It’s nice having Daniella and Michelle around, they work in the office for the building and live in the area. Daniella gave us all a tour of the town, stopping at all of the important buildings. The Villa Maderni, where we are staying, actually is historically important during the time when the region was fighting for dependence. The villa was sieged and broken into in order to convince the Bernasconis to not resist the movement. We also visited the local baptistry, Tempio di Santa Croce (probably the wealthiest family that ever lived here, their villa used to have gates leading to the lake and now serves as the town hall), These are some photos I took while touring the area. It’s funny how none of us know any Italian and it seems like I’m the only one in the group that has studied Italian language; only knowing a little bit of the language, I was able to have a small conversation with an old woman walking alongside us during the tour. Despite the brevity in my answers to her questions, I was able to communicate. We’ll see how the language barrier goes, but this short encounter at least gave me some confidence with the language.
jfkoes 
What beautiful pictures! I look forward to following your blog as you experience your summer abroad.
What a beautiful town. It looks so quiet and peaceful.
Being able to understand and speak Italian is such a bonus for you.
Speaking with the locals will really enrich your experience!
Nanny is thrilled to be reading your blog!