My trip to Italy

VIDEO

 

WRITING

Hi I'm Elie and today I'm going to talk about my end-of-year school trip to Italy. My class and I visited Sirmione, Verona, Venice, Florence, Lucca and Pisa.

We woke up really early on Monday to be at school at 5:15 am, to take the bus that brought us to the Barcelona airport. Our flight was very short so we were in Milan by 10:30. As soon as we arrived, we took another bus to Sirmione. We shot some pretty cute pictures there by the lake and then had our first Italian pizza for lunch! Everyone was very nice from the beginning. We spent the rest of the day in Verona, Romeo and Juliet's city. The Arena was huge and the city in general was charming. At night we just fooled around and went to sleep.

The following day we had breakfast and ran to the train station. It was Venice day: my favourite day. We visited the famous square of San Marcos and saw stunning buildings. We also went on a gondola ride and honestly, it was lovely. My expectations weren't that high. In the afternoon we returned by train to Verona and spent our last night there.

Next morning was calorie-burning! So we were in the Verona's train station with all our suitcases and everything and some of us were just way too excited to go to Florence that were running around? I don't know, we just got lost and instead of stressing out we had a lot of fun searching for the other part of the group. We luckily found the way back to were we had taken the wrong way and found the train. We spent two entire days in Florence. Our hotel was super well placed and we also had a lot of free time there. We ate gelatto and went shopping and had time to really enjoy ourselves. In Florence we visited the Ufizzi Gallery, the Academy, the majestic Sta Maria di Fiore and saw el Ponte Vecchio, la Loggia dels Lanzi and lots of other cool stuff. We had a blast there.

On the last day we visited Lucca and Pisa, but on the way we stopped at a viewpoint with really good views of Florence. Lucca was pretty much my idea of what Tuscany looks like. It was a very sunny day and we just decided to sit in a bar and have some drinks and talk. We went for a walk to see the town and then headed to Pisa. We visited the cathedral, the baptistry and the famous tower. Up there we met very nice Japanese people. It was lots of fun. And as the day was ending it was time to say see you to Italy... But! Our trip hadn't ended yet. Our flight was delayed and so we spent about two or three hours waiting in the airport. But it wasn't boring at all! We met people from Llagostera and even realized we had known some of them when we were kids! As we waited we sang and talked and laughed. And, although no one was ready to say goodbye to Italy, we got on the plane and returned home.

About a free time activity

Day 1:

I've just joined the Adopt a Grandparent project, a group of volunteers who believe spending time with old people that stay in a retirement home helps them feel happier. I volunteer with a friend at a retirement home near my town's church. Volunteering there it's just a really good way to forget about problems for a while and learn things about the past. I spent de first day visiting all the rooms and meeting Maria, our “fake” grandmother. She's already 100 years old but she's truly still young at heart!

Day 2:

I went to the old-people's house today. The project's been amazing so far. Maria explained us about herself and the time she lived in France. Núria and I laughed a lot but we barely talked. I mean, Maria was talking all the time! But we do feel very useful. Old people feel alone sometimes, and I guess it's nice having someone young you can share your experiences with.

Day 3:

I've been thinking on what I want to do when I get older a lot lately. And I'm really not sure. That's why I'm planning to organize myself a gap year between high school and college, so that I have more time to decide what I want to study. And while searching on the Internet, I read about becoming an AuPair! AuPairs in the US live with an American family for a year or more and they take care of their children. I love children as much as I love old people, so that's a perfect program for me! And I also want to travel a lot so, can it be better? Anyways that's gonna be in 2 years so I'll have to wait untill then!

The family Stone

PLOT

Set in the fictional town of Thayer, Massachusetts, the story focuses on Meredith Morton (Sarah Jessica Parker), a successful Manhattan executive whose uptight, conservative demeanor is a sharp contrast to that of her boyfriend Everett Stone (Dermot Mulroney) and his liberal and rambunctious family.

Meredith, feeling very much an outsider during the Christmas holidays with Everett's family, opts to stay at the local inn instead of with the family and asks her sister Julie (Claire Danes) to join her for support. Everett finds himself attracted to the more outgoing Julie. Meredith desperately tries to fit in, but her strained attempt to play charades and a clumsy effort to engage the family in a dinner table discussion about nature versus nurture and sexual orientation prove to be disastrous and their father, Kelly Stone (Craig T. Nelson), the most understanding of the family, blows up at her. Distraught, Meredith attempts to drive off but crashes the car, and Everett's brother Ben (Luke Wilson) comes to comfort her. The two end up at a local bar where, after several drinks, Meredith begins to enjoy herself. She invites Amy's high school flame and local paramedic, Brad Stevenson (Paul Schneider), to the Stones' for Christmas breakfast. The following morning, when she awakens in Ben's bed, she incorrectly assumes their night of revelry ended with the two having sex together.

Christmas proves to be a day of accusations, recriminations, self-discoveries, and attempts to mend fences. Sybil, who originally refused Everett's request for his grandmother's ring, reconsiders her position and offers it to him; but, by now, his feelings for Meredith have shifted to her sister. In a moment of emotional confusion – or clarity – he asks Julie to try on the ring, and it gets stuck. When Julie and Meredith lock themselves in the bathroom to get the ring off, they assume Everett is about to propose to Meredith. The family exchanges gifts; and Meredith, oblivious to Sybil's failing health, presents each with a framed enlarged photograph of Sybil taken when she was pregnant with Amy. Everyone is touched by her gesture, and Meredith relaxes slightly; but, when Everett asks to talk to her, she demurs again and again until she blurts out that she will not marry him. He counters that he didn't plan to ask her. Meredith breaks down in front of the family. All the personality conflicts come to a head, and everyone begins the process of healing.

One year later, the family reunites at the Stone house. Meredith and Ben are a couple, as are Everett and Julie and Amy and Brad. Everett's brother Thad and his partner Patrick have adopted a baby boy named Gus, and Everett's other sister, Susannah, has had her baby. It is hinted that Sybil died. She is referenced as the family gathers with family Christmas ornaments around the tree. The framed photograph of Sybil is on the wall next to the tree and Amy is wearing her ring.

CHARACTERS:

	Claire Danes	...	Julie Morton
	Diane Keaton	...	Sybil Stone
	Rachel McAdams	...	Amy Stone
	Dermot Mulroney	...	Everett Stone
	Craig T. Nelson	...	Kelly Stone
	Sarah Jessica Parker	...	Meredith Morton
	Luke Wilson	...	Ben Stone
	Tyrone Giordano	...	Thad Stone (as Ty Giordano)
	Brian White	...	Patrick Thomas
	Elizabeth Reaser	...	Susannah Stone Trousdale
	Paul Schneider	...	Brad Stevenson
	Savannah Stehlin	...	Elizabeth Trousdale
	Jamie Kaler	...	John Trousdale
	Robert Dioguardi	...	David Silver

REVIEW

Not gonna lie. It's an entertaining movie but it's not a "good one". The plot is easy to guess and not very original. It's one of those movies you're going to have fun with while watching them but that at the end of the day you're not going to remember what was it that you liked. It's a copy of a copy, not saying it's a bad thing but that's what it is.

TRAILER

FILM 1: TITANIC

In 1912, the Titanic, the world's most luxurious passenger ship, set out across the Atlantic for New York City. It would never see it's destination.

1500 people were on the ship, some first class, others restrained to the lower decks where windows were limited. Either way, the passengers on board the Titanic held high hopes, not because it was deemed "the unsinkable ship" but because they were leaving their past behind them and preparing for a new life in America.

To Jack, a homeless artist, winning two tickets on the luxery liner was the best thing that ever happened to him. His life, as well as everyone else on the ship, would be changed forever. Even before he discovered the fate of the Titanic did he know what his destiny was; he met Rose.

Rose was a troubled young woman living in a rich society, engaged to a millionaire that her mother had sought out. She was living in a fantasy, a fantasy that she didn't want, and she was looking for a way out.

Jack heroically saved Rose's life and was immediately thrust into her world though no one knew he fit in. He was the only one that could see the anguish that Rose was in... He was the only one who could get her out of it.

Their love affair would be cut short. Nighttime was a dangerous time for ships in that time period, manually having to look for obstructions in the ocean. Titanic's crew saw the iceberg too late and they struck it, the side of their hull ripping to shreds. The unsinkable ship was going to sink and more than half of the people on board were going to die.

MAIN CHARACTERS

Jack Dawson was a 20-year-old artist from Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. Orphaned at the age of 15, he worked a variety of jobs. After a stint as a logger, he came to Santa Monica, California, where he drew portraits on the pier for 10 cents apiece. Working his way from place to place on tramp steamers and similar accommodations, he went to Paris where he studied art. Subsequently, he found himself able to return to his native land in the grandest style possible for one with no money: sailing on Titanic on a ticket he won in a poker game.

Rose DeWitt Bukater born to one of the very best families in Philadelphia, was a mere 17 years old when she became engaged to Caledon Hockley. Intelligent, poised, and beautiful, Rose had been schooled since childhood to be everything a young woman of society was expected to be. Rose's betrothal to Hockley, heir to a Pittsburgh steel fortune, was considered an admirable catch, a perfect pairing of wealth and social position. Yet her spirit rebelled against the rigid confines and expectations of Edwardian society controlling her destiny.

Caledon Hockley was the 30-year-old scion of a wealthy Pittsburgh steel family. Handsome, self-confident, rich beyond meaning, he aspired to sophistication and insisted on propriety. He found in Rose DeWitt Bukater a suitable young woman to fill the role of wife in his aristocratic future, and he presented her to his peers with the pride of ownership, basking in others' reaction to her beauty and her pedigree. As a wedding present for her, he purchased one of the largest and most valuable diamonds in the world, the legendary blue stone once worn by Louis XVI known as the Coeur de la Mer - the Heart of the Ocean.

PERSONAL OPINION

I really enjoyed watching this movie once again. I've seen it many times but I still like it a lot. Jack and Rose make the perfect couple and Titanic it's the ultimate love story, apart from Romeo and Juliet. Loved it although it's a very sad film.

Writing a formal letter

17 1-1 Barca Street

Banyoles

17820

Leah's productions

21 Blue Moon Road

Banyoles

17820

Thursday 5^th November

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing to complain about your new movie, which I purchased online last week as a birthday present for my younger son.

As advertisements for the movie had been broadcast between programmes for children, I thought that the product would appeal to them. The advertisments also made the movie look innocent and fun, which is why I decided to buy it. However, my husband and I think the movie is actually extremely violent and the content is totally inappropiate for children under 10. I had to switch off the TV when I was watching it with my son. He was absolutely terrified and it ruined his birthday evening.

Furthermore, we were schocked to see that the game promotes bad behaviour. Too many of the characters behave in a completely unacceptable way, which your company should not encourage.

Until now, I had always been really impressed with your company and associated your DVDs with quality entertainment. It is very sad that you are promoting such material. Under the circumstances, I would be grateful if you could give me a full refund. Please find the receipt attached.

I look forward to hearing from you in the near future.

Yours faithfully,

Elie Veciana

Halloween

Sleepy Hollow - Tim Burton

PLOT

In 1799, New York City police constable Ichabod Crane (Johnny Depp) is facing imprisonment for going against traditional methods and favoring forensic investigation techniques, such as autopsies, considered unorthodox and unimportant at the time. Ichabod submits to deployment with his bag of tools to the Westchester County of Sleepy Hollow, New York, which has been plagued by a series of brutal slayings in which the victims have been found decapitated: Peter Van Garrett , wealthy farmer and landowner; his son Dirk; and the widow Emily Winship. Arriving in Sleepy Hollow, Crane is informed by the town's elders that the killer is not of flesh and blood, but rather an undead headless mercenary from the American Revolutionary War who rides at night on a massive black steed in search of his missing head.

TRAILER

CHARACTERS' DESCRIPTION (list of adjectives):

• Ichabod Crane: loyal friend, duty-driven man, loves his wife and son.
• Katrina Van Tassel: feminine, kind, smart, loving, ...
• Young Masbath; loyal and brave
• Brom Van Burnt
• Baltus Van Tassel
• Lady Van Tassel
• Reverend Steenwyck
• Magistrate Samuel Philipse
• Dr. Thomas Lancaster
• Notary James Hardenbrook
• Killian, Beth's husband
• Beth Killian, the Midwife
• Peter Van Garrett

VOCABULARY (15 NEW WORDS)

OPINION: Did you like the movie? Why?

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Hi Emily,

How are you? What have you been doing since I saw you last? You won't believe it, but I got to visit the US this summer!

I used to be very scared about traveling without my parents, but I decided to go anyways. What could happen? Well, I'm glad I did because it made a real impression on me! I stayed with an American family and we did lots of different sorts of stuff. I surfed, went shopping, did some tourism around... It was a great time, so I'm really pleased. Basically, It was a very good way to learn English and have a lot of fun at the same time.

Has that ever happened to you? I mean, have you had an opinion about doing something but then you've done it and changed your mind?

Anyway, I've got to go now, otherwise I'll be late for my piano lesson. Keep in touch!

Take care,

Eli