Italian with fossils

I went to stay with Elena as a last effort to become fluent in Italian. For 7 or 8 years I have attempted to learn by going to day time and evening classes, reading self help books, listening to tapes and CDs [La Camera dei Segreti is recommended] and many novels [one or two to the end]. I ended up being able to read Corriere della Sera but not to understand what people were saying in Italian and completely incapable of expressing myself. This was not a good situation when I have an Italian girlfriend whose family does not speak English.
I decided to stay with a family, brush up my Italian not speak English. Elena's was the family. She provided me with good food and wine, Italian lessons and conversation, and an excellent room with television [used, of course, for speech comprehension]. The weather not good and therefore TV and books were used more than expected. However Elena one day took me on a trip up the Brembo valley on the search for Triassic reptiles. We visited Zogno Museum and saw the fossils which had been found in the area. We did not look for them since it is illegal to collect fossils in Italy - they are allowed to weather away to dust.
At the end of the holiday or rather work I did feel more confident and more capable both in understanding and speaking. I succeeded in taking a big step on the way to becoming fluent. All it need now is more practice!