7/19 I can’t believe the trip is coming to an end tomorrow. We spent the day in Florence with a “real feel” temp of 105. After a demonstration at the leather shop and a tour of the square, we were ready for a cool drink in air conditioning. We relaxed for awhile before our four course dinner. Then road to our hotel nestled in the rolling hills of Tuscany.
7/20 Our final day. We started the day with a truffle hunt. The dogs found four truffles, but one ate half of one whil his owner was distracted 🙂 Our two dogs were Mya and Bilba. It was cute to see that they were like regular dogs, even though they were working, they’d stop and get people to pet them. Mya is the more serious hunter. Bilba liked to sit back and then when Mya found a truffle she’d run in and start digging. We finally got some pool time after, but it started pouring and thundering about half an hour later. Now I’m headed to our farewell dinner and Nicole’s Nook will resume it’s bookish content.
Today we took a train to visit the cliff-side villages of Cinque Terre. We visited two of the five villages, Manarola and Vernazza. The quaint villages of this Unesco sight seemed to be untouched by time.
Beautiful day in Italy. We started the day with a walking/panoramic tour of Genoa. Then, we had an amazing lunch including a lesson on making cheese forcaccia. From there we took a ferry to Portofino “one of the most glamorous spots in the Italian Riviera”.
Today was an extra excursion day. Five of us went to St. Paul de Vence. This was a beautiful medieval village with the best views yet. Then we went on to Grasse for a lesson in perfume making. We got to make our own scent with a lilac base. A wonderful day.
Happy Bastille Day from France! Today was spent making our way to Nice. We stopped along the way in Aix-en-Provence. It was very interesting being there on a holiday Sunday because many places were closed and it felt much more private.
It was eight years ago today that Nice faced a terrorist attack during Bastille Day. For that reason, they did not have fireworks or celebrations out of respect for those lost.
Marseille is the second largest city in France. We started the day with a walking tour of the old town. Then our tour group split up for a couple of options. I chose to go to Cosquer Cave, a replica of a prehistoric cave. I was very excited to discover that the cave is the only prehistoric cave discovered to have paintings of penguins! We were on our own for the rest of the afternoon and most of us went to the hilltop Notre Dame (not that one) cathedral for breathtaking views of the city.
For dinner, we went to a socially responsible restaurant where people in need get training in exchange for food and shelter. It was a meaningful experience to end the day.
Tha majority of my job is phonics instruction. I’ve been toying with the idea of creating some stories and poems about these rules. I just wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with them once they were completed. For now, I’ve decided that Nicole’s Nook is a good home for them. The main purpose of the blog is still “book love”, so it will be an occasional feature. I thought the best starting point would be a story I wrote a couple of years ago for a student who was very frustrated about sounding out words with the schwa sound. I hope you enjoy.
Sorcerer Schwa
First, there were thoughts. Then, those thoughts became spoken words. Finally, those spoken words became written messages. Together all three became a language. Language allowed people to share ideas and expand their knowledge.
As time passed, the people’s knowledge grew, and they began to explore other places. But there was a problem. People living in these places had developed different languages, which caused confusion. At last, people in the tiny village of Wordia grew frustrated when they inadvertently traded fifty of their finest cattle with a neighboring village for a cartload of rocks. The villagers vowed they would find a solution to the language problem.
They went to the village sorcerer to ask for his advice.
Unbeknownst to the villagers, he was secretly an evil sorcerer. Or he wanted to be, at least. None of his evil plots had worked out so far. Once, he conjured a tornado, and it brought back Mrs. Brown’s missing cow. Another time he called locusts which ate weeds instead of crops. The chance he’d been waiting for was here at last.
“I will use my magic to create a new language and make them forget their own. Soon nobody will speak Latin, Cornish, Sanskrit, or Sumerian.”
The people thought this was a fine idea and thanked the sorcerer as he shooed them away. “I will have a new language for you in a week if you leave me to my work.”
When the villagers left, the wizard took out a piece of parchment and his quill and started making a list of wicked ideas for the new language:
Use roots from many different languages
All of the rules have an exception (“I” before “e” except after “c”)
Words sound alike but spelled differently (sea, see)
Words will be spelled the same but sound different (close, close)
Letters make multiple sounds (cat, city)
Stick silent letters in words (lamb)
The wizard worked day and night on the language. He created so many twists and turns; learning would take years of schooling. As he worked, visions of spelling tests with giant “F’s” danced in his head. Finally satisfied with his sinister syntax, the sorcerer decided to take a nap.
He fell into a deep sleep and began to dream. Images and words flashed before his eyes: CAMEL, BANANA, PENCIL, DRAGON.
He bolted up in his bed. He had dreamt his evilest idea yet. The final touch his language needed. These words had different vowels making the same sound: “uh.” He would call this sound the “schwa.” All kinds of multisyllabic words could have a schwa sound hidden in the unstressed syllables, and that would cause lots of stress for readers. There would be no way to tell by looking at the word which syllable was using the schwa. It was diabolical! He stayed awake all night, adding the schwa sound to thousands of words until it was nearly impossible to determine what sound a vowel was making.
When the villagers arrived the following day, he magically transferred the language to their brains. “I call it English. What do you think?” he asked.
They scratched their heads, thinking that language was more complicated than they remembered. They tried to recall their old language, but it was gone. So, they agreed that English was an excellent language.
The sorcerer couldn’t reach everyone, so other languages persisted, but English spread worldwide. The sorcerer lived for many years and reveled at the sound of children trying to sound out words with the schwa sound.
To this day, people claim to hear the spirit of the sorcerer laugh whenever a frustrated teacher says, “I don’t know why it’s spelled like that. You have to memorize it!”
THE END
What exactly is the schwa?
The schwa sound is the “uh” sound we say in unstressed syllables (for example: the “I” in pencil). It’s the difference between spoken and written language, which often makes spelling difficult. I like to use this song when teaching the schwa sound.
Whenever I’m asked which superpower I would want, I always respond with teleportation. Visiting other places is fun, but the time it takes to travel there is not. That is an advantage to tours. Collette is always very good about planning stops along the way. On the way to Marseille we stopped to tour the Abbey of Fontfroide and have a three course lunch. Then by the time we got to the hotel we it was time to find a place for dinner.
These days of travel within vacation can seem tedious, but the key is to find attractions along the way and enjoy the view.
The hotel wifi wasn’t cooperating last night, so I missed posting. As predicted, I love the countryside of Spain more than Barcelona. On Wednesday we made our way to Costa Brava, stopping along the way in Girona, a smaller city. The view from my hotel room is a living postcard. It’s ocean view and there’s nothing like hearing the waves all night.
Today we saw the Salvador Dali museum and the villages of Callela de Palefrugell and Llafranc. The Dali museum was fascinating. Dali was so innovative and truly saw the world differently from the rest of us. He really stands out as an artist who enjoyed success in this lifetime. He loved his wife and muse, Gala, even signing her name in his signatures.
The main word today though was HOT, and it will only be hotter from here on out. While it was “only” 92, it felt much hotter. The return to the pool was heavenly. On to France tomorrow.
Today we went to two must see sights in Barcelona. We started the morning on a panoramic bus tour of the city. The highlight was Placa de Catalunya. It is the highest point in the city and has amazing views. During the Spanish Civil War and Franco’s rule, it was the sight of many deaths. The city has now taken it and made it place to celebrate peace and nature.
Later, we went to the La Sagrada Familia, the church designed by Gaudi has been under construction since 1852. No matter what your religious beliefs, it is an awe inspiring place. I took a lot of pictures, but they can’t do it justice. There is so much detail and symbolism in ever space.
