a voucher for studying Italian in Italy, with 2 very special offers:

1) La Dolce Vita 50+ course:
Italian language and culture course for 1 week plus 1 week accommodation in single room (in family with breakfast) for 550€ instead of 669€!
Offered in: Florence, Milan, Rome and Siena.
More information about the Dolce Vita 50+ course.

2) 2 weeks Italian language course
Italian language standard course for 2 weeks plus 2 weeks accommodation in single room (in family with breakfast or shared apartment) for 595€ instead of 690€!
Offered in: Florence, Milan, Rome and Siena
More information about the 2 weeks Italian language standard course.

If you are interested in, please, contact the Scuola Leonardo da Vinci Marketing Office by filling this form.

We organized a small one-day exhibition of the drawings and invited all the Leonardo da Vinci students, the Guilford host families, and other special guests to a reception with terrific food and drinks. The feedback was good for the students and it was a fun and happy occasion for all!

Ceremonies start three days before the race, with the choice of the ten horses at the famous Piazza del Campo. The heat of the Palio is already palpable at the drawing. When the mayor of Siena reads the number of the horse and the name of the ‘contrada’ to which the horse will be assigned, the Piazza falls in a surreal silence. Within a few minutes this silence can be transformed in joy or in despair, especially when hostile ‘contrade’ participate. After the drawing of the horses all ‘contrade’ choose their own ‘fantino’ (jockey), who will ride bareback and dressed in the colours of his ‘contrada’.

Before the Palio starts, every ‘contrada’ organizes dinner parties in its territory. Spending an evening there with the ‘contradaioli’ is always very suggestive and amusing. Particular importance is given to the festive dinner that takes place at the day before the Palio, just after the ‘prova generale’ in which the horses and jockeys already take possession of the Piazza. The winning ‘contrada’ will have the honour to organize the ‘cena della vittoria’ (dinner of the victory), which of course is even more festive.

The day after the Palio the ‘Drappellone’ (called ‘Il Cencio’ by the Sienese people) will be transferred from the Palazzo Comunale to the Collegiata di Provenzano for the race of July (which is held in honour of Madonna di Provenzano), and to the cathedral for the race of August, which is held in honour of the Assumption of Mary. A few days before the Palio of August you can attend a special ceremony in the cathedral, when all ‘contrade’ offer a special candle to Mary.

During all this ceremonies, the city is captured by a festive air, but you will also notice a feeling of trepidation and rivalry between the different ‘contrade’ of Siena. Even if you are not a real ‘contradaiolo’ it is exciting to assist at this famous event and to taste the special sphere in the city!

Federica Cervo (Agosto 2009)

*The seventeen ‘contrade’ are: Aquila (eagle) – Bruco (caterpillar) – Chiocciola (snail) – Civetta (owl) – Drago (dragon) – Giraffa (giraffe) – Istrice (porcupine) – Leocorno (unicorn) – Lupa (female wolf) – Nicchio (seashell) – Oca (goose) – Onda (wave) – Pantera (panther) – Selva (forest) – Tartuca (tortoise) – Torre (tower) and Valdimontone (valley of the ram)

See the pictures of the Palio of Siena (on Flickr)
Study Italian in Siena

We specifically created this site so you can keep up to date with all of our latest information, events and course offers, anytime, anywhere, and for all schools (Florence, Milan, Rome and Siena).

This new site will give you direct access to all current and past Newsletters and Blogs done by the many of our students and schools staff.

You’ll be able to stay connected with us and other friends from Scuola Leonardo da Vinci also by joining our groups through Facebook and Twitter, following our videos on YouTube, and looking to our latest pictures on Flicker.  And the best part is that you will be able to directly subscibe to our Leonardo newsletter on this new site, so you can receive all this information quickly and easily.

So don’t wait!  Go to http://newsletter.scuolaleonardo.com/ and check it out!

Here’s a taste: La Dolce Vita, by William Heidenfeldt

See also: La Dolce Vita in Siena – Ten steps to experience Siena and the Sienese life

La dolce vita definitely is not the same as the famous dolce far niente. To experience all
parts of Sienese culture within five days means using all your senses at the same time.
From the smell of strong coffee in the morning to the soft evening breeze during a late
night passeggiata, join the Italians during their dolce vita!

STEP 1: IL CAFFÉ

It all starts with coffee. I have never met any country in which people take
coffee so serious as in Italy. After three days of drinking my caffé in a
neighbourhood bar, surrounded by locals, I understand the magic of a little
glass filled with black liquid so strong that you immediately experience
everything and everyone much more intense. A perfect start of la dolce
vita…

STEP 2: CHIACCHIERARE

… and a perfect start of the language courses in the morning. The school is
in Via del Paradiso, so maybe only the name should be enough to
understand the atmosphere. Imagine a huge terrace, some small class
rooms, many different students and teachers who all share their passion
for the Italian language, the many topics to discuss (I bet we are all
curious about Italian politics, design and fashion)… It is even said that the
most beautiful and pure Italian is spoken in Siena – need I say more?

STEP 3: IL PRANZO

But the best things have yet to come. After four hours of grammar and
conversation, of word searching and Italian stories, it is time for lunch. I
bet you understand an Italian menu yet before coming to study La dolce
vita, but make you sure that you’ll taste all sorts of local food. My
classmates and I found the best food in small trattorias, a few steps from
the Piazza del Campo, with no menus outside. Try the pappa al pomodoro!

STEP 4: IL VINO

Being right in the middle of the Chianti, la dolce vita definitely means also
wine tasting. We explored the Tuscan countryside by tasting different sorts
of wine – maybe the sweetest way to remember the Tuscan hills. And for
most of us this wine tour revealed the real magic of wine: after a glass of
wine, the Italian language no longer had any secrets for us. La dolce vita
has just started, but we were all feeling like we already were getting used
to it.

STEP 5: L’OLIO

But coffee and wine are not the only ‘holy’ liquids in Italy. So after
tasting wine, the very difficult task of tasting olive oil was lying
ahead of us. Did you know that every olive oil has its own ‘passport’
or that some restaurants even have their own list of olive oils, just
like a wine list? After tasting the real olive oil, you’ll understand why
Italians are so passionate about their ‘green gold’!

STEP 6: L’ARTE

Another essential part of la dolce vita, that has nothing to do with food, is
the Sienese art. The small city is really a treasure keeper: the Duomo with
an astonishing pavement, the former hospital Santa Maria della Scala, the
Palazzo Publico with works by the great Sienese painters Simone Martini
and Ambrogio Lorenzetti, the Torre del Mangia, the Pinacoteca with many,
many Mary’s painted by Guido da Siena, Duccio and other artists of the
Sienese school… Together with all the vivid stories told by our guide these
art collections will leave an unforgettable impression in your hart and
souls…

STEP 7: IL DOLCE

Studying all these beautiful art works makes hungry. A good excuse
for tasting one of the Sienese sweets is that making these sweets is
a local art as such. In small bakeries you can taste the most
delicious cantuccini, panforte, panpepato and ricciarelli.

STEP 8: LA PIAZZA

Strolling the narrow medieval streets around the Piazza, and of
course the Piazza del Campo itself, is maybe one of Siena’s greatest
pleasures. Since the Piazza serves as the perfect meeting place for
all Sienese people, for students it is the best place to meet local
people and bambini that are glad to help you with your Italian
pronunciation and vocabulary. Also they can tell you all about
Sienese traditions, especially about the Palio.

STEP 9: IL PALIO

This famous horse race has been organized since the Middle Ages,
but today the passion for this event is still alive. Weeks before the
race (July 2 and August 16), the ten contrade (neighborhoods)
which will participate are filled with excitement. Make sure you don’t
miss one of the many parades, diners or masses if you attend the
language school in June or August!

STEP 10: LA PASSEGGIATA

Your day in Siena is not complete without a passeggiata. Before dinner,
join all Italian families by strolling the city center. Of course you have to
wear something nice – fare la bella figura is an important part of this
evening walk. Buy a gelato, look at all beuatiful people, talk with your new
friends from school and with some Italians and simply enjoy life – maybe
this is the essential lesson of la dolce vita!

Saskia Balmaekers

Here is a video from our student that attended the Italian language course in Siena and had a chance to learn a lot about the Italian culture and lifestyle.

Enjoy it! Enjoy Siena

Click here to view the embedded video.

The renowned and qualified Italian language School Leonardo da Vinci suggests now the Winter Courses to learn Italian language just here in Italy. Our schools, situated in some of the most important and charming cities in Italy, (Florence, Milan, Rome and Siena) offer a wide range of Italian language courses to attend.

Our school can offer elementary and basic courses for beginners, such as Standard Italian Language Courses or Part Time Standard Courses, where students will attend Italian language lessons depending on their starting level and will learn the basic Italian grammar and the first steps to communicate and speak Italian language everyday. The duration is from 2 weeks on and it is prolongable.

As an alternative there’s the Academic School Year in Italy, for students who decide to stay here in Italy for a long time. This course is thought for beginner and elementary students, lasts for 32 weeks and leads to the internationally-recognized AIL (Accademia Italiana di Lingua) diplomas.

If your aim is instead to pass the AIL tests, our Preparation Courses for the Italian Examinations “Firenze” AIL will be surely useful to you! During this course in fact, it is possible to attend 4 daily lessons of grammar review and conversation plus 2 lessons of test taking strategies and exams preparation, which will help you to establish your knowledge level and the time necessary to prepare yourself for the exam.

On the other hand, if you would like to attend courses at Italian University in September, the Leonardo da Vinci School also offers many different specific preparatory courses to attend now in winter, useful for your preparation on the specific language of your studies field and subjects (such as Architecture or Medicine). The school in fact suggests the Preparatory Courses to Italian University, which will start from 9th March 2009 on.

Whereas, if you decided to study fashion in Italy, our schools offer the original “Preparation Courses for Fashion and Design Academies” for those students full of creativity who love art and fashion and want to prepare themselves in the specific Italian fashion language.

The school organizes also Courses for Italian-language Teachers, for teachers who want to learn the secrets to teach Italian as a second language to foreign students, a really original and peculiar cutting edge course.

Finally, we have many different special courses you can attend right now in winter, such as the new Courses for Musical Specialization, for those whose desire is to learn to play an instrument or to sing like a star, or the Italian Preparatory Courses for Fashion Show, for the fashion lovers who want to live an unforgettable experience among the Italian runways.

So guys, to spend a winter in Italy is not an impossible dream, right now you can decide when, where and how to learn Italian language here in Italy.

For dates, prices and all the information about the Winter Courses, take a look at our website: www.scuolaleonardo.com.

The Christmas season in Italy is a really special time, a traditional celebration which last from centuries, and still today preserves its magical atmosphere.

In every Italian city you will visit, you will find brilliant streets full of coloured lights warming the air, any sort of decorations, Christmas trees which overlook in homes windows and balconies, shop windows full of coloured and typical adornments, lights, and colorful tree Christmas balls…you won’t believe it!

Italians have lots of ancient Christmas traditions, such as the preparation of the Nativity Scene, or like Italians say, the Presepe, which is the representation of Jesus birth in the manger, made up of any kind of material. It is possible to see the Presepi in any Italian town, you could start by visiting the main cathedral (Duomo) of the town you’re in, then tour the smaller churches.

Banal? No, traditional. During Christmas time in fact, Italian traditions come back to life. You can find hundreds of different events organized on this occasion, such as concerts, festivals, fairs, or Christmas markets, which usually take place in cities throughout the country. Christmas Day and the New Year’s Eve are celebrated in a lot of different ways.

There’s a lot of things to see and several activities to do in many cities, such as Florence, Milan, Rome and Siena for example.

If you decide to come and visit Rome, the Italian capital full of history and great monuments, take a look at the famous Coliseum covered by lights: an amazing view. In addition, at the Christmas Market in Piazza Navona you can buy the components for your own nativity scene, as well as sweets, wooden toys and all sorts of Christmas-related ornaments and goodies.

As an alternative, Florence, the city of art, offers a wide range of events, festivals, and Christmas markets, such as the Heidelberg market in Santa Croce square, where it is possible to buy delicious German goodies and original hand-made objects and decorations. And besides, the name “Uffizi Gallery” rings a bell?

But going out from the thousand of lights that illuminate the biggest towns, you merge into the beauty of the Chianti countryside hills. Just here, you find the ancient and medieval town of Siena, with its suggestive and peculiar Piazza del Campo. Enjoy the beauty of the Tuscan countryside in the cheapest way, and spend winter and Christmas time in a different way, always in the complete relax and in the warmth of the Tuscany countryside.

Whereas if you are a shopping lover, Milan is the perfect place to find your Christmas gifts. Here you will find renowned and crowded streets full of stores, from the elegant Monte Napoleone to the more commercial Corso Buenos Aires, not far from the Central Station, while a festive atmosphere is created by the coloured lights decorating the main shopping areas.

So, what are you waiting for? Come and spend your Christmas Holidays and New Year’s Eve here in Italy, where celebrations never end!

Photo By Simone Pratesi: © Tutti i diritti riservati