Over the Easter break, students and staff from the Academy enjoyed an educational tour of Italian cities in an exciting week-long cultural visit.

Over the Easter break, fifty students from the Academy enjoyed an educational tour of Italian cities in an exciting week-long cultural visit.

The 2012 Italy visit provided students with the opportunity to see some of the world’s best Art, Craft and Architecture.  Flying to Venice first, students from years 9 to 12 took in such sights as the majestic Saint Mark's Square, the Rialto and Academia bridges and the world famous La Fenice Opera house.Â

Looking primarily at the art of the Venetians, they had a Gondola ride and saw a genuine mask-maker at work. There was an excursion by boat to Murano, a tiny island famous for its glass-making, where students were able to watch a craftsman fashion a glass horse.

Students loved their hotel with its beamed ceilings and views of a small canal. They were particularly interested in the modern art at the Peggy Guggenheim Museum and were shocked to find a statue of a boy holding a frog at the end of the Punta Della Dogana, which was heavily guarded.

Next, the group went on to Florence with its Uffizi Gallery housing Botticelli's 'Birth of Venus' and 'La Primavera'. In the church of Santa Maria Nouvella was the famous 'Trinity' by Masaccio and students also visited the 'Statue of David' before having a last browse around the San Lorenzo market.