Pre-session Summer 2018
(May 16-May 30) 
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Author: Sarah.Snee
The last stop on the incredible tour of Italy was Milano, a city I only remember learning about during my Italian class in highschool where we had to remember a handful of major cities in the country. I had zero expectations, except for the idea that I would be seeing a lot of supermodels who dressed better than I did. (That part was true). I had no idea that there was a Duomo in Milan (now I find it strange when I arrive in a city where there ISN’T a duomo to climb to the top of) but I was eager to see it because the duomo in Florence still remains to be my favorite piece of architecture, although Milan’s comes very, very close. As I expected, the duomo took my breath away. It looked so out of place and unmoving in an eerie sort of way. I couldn’t stop taking pictures of it in the hopes that I could capture its essence. I didn’t, of course, but at least I tried. Climbing to the top was far less challenging than Florence’s duomo (although I wouldn’t know firsthand) but surely just as worth it. I remember standing at the top staring out across the city. I’m not sure how long we all stood up there. Again, I felt out of touch with time wandering around such a historic monument. I wish I could articulate the feeling. The last day of the trip, we were given the option to travel to Lake Como. After seeing some of the images, I knew I had no choice but to go, and I’m so, so glad that I did. It was the perfect way to end the trip even though the morning was pretty stressful. We only had about ten-ish minutes to buy our tickets and find seats on the train, but, thank goodness for Dr. Permenter, we all made it in time. My favorite part of the day was spent in Bellagio, which is about an hour’s boat ride from Lake Como. It was the quaintest little town filled with small shops and restaurants. Although slightly touristy, Bellagio still felt authentic. My friends and I all wandered around for awhile before stopping to sit as close to the water as we could get. It was a beautiful day. I remember closing my eyes and just listening to the sound of the water hitting the rocks and the seagulls from above me. We even saw a mother duck swimming along with her babies, which was probably the cutest thing I had seen. We all ate at a really nice restaurant where I had the best ravioli I have ever had (RIP) and then we got gelato as well, which I’m sure Dr. O’Connor would be proud of. After that we regretfully got on the boat to Lake Como, which was still very nice but nothing compared to the beauty of Bellagio, at least in my opinion. I wish I could relive that day over...
Before travelling to Poppi, one of my classmates and I were assigned the presentation to the rest of the classes on various aspects of the city; so I had a small idea of where we would be travelling the following day. However, I surely didn’t comprehend exactly how small Poppi was until I stepped off of the bus onto the cobblestone roads and truly took it all in. Compared to Florence and Rome, Poppi was a fraction of the size and population–it was the breath of fresh air that I needed. I didn’t expect to love it as much as I did, especially the whole staying the night in a convent thing, but Poppi now holds a very special place in my heart. There wasn’t a single tourist in sight. I remember seeing the families walking through the streets with their children. I couldn’t understand a single word they were saying, but they were all smiling and laughing. Once we got settled into our rooms at the convent and found a small cafe to get water and snacks at, we eventually found the bar/restaurant that had WiFi (of course we were all searching for it). We all had a few drinks and mostly just sat around and talked. I remember finally feeling relaxed. Well, maybe it was from the drinks that I had, but sitting outside right next to an amazing view of Poppi and the vast expansion of hills and mountains, I felt content. In the other cities I always felt stressed and on edge, but Poppi was the unexpected getaway that we all needed. Travelling to the ancient castles was also an unforgettable experience. I always get a strange feeling whenever I visit a place with so much history, almost as though I’m out of touch with reality. I find it hard to understand just how much took place on the same land that I walked on centuries before me. Even now I find it hard to describe how I felt staring out into the fog that had settled beneath the hilltop and out from around where we stood near the same castle Dante had visited himself. Whether or not I’ll ever be able to find the words I need, I enjoyed Poppi immensely. I never expected for such a small place to affect me so greatly, which sounds extremely cliche, but, I’ve found out, most of the time they’re true.
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I was so excited to travel to Venice for the free day available to us during our week in Florence. I had seen so many pictures of the city and was fascinated with the concept of the entire city being built upon the water. When we stepped off the train and outside right along the canal, everyone in the group was speechless. The entire vibe of the city is so entirely different than any of the other cities we have visited so far. There were no cars in Venice, rightly so, which added to the city’s sense of quaintness and the streets, besides the one by the main canal, were small and tightly packed. There were an abundance of dogs running around, usually without a leash, and one could always hear the water as busses, taxies, and gondolas moved throughout it. All of the buildings were either pink, yellow, or tan, which made for great pictures. I couldn’t get enough of the city. I also couldn’t believe we only had one day there. The first thing a few of my friends and I did in Venice was go to a tattoo shop to see if they would be able to take walk-in appointments. I had already gotten my own tattoo in Florence, but my other friends wanted one too. Fortunately the shop took all three of them, and we spent about two hours there. Mandy got the word tre on her wrist, Kaleb got a square inside of a circle, and Chase got a compass on his back. All of their tattoos were connected with the course and with Italy itself, so we were all really happy with the entire experience. After that, we all decided to go meet with the group for gondola rides because it would be stupid to miss out on an opportunity like that when you are only in Venice for a single day. The experience was amazing. As soon as the gondolier takes the gondola outside of the main canal, everything becomes quiet. All you can hear is the sound of the water, a few voices talking within the narrow streets, and the birds or seagulls flying in the air. It was an absolutely gorgeous day and the gondola ride, for the lack of a better phrase, was the icing on the cake. I wish we would have been able to stay in Venice for more than a day, but I’m happy with the day that I got that only made me want to come back more.
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The past few days in Rome have been a mixture of exhaustion, excitement, awe, and lots of rain. It has been hard for me to think about what to focus on in this blog since there have been so many adventures. I found my favorite building in all of Italy (so far) which is the Duomo, or the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. The architecture of the Cathedral is absolutely breathtaking and was the first building that we have seen on the trip that truly made me stop in my steps in awe. When I am writing this blog, my group has not been able to climb to the top of the Duomo yet, so I am sure once we do that my mind will be changed. The architecture and history of Florence has been extremely interesting to learn about, especially in terms of the Dante course I am taking while on this trip. It is crazy to stand beside the building Dante was baptized in and walk the same streets that he did before his exile by the Pope. Reading his Inferno while exploring the city each day adds a new layer of appreciation and understanding that could never be reached in a regular classroom back in America. It is also impossible to skip over the day where the group visited Michelangelo’s sculpture of David. I have never been into sculpting or particularly interested in paintings, so I was surprised at how deeply moved I felt when walking into the hallway and seeing the massive sculpture at the end. My friends and I must have spent forty minutes looking up at the face of David, but we couldn’t look away. Every time the light shifted or I walked a few steps one way or the other, my entire perspective changed. I never expected to have this kind of reaction to a sculpture of a figure that I’m not necessarily very educated on, but I loved seeing him and spending time with it. I also never expected him to be so large and unforbidding. While the time in Florence has been amazing, I’m definitely excited to travel to more cities and divulge in the culture of the country as we go.
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Rome, in its impenetrable and unmoving beauty, has been an experience I will never forget. While there were so many sites and experiences tightly packed in a two day time period, and there were various moments of stress and uncomfortability, I would not change anything. I could talk for ages about the Colosseum or the Roman Forum and how surreal it was to see such ancient structures full of rich history, but I found that my most memorable moments in Rome the past two days came from the small moments of walking through the crowded streets with my friends, ordering gelato for the first time, eating a croissant and a latte in a small cafe, and riding in a taxi with my professors. (Okay, seeing the Sistine Chapel in person and the Pantheon, and all of the buildings, in truth, was something unable to be explained until one sees them personally, but I digress.) The first night in Rome, my friends and I walked a little way from the hotel to a restaurant called Ristorante 3 Archi. We eventually found out that it was called this because, naturally, there were three arches inside the restaurant, but we sat outside. Our waiter, who we found out was named Memo, was very kind and offered us a discount on our food. We all ate pizza, and, despite being in a state of exhaustion and culture shock, all enjoyed ourselves in the cool night air. On our last night in Rome, this Saturday, my friends and I decided to eat at Ristorante 3 Archi one last time to visit Memo because we had told him we would come back. He was so excited to see us and even gave us his business card at the end of the night. I have included the picture that we all took at the end of the night as we finally said goodbye to Memo and his delicious food that he was so proud to present to us each night. I was always told that Italians were proud people who valued their relationships with every person they happened to meet, but experiencing the kindness and hospitality from a stranger was so nice and made me feel so much more comfortable in the unfamiliar city. I will never forget the small moments during these days in Rome, as well as experiencing all of the iconic monuments that one simply must see in order to truly be submerged in Italian culture. The drawing I am including in this post is from outside of the ancient Pantheon. Before we went inside, the class all sat and admired it from afar on the steps of a fountain across from the Pantheon. While standing there, I noticed a strange looking animal sculpted into the fountain. I soon found out from Dr. O’Connor that it was some form of dolphin hybrid that was very popular within the culture; he said we would be seeing them a lot, especially in Florence. While we waited...
