My trip to 'Eataly'

This past holiday season, Lynbrook High School Italian teachers Maddalena Coletta and Leonard Bruno, took their Italian 1 and Italian 5H classes into Manhattan to taste authentic Italian food and for the opportunity to look at the Christmas tree in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The students didn’t seem to mind the frigid weather as they took pictures by the tree at Rockefeller Center and watched the ice skaters gliding gracefully across the ice.

The next part of the trip was to a new Italian restaurant, Eataly, on 5th Avenue, where the students got to taste authentic Italian food.

The establishment is made up of different eateries where one can choose from pizza, pasta, fish, meat, bread and desserts, and it also includes a large marketplace inside that offers all Italian ingredients and products.

High school senior Ryan Kropas said he felt that Eataly was “an overpriced piece of Italy, but it was an interesting and fun experience.”

While the price was viewed by some as expensive, the quality of the food seemed to make up for the price, in many students’ point of views. Senior Marissa Keane, who has grandparents from Sicily and who has visited Italy herself said, “Eataly made me feel as if I were back in Italy because all the food was prepared exactly the same way as it is in Italy. The pizza tasted exactly the same and the gelato was really authentic and delicious. I did not mind paying a little more money for real Italian food.” After filling up on plenty of bread and pasta, the students got back into the bus and arrived at the Metropolitan Museum of Art shortly after.

At the museum, the students enjoyed some free time to view the parts of the museum that most interested. This turned out to be time well spent for all of the students who got to see the Christmas tree in the museum in person and then got to view the other interesting things the museum had to offer At the end of the day, the student’s agreed that the trip had been a success, offering them a fun and educational way to learn about Italy. “It was a new take on learning the Italian culture, and it was an educational experience,” said senior Ayman Khan.

Ultimately, due to the hard work and effort of LHS Italian teacher, Maddalena Coletta, who put this trip together, the school’s Italian students were given the opportunity to celebrate this holiday season, Italian style, and learned various things about the Italian culture in the process.