The item in the top left corner is the statue of Romulus, Remus, and the She-wolf in Rome.  Beneath that is a warning sign for pick pockets on the metro I saw. The thief looks like a ninja.  Below that is the Pantheon and the obelisk outside of it.  In the top middle is a drinking fountain with two small faces in it at the Garden in Florence.  To the right of that is a road sign in Poppi indicating that the castle is ahead, and below that is the castle.  Beneath that is a in ground toilet I saw in Poppi.

This is very late because I was very ill during the trip, and I was very ill afterwards for a handful of days. But hey, better late then never! Here are some things I saw in Italia.     There are a lot of pigeons everywhere. They will fly at your head. They will narrowly miss you. They will invade your personal space. Call them evil in your head and hate them silently. Pigeons know something that you don’t. Sleep with one eye open. This is a picture I drew of the classroom at the University of Rome. At this point, we had just managed not to get dropped in Nowheresville/killed by Italian taxi drivers. We ate a nice buffet lunch and walked to the campus. The room was warm and muggy, but had a certain old-school charm to it. We tried our best to stay alert despite our full stomachs and the warm atmosphere. The lecture was fascinating, and I wish we had more lectures during our stay. Also, I now know that Topolino is the name for Mickey Mouse in Italy. So if you see someone on the street, just say, “Topolino!!” They’ll probably think you’re crazy. This is Chef Marcello! He cooked us an incredible traditional Italian meal. He was very passionate about his work, and made sure to tell us every little detail about our food. While I didn’t absorb too much cooking skill from his cooking demonstration, I left with happy taste buds and an insatiable hunger for Tortelloni. It was just so. good.   The window above David was specifically created so the light would hit him just perfectly. As a photography nerd, I love nice lighting. I thought the window was beautiful and intricate, and it definitely did the job. David was incredible. I think it’s one of those things you just have to experience to fully appreciate it. It was probably one of my favorite sights of the entire trip.   If you have the opportunity to go to Venice, you have to go. You just have to. I instantly fell in love with the place as soon as I stepped out of the Venezia train station. I scribbled down the view from the stairs of the train station. I sat in the same spot for about half an hour, completely silent, just amazed by the beauty of the city. Most of the people on this trip loved Florence, but I think I loved the charm of Venice more. I want to go back when I’m married and just soak up the romance of the city. Maybe take a gondola. It looked like it could be a magical experience.   I had a really bad fever when we were being taught Italian. The room was freezing, too. I tried to distract myself by sketching the view out of the window. It was a nice, sunny day. I was quickly growing tired of being so far from home while sick, honestly. So, my mind was a little bit foggy and...

My time in Italy has been extremely transformative. Comparing it to the lightness essay written Calvino, I believe that I truly experienced lightness. On this trip particularly, I was challenged to confront my anxiety and the fear caused by that. One big fear that I deal with is heights. When I am up in very high places and I know it I feel my arms and legs start to shake, my throat starts to swell shut, and I get light headed before I go into full on panic mode. When visiting the Duomo, I knew that it was going to be a challenge for me. I didn’t realize though, just how much of a challenge it was going to be. As I started ascent, I noticed that the journey upward was confined to narrow, dirty, dark cement walls that was passable for only one person at a time. I did not think that Brunelleschi had in mind that amount of people that would be trafficked in and out of the cathedral when he drew up the plans to have it built. Safe to say, I was already nearing the entrance to my panic zone. My only sense that I got of where I was were tiny square windows every so often showing me that I was getting higher and higher. As I climbed further I felt myself become heavier and more panic induced. I reached the final steps and I climbed up while the whole world opened up in front of me and I truly experienced entering the spiritual lightness. I felt weightless and I felt my anxiety dissipate. I felt connected with God and I felt completely and wholly at peace.

Hi friends, can I start off by saying I miss all of you very much. Friends and family back home keep asking me about Italy and all I can say is that I left my heart there. I am finally getting back to a normal schedule here at the rock, including another summer class…elementary statistics – kill me now please. But anyways, back in Florence when we visited the Medici Chapelle I found myself sitting and writing long after everyone else had left. I don’t know what it is with churches or chapels but I seemed to have rediscovered my voice. So, if you care to read another attempt at poetry please feel free to continue reading. In the 1500’s a boy was born. His name is Michelangelo. I say his name “is” instead of “was” because even though he does not walk among us anymore, he lives through the work he left behind. There’s a legend of a king named Midas who was said that everything he touches turns to gold. Michelangelo turned marble into man canvas into stories, and doubters into believers. The world we live in is a hard place there is pain in every person’s heart, even mine. I relieve memories like nightmares even the daytime can’t erase. Michelangelo had nightmares too. He lost his mother and took a chance on another family – the Medici. Now, I’m not very familiar with the Medici family history, but I know one thing from what Michelangelo left behind. He loved them. I guess in the end it didn’t matter what the Medici family did or who they are I wouldn’t believe what they stories had to say anyways. Because I’m sitting in this beautiful chapel feeling tears rolling down my cheek due to a love story told through art. How much do you have to do to deserve someone’s love great enough to build them a remembrance? I can feel an aching in my heart because I didn’t know this kind of beauty could exist. I didn’t know a love this strong could exist. I didn’t know. And maybe I’ll never know – maybe that’s okay. Maybe we aren’t supposed to understand what love is to someone else. I guarantee that if you asked two people what is love they would give you two different answers. And if you asked twelve people they would give you even more different answers Same with one thousand or six billion. I don’t think love is supposed to be limited by words. I think that maybe love should be felt in a way that words do not define it.   Thank you everyone who made Italy the best two weeks of my life. I’ll never forget you or the places I’ve seen.

Italy impacted me in many ways during our trip. I learned a great amount about the cost, difficulty, and frustrations of traveling which I can use in future trips. Patients and flexibility were truly key as the professors talked about before the trip and I found myself reflecting upon that as conflicts occurred. The language barrier provided a challenge for me that I have never experienced before. Using some Italian I learned during the trip along with hand signals and the occasional demonstration helped me survive. I found myself using a lot of patients and that the Italians would lose theirs before me as they would give up trying to communicate verbally. I enjoyed hearing their spoken language and the language barrier did not shy me away from doing the things I wanted. Taking in the breath taking sights and feeling the sense of “lightness” we were constantly talking about during the trip was huge for me. Not being a previous fan of art and architecture, I can say I now have an appreciation for both and have seen some of the greatest art and architecture ever created. When you stand underneath buildings such as St. Peters or the Sistine Chapel for example, there is a very humbling feeling inside of you that you cannot help to feel. What you are witnessing above, below, and all around is so beautiful and historic that there are no words to explain what you are looking at. It is fascinating that these people have been so dedicated to their art that they can create these pieces that you would think are not possible. Looking at these buildings, sculptures, and paintings allowed me to find deeper meaning in other things I look at in life. I look beyond the face value of art now because I realize that art’s purpose is to portray a deeper meaning. Vatican city had a lot to do with this experience. Overall, I feel like I matured during these two weeks. My morals have strengthened and for some reason I just tend to feel more thankful for everything I have and my loved ones. I felt more independent on this trip then many times even at college. Being in another country just amplified the independence to another level. I was able to go out at night sometimes by myself and just walk around and soak it all in. I got to reflect on personal emotions and everything I was experiencing. I learned how to problem solve more in the two weeks I was on the trip then I could have learned in a year at home. Also, getting lost is not always a bad thing. You may get to see things others may not or you may just learn to be smarter and take the appropriate bus which I learned the hard way. As I sit at home fully adjusted and comfortable, I am so thankful for the opportunity I had to go on the trip and have all...

This is my love letter to the Tuscan mountains… And then you were there. It was as simple as that. And all of your simplicity made my heart spark in its beating place. As a young girl, I used to dream like young girls do. But unlike those young girls who dreamed of finding a love so near, I wished for your comfort, I longed for your gracious space–a far away place, the unknown. And now, being the young woman that I am, I find myself surrounded by your magnificence. How funny it is how time moves. While I once only dreamed of you, I stand now as the young woman that I am, finding comfort in your space–oh how you are vast. I have traveled across the sea to find you, up the side of you into the sky–there are clouds below me–this must be what Heaven is. I have found myself as the young woman that I am within your midst with sun-kissed skin in the Tuscan mountains. What a life we live. Your greatness has overcome me. Your edges fascinate me. Your purity drowns me. How life continues to move… The birds sing your song in the most delicate of notes. You have merged yourself within me, you have fused your vastness with me. As I see your erosion I can feel mine. Maybe we should just let this moment be. Teach me what you will–we will move on anyway. Time has taught us that, hasn’t it? I can only stand here still and focus on what I hope you might tell me. Can you feel the blanket of the sun around you? Can you feel the pull of gravity on you? Isn’t it funny how it all will keep moving–you there, and me here? I will remember your greatness–the comfort that you lent me on this spot. I will remember your love. What is it that is beyond you? Beyond me? Will we meet again? I have fallen in love with this present. I have fallen in love with all that you once were, all that you are, and all that you will be. I have been moved by your space that was created and formed so precisely in that realm of the in-between. Your love is organic, it is stable and wise. My heart has grown since the last visit it has had with my mind. It has been influenced, contorted, and set with a blanket of grace. It has been removed and replaced, hoarded and buried behind the material that makes up my present. You have infused me internally with the external. I have fallen in love with the world.

Some of the best experiences on this trip have been things that I was not sure what to expect before arriving. Most of the time, the things that I thought would not impact me at all are the things I remember most now. Upon arriving to Italy, if someone would have asked me what the Medici Chapel was, I would have looked at them with a dumbfounded expression. Even throughout the week in Florence, I had a view of the chapel outside my window and barely knew what it was or what to expect from the inside. The inside is beautiful, to say the very least. My favorite part had to be the tomb that Michelangelo created for the Medici family. The room was filled with lightness in the darkest of places. Normally a tomb would have a negative atmosphere, but not this room. Every piece was sculpted in the perfect colors and style to bring the best out of the room. The ceiling was a replica of the Pantheon, mixing the idea of the circle and square – the mix of the spiritual and material world, creating the perfect harmony. The more I was in this room, the easier it was to forget that I was surrounded by death. Off in the back of this room, there was also a wall of sketches made by Michelangelo and his workers. Through these, I felt as if I had a glimpse into Michelangelo’s mind and could understand the passion he had for his work. Like everything else he created, everything in that room reminded me of how intelligent this man was. Climb the stairs, all 463 stairs. Small, dimly light, tight spiral staircases. Breathe. Don’t think about the space and you’ll be fine. Walking up the stairs of the Duomo seemed like a challenge compared to no other at times. It was less of a struggle to climb the stairs than to not panic over the lack of surrounding space. Like other things, I did not know what to expect when climbing the stairs and reaching the top. Sometimes it was difficult to walk and focus on something other than space, and the best times to get distracted were the holes cut out with a glimpse of Florence. Tops of buildings make these steps worth it. As we climbed higher, we were able to see the separation of the two domes. I was in awe of these layers because this was Brunelleschi’s solution to building a dome as large as the Pantheon. A solution that could only take a genius to create. 450-some steps in and I can’t help but question when we are going to get to the top. I’m anxious to leave these tight spaces and even more anxious to see the view of Florence, the city that has 100% captured my heart. 460.. 461… 462.. “Oh my God,” I hear the person in front of me say. I peer around her to see the most magnificent view I...