Day 16 - School Visit 3 & the Museo Natzionale dell' Automobile

Guest blogger LIAM FRANCIS tells us about Day 16 of the Italy Trip:

Another early, freezing morning left us boys in a zombie like state as we meandered into another day of Italian school. While school during a fun holiday is not high on the wish list, the allure of a chance to experience another aspect of Italian culture got us through the gates. 

Today we were visiting Vittone High School, a school we had heard a few things about but were keen to find out about on our own. We started the day with a tour. A quiz was handed out to the boys (in Italian) which we somehow passed. The school was nice and definitely unique to St Joseph's College. But to be quite honest I will never take the facilities of our school for granted again. 

Liceo Vittone in Chieri

The one thing I noticed about this school is that they were simply nicer people. They were more than happy to show us around, let us in on their classes and teach us a Turin classic, hitball. We drew the game 7-7 after a valiant performance from the boys, with Ryan being the standout with 4 goals. 

One of the classes we joined at Vittone

On the hitball court

We finished the school day with a visit to a classroom where we were once again questioned about the wonderful place we claim residence to, Australia. It never gets old being treated like a celebrity and the boys were more than happy to pass on their knowledge to the curious Italian school children and take a multitude of selfies.

The St Joseph's boys with some Vittone students

We braved the rain and left the school having had a wonderful time but were ready once again to enter the City of Turin. 

The main event of the day was a visit to the National Museum of Automobiles. There are a few gear heads among us and the sight of various Ferraris, Rolls Royces and other famous cars left some of the boys nearly dribbling on the prized possessions. For a solid hour and a bit we were taken through the history of cars and loved every minute. We flooded our cameras with photos of cars that we will definitely be showing our families back in Australia. 

The interior of the National Museum of Automobiles

An old Fiat

Crash test car

An Ahh moment

The Ferrari Formula 1 exhibit - every Ferrari F1 car from 1948 until present, arranged in an impressive race

The incessant rainfall did not deter us as we trudged back through the wet City of Turin and made our way back into the warm arms of our home stay families. 

The bus trip through Turin

Today was a solid day all over and possibly a favourite when the inevitable reflections take place at the end of this trip.