Pre-session Summer 2018
(May 16-May 30) 
What I would deem my best 10 photos, although it was very hard to choose:
...
Author: MandyMcGuigan
The eventual (unfortunate) end of my adventures in Italy were centered in Milan; two days staying in the fashion capital of the world was certainly not enough to soak everything in but we attempted to. The first day we arrived in Milan from Bologna by way of a surprisingly short train ride; even the train station in Milan was beautiful, the large arched ceilings really set the bar high for the rest of the city. After dropping off our things at the hotel we ventured out to get lunch, this time in a fairly small restaurant, still serving great food that was typical for Italy and completely atypical to what I am having at home now. Following lunch we regrouped in the hotel lobby to take Milan’s Metro to the Duomo— which was alike but also completely different that Florence’s Duomo. Both were breathtaking but Florence’s Duomo was angular leading up to the grand dome while in Milan your eyes are drawn up and up to the spires guarding the rooftop. Walking through the spires was definitely my favorite part of being in Milan itself, I loved being able to get a look at the city from the top especially because there were many less steps involved than climbing to the top of Florence’s Duomo! Day two in Milan was spent venturing through the different lakeside towns of Lake Como. While we did not see George Clooney, there were still more than enough beautiful sights to take in. It was so refreshing to walk through and up the winding streets of Varenna, Bellagio and Como itself, the lake constantly lapping in the distance. It all felt like a dream, the sun shining on the water, the view of the Alps in the distance, just overall having one last good day with some new friends. Unfortunately though as we attempted to leave Como we boarded the wrong train and made a brief detour into Switzerland. While I was admittedly very stressed during the moment, once we made it back to Como and re-purchased tickets to Milan I felt myself begin to breathe again. We had to wait about an hour for our train, then take it back to Milan, which was another hour, then navigate the Metro to the stop by the hotel; I will never forget walking up those final Metro steps to see the rest of our friends calmly finishing up their gelato and just feeling myself being to laugh at the sheer ridiculousness of our past few hours. Overall Milan was great and I recommend going but I know that myself, Angelina, Marissa, Calie, and Chase all highly suggest taking a stop in Switzerland (although don’t follow our example to get there).
...
Yesterday evening we made it to Bologna; the rain and dark skies made the city seem the least lively of everywhere that we have been so far but luckily the sun came out with bright blue skies today. Our first and only guided stop was to the University of Bologna and its operating theatre— not something I would normally be interested in seeing but it was pretty special to see because of the historical significance of it. The operating theatre was very different from what I thought it was going to look like, besides the raised table in the middle of the room and the seats lining the edges. The ceiling of the room and the walls were all carved wood decorated with animals, busts, and one or two anatomically correct figures. More importantly though we were able to go inside this meeting/class room in the university. This room was also grandly decorated but this time with painted and wooden crests on the upper halves of the walls while the lower halves were covered by locked bookshelves that were sorted by topic and contained books written in a multitude of languages. There was also a locked, gated doorway that lead into an archives room with an innumerable amount of books from all ages. I feel like the books were definitely what impressed upon me the historical importance of the university as a whole, especially because of the overwhelming feeling I got from the archives room. Bologna was a very cool city to experience, mainly because of the change of pace and structural differences it provided contrasted against everywhere that we’ve been before.
...I chose to go to Venezia for the free day because I didn’t think I could go to Italy without visiting one of the world’s most unique cities. The train ride was early and I found myself falling asleep for a majority of it but once we hit the last stop before Venice I was wide awake and amazed by the water on either side of the tracks; it seemed exactly like something unreal from a movie. I thought I was entranced by that but walking outside of the train station into the main piazza was something I will never forget; the crowds of people, the boats, the grand canal and all of the amazing architecture. We spent hours walking around just attempting to take everything in without getting lost. It seemed like almost every shop had Venetian glass and masks, yet all were still so different from each other. A highlight of the day was definitely taking a gondola, right as it was starting to get towards sunset. We got lucky in that our gondolier was nice enough to point some things out as we passed by them in the boat, like the neighborhood that is one of the last to be inhabited solely by Venetians. My favorite part though was definitely going to see the Rialto Bridge the next morning. When I had the Shakespeare class I loved reading The Merchant of Venice, so it was an incredible feeling walking up the bridge that inspired Shakespeare himself enough to be the main point of reference for the story. The bridge felt larger than life, it was incredible seeing all of the people going about their business on or while passing under the bridge. I will never forget Venice and I feel like one day was simply not enough so I look forward to returning one day.
...Florence has been amazing so far, I can’t believe that I’ve been in a city that is so steeped in history and culture, especially one that seems to have something new around every corner. I was most excited to the Uffizi Gallery because it is home to Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus. The Uffizi was created by a member of the Medici family in order to hold government offices for Florence but was later repurposed because of the amount of artwork that the Medicis owned and later gave to the city. I had always wanted to see The Birth of Venus and was overjoyed I would finally be able to on this trip. It was everything I dreamed of and more and was also breathtaking in person. It was entirely worth waiting about ten minutes in order to be able to move through the crowd and get to stand right in front of it. I was able to see Botticelli’s brushstrokes and all of the time and energy he clearly put into it. It is amazing to me to be able to see the sense of pride a single painting is able to imbue in a city, even all this time after the Renaissance. Following that there are many iterations of Botticelli’s Venus hidden around the city; spray-painted on walls, hidden on the sides of buildings, just about everywhere visible. They all feature Venus in her signature pose with different colors/outfits on her and all are incredibly interesting to see because they give insight to the inspiration that the artist had found before creation. The most recent Venus I found shows her wearing a swimsuit along with a snorkel and goggles. Also while at the Uffizi I was able to see Botticelli’s Spring complete with his muse Venus. This was another breathtaking painting that really showcases the beauty and love coming out of the Renaissance and so I created a quick sketch of Venus in my notebook (pictured).
...
Roma has been absolutely amazing so far; every day has felt weeks long, but in the best kind of way. I find myself returning to our hotel exhausted yet continually thrilled and wanting to turn right back around. The people, the culture, the food, the architecture, the sights– I could keep going on and possibly never stop. Walking to get gelato and casually being told that the nondescript wall to my left is from the original wall around Roma, stepping out of the dark of the metro station to see the Colosseum rising before me, up the hill to the Roman Forum to be able to look down at the ruins, forever craning my neck around and around to see the Sistine Chapel in all its glory, squinting through the sudden darkness of St. Peter’s Basilica and having my breath taken away, the first hot sip of a (very necessary) cappuccino, wandering through the streets and suddenly coming upon the Trevi Fountain– Roma just gives and gives. There has not been a single thing that I have not been able to fully enjoy; even getting lost or any other missteps can be forgiven because they have proven to be worth it in the end. I could spend the next two weeks here and not be fully satisfied that I’ve experienced enough. My favorite part (beyond being able to sit for a moment in St. Peter’s Basilica) would probably have been when a group of us were heading for the Trevi Fountain: wandering through the streets with some sense of purpose but constantly stopping and pointing out other things that interested us (gelato shops, dogs, vespas, flowering vines growing up buildings, nasoni) then walking through one final line of people to see the Trevi Fountain underneath us. The sound of the water flowing echoed through the Trevi square, undercutting the people laughing and calling to each other. Everything just seemed so much brighter and up close the water was clear and crisp, punctuated only by the careful plunk of coins being thrown into the fountain. It seemed like we just stumbled upon this treasure, like it did not actually belong to the square it presides within. It was amazing. And so (partially) in the (supposed) words of Julius Caesar to the Roman Senate: veni, vidi, amavi. I came, I saw, I loved.
...