Pre-session Summer 2018
(May 16-May 30) 
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Author: marissawhite
On our very last full day of the Italy trip we had the choice to go around Milan or Lake Como. I took the opportunity and saved 30 euro for train tickets and spending money while we are there. I am so happy that I chose to. There was about 15 of us maybe less that went and we all got very close. We separated into small groups and wondered the 3 different cities. First we got a train ticket from Milan to Varenna. The view just at Varenna was breathtaking. Being so close to the Swiss Alps was unreal. Then a ferry from Varenna to Bellagio. Then another long ferry ride to Como. Walking around Como was interesting. We weren’t exactly sure where we were going to go or what we were going to do. We walked around just looking at sights we haven’t seen before and explored. Once we had spent most of the day hopping from city to city we decided to head back to Milan. What seemed to be an easy and not long train ride turned into something much worse. We walked a mile to the train station that was supposed to take us to Milan. We went to to platform that we thought was taking us back to the central train station in Milan. We hopped on the train and settled in for the ride. It wasn’t even five minutes and I got a text message saying “Welcome to Switzerland! Data and texting rates apply where you are located.” We realised we weren’t going in the right direction and started to worry. There were 5 of us in the group and one of us didn’t have our passport in case something happened. We went inside and looked at trains back into italy and found one that left in 5 minutes to go back to Como. We weren’t thinking, so we didn’t buy train tickets we just went out to the platform and waited to get on. The bad part about that was we didn’t have tickets for that train and could’ve gotten into big trouble. We lucked out though. We got back into Como and bought new train tickets for Milan and made sure to get on the right train to Milan. We made it back after 2 hours of going to another country and coming back.
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When talking about going to Poppi I wasn’t exactly sure how big it would be. We took about an hour to an hour and a half bus ride from Florence to Poppi. We arrived there in the morning and had the rest of the day planned out. We visited the Castello di Romena and then had an Italian speaking lesson. We learned about the castles and their history as well how to introduce ourselves and describe how our appearance is. The next morning we went to the Poppi castle that was located right in front of where we were staying. As we went to bed the night before we could see the castle lit up with lights from our window. We ate breakfast and then headed out to get a tour of the inside of the castle. I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect, but what I had saw blew my mind. What shocked me the most was the library in the castle. It had so many different books that were all handwritten. They were all the original copies on display in the exhibition. Also, the fact that we get to climb to the top of the tower was a once in a life time opportunity. The bell at the top goes off every half hour so when we had climbed to the top we had the lovely chance to hear the bell from standing right underneath of it. Once we had finished our tour and another Italian lesson we got to walk around the castle and take pictures. I found this spot on the one side covered in ivy. So I took it upon myself to take some pictures with the beautiful background.
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The last few days of being in Florence we all had the opportunity to climb to the top of the duomo and or the tower. Maddie, Calie, and I chose the duomo. We climbed up 463 stairs to get to the top. I had no idea that tourists could even make an appointment to climb to the top. We made an appointment for Friday the 24th at noon. We figured that would give us time to do things in the morning and enough time to climb it before class. When going up I wasn’t sure what to expect but the small spiral staircase wasn’t it. There was just a regular staircase that had a few turns but nothing too crazy. Going up there were small windows to look out and see how far you were up. Once we were about half way, it took us to an upper deck with a railing. that took us from one side to another. From that point on, we started the long trek up many steep steps. None of them were just like going up a regular set of stairs. It took us only about 20 minutes to get from street level to the amazing birds eye view from the top of the duomo. Once reaching the top it was the most rewarding feeling in the world. nothing compares to climbing up the 463b stairs to get to see the most beautiful view I have ever seen. We spent about a half an hour at the top just looking at everything. Going from one side to the other in awe. I knew that climbing that was only a chance of a lifetime so I am glad that I took the opportunity to do so.
...Florence another beautiful city in Italy. In this city I found art everywhere I looked. From lots of graffiti on the walls in alleys to the museums that hold the remarkable art by Michelangelo and many others. What caught my eye the most was walking around the streets venturing to find our way back to the apartment to sleep was this women. I mean to anyone else it is just a woman on a wall looking at you. To me I saw what was put into it. The time and effort. Drawing a portrait takes time and a lot of patience. A true portrait takes hours even days to complete depending on the scale of it. This one was rather small but had a lot of detail put into very line and shading aspect. I couldn’t even begin to explain how one had done this but I was truly captured by this artwork. Granted, it may considered to be just every other kind of graffiti but it was abstract art to me. Another thing that had caught my interest on the first few days of being in Florence is the sculpture of David. In all honesty I had knew nothing about the statue or the purpose of it. I had found out that Michelangelo had created the piece when he was only 26 years old and it had taken him 4 years to finish. The statue is placed in a museum with other unfitted statues due to starting the sculpture of David. David itself is huge, its placed in a dome with the top closed with glass so the sun can shine down on David and possibly make him look different.
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As a young kid my family never traveled very far outside of our home town. So, traveling to another country was something that I never got to experience. For my first out of the country trip, I am delighted to say that I am glad we get to travel to different cities and learn about topics in each one. Today we traveled to the pantheon, it was built in 118 A.D., so it is almost two-thousand years old. It was built and dedicated for the god of pagan Rome. The inside has a rounded bottom and a top with a dome. On the dome it has squares along the bottom edge until it reaches the top. The mixture of squares with the circles represents renaissance. Or the order within the Roman Empire. At the very top of the dome is a open circle, which isn’t covered by glass. In the middle of the floor is a drain for the rain water to go down, so it doesn’t flood the inside of the Pantheon. There are one in the middle with four other drains accompanying it so it isn’t too much.
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