with illusion!

[giovanni]

dear colleagues,

as soon as each of your groups writes the exact number of rooms you want (+ single/double), I'll try and book them

have a nice weekend

yours

giovanni

PS: I am trying to get info about a night out at La Scala. Haven't been able yet, hope to have more info early next week

[giovanni]

dear friends

LA SCALA: just called "la scala" booking office. they say La Boheme show for the 19th oct sold out on July 22nd. No other show in that period (17-21). They suggest visiting the museum and having a look at the inside of the theatre.
1. There might be "ticket tout" for the show, but I am not informed about it
2. there might be agencies (intermediary) that sell tickets (overcharging, of course) they pre-bought, but I am also not informed about it. I just went through the official channels

CREMONA: we could have a 2:00 h guided tour in English showing the music side of the town(luthiers etc) and, in the eve, go to the beautuful PONCHIELLI THEATRE there. On the 19th they show Puccini's LA TOSCA. Ticket prices range from 18 to 50 euro, and they say we might have a further group discount. If we decide for the theatre, I have to book on the 22nd sept.

More will follow, we are all excited

ciao

giovanni

[heidi]

Hello everybody,

This plan about Cremona and La Tosca is magnificent! It´s not really a problem that the opera night is not in La Scala.

See you soon
Heidi from Estona

[gerli]

We have bought our tickets and we fly from Riga to Orio al Serio airport with Ryanair. Arrival on Oct 17 at 13.10. Departure on Oct 21 at 10.15. We are three from Estonia: Gerli, Heidi and Aire. See you!

[nicole103]

Hello everybody,
wie try to get flights on 17.10. 8.50h Düsseldorf - 10.15 Milano, Maplensa and on sunday 21.10. we have to take a flight in the morning 9.25 h Milano Malpensa - 10.45h Düsseldorf, because the other flights are very late in the evening. Wa are two teachers and each of us like to have a single room. We are very happy that we can start the project.... Everything sounds great.
Greetings Nicole

[giovanni]

dear friends

the Tre Re hotel is full (except two single rooms) for 17 and 18 oct.
Shall I therefore book the Verri Hotel for the 5 single rooms (3 Estonia and 2 Germany) ?
It's situated (see google map in case) near the Santuario di Caravaggio, a 17th cent church with an imposing beautiful dome. There is a nice boulevard (a couple of km long) connecting the hotel to the centre.
There are some restaurants near the area and it's very quiet. We usually pick up our guests who stay there in the morning and drop them home. You needn't worry about that. I guess it's the second best solution.

Let me know

yours

giovanni

PS: I can see the attachment option now, thanks Gerli

[gerli]

Yes, of course you can book the Verri hotel! Maybe to book not only 5 rooms, but some more at once? As even if Spain and Poland have not given the exact number yet, they are certainly coming and we want to be in the same hotel.

And yes, we want to go to the opera in Cremona, no doubt about that!

[giovanni]

5 single rooms booked (Gerli, Heidi , Aire Nicole and xxxxx)

pre-booked 5 more single rooms, but can easily change it

wifi free at verri Hotel

how many interested in La Tosca at Cremona (19 Oct)? Prices 18-50 euro (start at 20:30, 3 hour long) . Those not interested, after our guided tour and "pinchos/pintxos" could catch the train from Cremona and go back to the hotel at Caravaggio.
if you are coming, which seats/price category would you prefer? I suppose 50 euro are seats facing the stage, 18 euro those "up there"

A provisional plan of the visit should be pubblished soon

yours

giovanni

[nicole103]

Dear Giovanni,
thank you for booking our rooms at the Verri Hotel (Nicole & Ulrich). It´s good that we are in the same hotel like our Estonian friends. We also want to go to the opera, but we prefer to get tickets for 18€ or somethings else. We don´t have to sit near the stage.
Greetings from Germany
Nicole

[giovanni]

provisional program -please, do feel free to suggest changes

bye, hüvasti, adiòs, auf wiedersehen, pożegnanie, vale ciao

giovanni

Attachments:

[aire]

Hello! Opera is great idea. We think, our seats don´t have to be in the front. Maybe it´s better somwhere up, when we can see the orchestra too. Giovanni, you can decide yourself. Thank you for organizing.

[rudakowa]

Hi everyone,

Sorry for not writing anything so far. I promise I will be talkative . So, we've booked the tickets from 17.10-21.10. It's a great idea to go to the theater. Any tickets are good. I think Giovanni can decide himself.
As for accomodation, we need 1 double room, two of us are coming this time. Our flight back to Poland is very early, before 7a.m. So I wonder if it could be more convenient for us to have a hotel in Milano and simply get to your school every day, as Giovanni says there is a train going every 15 mins? What do you think about it? Will it be possible to get back to Milano quite late after our meetings? Does it make sense?

We can't wait for our meeting in Italy

Irina from Poland

[gerli]

Hello everybody!

Nice to hear of you again, Poland! Would be nicer to stay in the same Verri hotel together, I think. Less logistics and more communication;) For Poland probably would be a good solution to stay in Milan in a hotel close to your airport for the last night only, don't you think? Why travel back and forth because of that every day? Which airport does your flight use? Malpensa, Linate, Orio al Serio? Please write the flight times and the name of your colleague, too!

Thanks for all the work, Giovanni! Good plan! I have 2 suggestions. (1) let's not plan anything for the morning of 19. If we leave to Cremona at 13 and stay there until night, the day is quite long. (2) let's come back from Milan in the evening of 20 not so late and have dinner e.g. in our hotel

Talk to you soon again!
Gerli

[giovanni]

ciao irina

I agree with Gerli. You could stay from Wedn to Fri at Verri Hotel and then for saturday you could book a room near the airport (I guess you are flying to/from Malpensa, right?)

If you stayed in Milan from wedn, you would miss "night at the opera" in cremona (you would have to leave Cremona at 19:30)

please, keep me informed about your decisions

yours

giovanni

[giovanni]

..so far...

giovanni

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