Italy question - Not dive related

[lulubelle]

I'm sorry you don't like Venice: when I want to breath beauty, I go to Venice and I walk in the small streets (the 'calli'), far from the main stream of tourists moving from the railways station to S.Marco, passing through Ponte di Rialto. Take a walk in Dorsoduro, or Cannareggio, and you'll probably get the real soul of Venice.

DD, very good advice Boa Gialla gives you here. I love those areas of Venice, hitting the cichetti bars for some wine/snacks etc. The Guggenheim museum there is fantastic too. And hey, if the weather is like it was last time I was there meeting some girls arriving from the US to help acclimate them for their first trip to Italy, you might be able to dive the Piazza San Marco

 

[Scared Silly]

Actually I am the other way round. My wife and I told both our kids that we expected a summer of study abroad to be part of the college experience.

Our older child chose not to study abroad - the younger one can't wait.
BUT - the older one is looking at getting a PHD in computer science so the unused money will be used for that !

DD

I did my Pd.D. in computer science. That money will not go far ... besides as a grad student they should be getting a TA/RA position very quickly or they will not be going far. BTW when I finished I spent the next 1.5 years living on the Cote d'Azur doing a post-doc. Now that was rough.

As for the language I would not worry. While in Firenzy (Florence) I went to a little deli for dinner. I sat next to an Italian woman who spoke Italian and French so we spoke in French, along came a guy from the UK who spoke English and Italian. Then the German guys who spoke English and German. All four languages were going at once and everyone was understood perfectly by all.

 

[ToySldr]

I am American and live in Italy. I have been living here for maybe 6 months and still have only picked up a couple of words. When we first got here it was culture shock, we got off the plane in Venice and had to figure out the bus schedule, from there we got to a train station that eventually got us to Pisa. The first day might be a little difficult, but as long as you are adventurous it can be done. The guys are correct, most of the bigger tourist destinations it's not hard to find people that speak english. Florence is an amazing city BTW. Our first trip to Venice got a little confusing, we kind of just went there for "lunch" The water taxi's got a little confusing. Later we learned you don't even need the water taxi's. Just park and walk. We are slowly learning the country.

If you make it to Venice, check out Verona, maybe an hour and a half away. Really awesome place to check out.