Il Mio Viaggio Europeo

On April 23^rd, I packed up my things and headed out on a 2-week journey all over Europe. My program in Florence at Villa Corsi-Salviati had ended, but I was not ready to end my time in Europe quite yet. So I left the Villa and headed to the Amalfi Coast, and then to Prague, Berlin, Amsterdam, and finally Southern France. I traveled to each of these places with two friends from my program Andi and Melissa, and we also met up with some other people from the Villa along the way. It would be difficult to describe in detail everything that occurred in each of those places, so I will put up a few of my favorite pictures from each place in order to briefly describe my experience...

Beach in Positano We had one day of absolutely

gorgeous weather. Unfortunately, the other 

couple days were a little bit gray.

View from our hostel in Positano, where we 

spent 3 days.

Friends from our program- Julian, Jackson, Gem, Becca,
Kyle, and Ben- joined us in Southern Italy.

Amalfi Coast

Stairs down to the beach... they were about 100 of them.
Needless to say they were no fun to walk up.

The streets of Sorrento (another city on the Amalfi Coast)

where we spent two days. 

Our last meal in Southern Italy. I had bow-tie pasta
with parmesan, tomatoes, and spinach. 

Prague

Easter Festival in Prague. There were tons
of fun stands, live music, and great food.

We went to the Jewish Quarter in Prague which include 6 different
synagogues, all designed in very different ways. This one is the Spanish Synagogue-
which had gorgeous architecture on the inside and a history of Czech Jews.

This is the John Lennon Wall- which has been filled with Lennon inspired
 graffiti since the 1980s. John Lennon is used as a symbol of peace
 in opposition to the old Communist Regime.

St. Vitus Cathaeral in the Prague Castle

Prague Clock-Tower Bar Crawl. Our hostel
advertised this bar crawl, and it was
a ton of fun. It was really exciting to be out with
students from all over the world. 

View of Prague from one of its beer gardens. We went
here after our Prague Walking Tour. It was a
great way to relax after all that walking.

Berlin





This is Museum Island, where we 
ended our Berlin walking tour.

Memorial at the Concentration Camp

Sachenhausen, which is thought to be one of t
he model concentration camps.
 The tour was grim but also

very interesting. We had a great tour guide. 

Walking Tour in Berlin. This is

the parking  lot that was built over

the bunker where Hitler killed himself.

It is also where many Berlin citizens

take their dogs to do their business.

Bar Crawl in Berlin.

 We were able to meet up with three more

Villa friends while in Berlin- Nick, Kelly, & Logan.

This is the Berlin

East Side Gallery. It consists of over

100 paintings done by artists from all over

the world. It was painted in 1990,

on the east side of the old Berlin wall.

The painting represent the peace and

hope that came with the fall of the wall.

Amsterdam

We planned to spend a full day and two nights in Amsterdam.
But because there were no fast trains left for our next
destination-Nice, we only had one night there. I'll
have to go back one day to see all the touristy stuff, but we were
able to walk around and explore the city a little on our own.


Southern France

The beach in Nice. This was the first place we went
after the 24 hours that we spent on trains in order to
get from Amsterdam to Southern France. It made the long trip worth it.

This is part of the set-up for the Canne film
festival. We took a day trip to Canne a few 
days before the festival began. 

In Nice, we were able to find
a cheap apartment to stay at. 
So I took advantage of the kitchen and 
cooked dinner for all of us. This was a curry stir-fry.

This is the beach in Monaco. Andi, Melissa, and I went here 
on our last day together in Southern France. It
was a beautiful, hot, & sunny day- a perfect way
to end my Euro Trip.

Andi, myself, and Melissa on our 
last night together in the main square of Nice called
Place Masséna. 




Now that I am back at my apartment in Madison, WI, these past 4 months and my final 2 week Euro Trip seem like some sort of dream. I will never forget my time in Florence studying abroad. I fell in love with Italy- the food, the people, the culture. I was able to travel to 7 new countries, live in a beautiful historical Villa, and meet an amazing group of people. This was an unforgettable, incredible experience. 


Arrivederci e Tanti Baci!

-Laura 

Cinque Terre e Il Fine del Mio Progamma alla Villa Corsi Salviati

Cinque Terre

View from the beginning of our hike in Monteresso

The beautiful terraces in the Cinque Terre hills

 

Well this will be my last blog post while living at Villa Corsi Salivati. I had my last final yesterday and will be leaving to villa tomorrow morning. I will be traveling for a little over two weeks though before heading back to Chicago. I will post one more blog when I get back from that trip. I will use this second to last study abroad blog to explain a couple of the exciting aspects from my last two weeks at the villa. Starting with my trip to Cinque Terre…

A couple weekends ago I took a trip to the beautiful Cinque Terre for a day trip with my program. Cinque Terre is an area on the coastline of Italy, which is made up of 5 little towns: Monterosso al mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore. It is known to be one of the most beautiful spots in Italy, the hills of each town are considered a national park, and in recent years it has become a huge tourist attraction. Each town is made up of adorable colorful houses, with huge terraces cliffs that overlook the water. Our program took a boat to the last town in order to begin our hike from Monteresso to Vernazza. Unfortunately, the beginning part of the trail was closed due to landslides. But we were able to work around it by hiking on the highway for a bit and then cutting into the trail. Even the part of the hike we did on the highway was gorgeous. The views of Monteresso were almost unbelievable. It was one of the times during my study abroad experience where I had to remind myself how lucky I have been these past few months. The hike was strenuous at points, but I enjoyed every second of it. It was relaxing, and enjoyable to be hiking through such an incredible landscape with a group of people from my program. We hiked for about 4 hours. As soon as we were done we threw on our swimsuits and jumped into the water. The rest of our time in Vernazza was spent sitting out by the water and walking around the town.  We were all extremely exhausted by the time we got back to the villa that night, but it was absolutely worth it for the wonderful day in Cinque Terre.

Another aspect of our program that has been really great these past two weeks is our outside dinners. Once a week we have been moving all of the table from our dining hall out into the courtyard in order to barbeque and eat outside. They have been some of the most enjoyable dinners here at the Villa. Of course the food is great, but it was also wonderful because we set up the tables to be one long table. That way we were all able to sit together for dinner. It really made it feel like we were a big family, as corny as that sounds. The last outside dinner we had was this Tuesday. It was a sort of good-bye banquet since it’s our last week. They gave us a ton of food. They served us wine, three different appetizers, grilled chicken, and ice cream with strawberries for dessert. It was delicious. And afterwards the director and a few of the students said some parting words. It was the first time I got really sad about leaving the villa. These past four months have been incredible. I have met such wonderful people, seen so many amazing places, and just overall had an experience that I am never going to be able to forget. As I’m writing this blog I am looking out my window in my bedroom at the villa, and I am looking out at the beautiful hills of Sesto Fiorentino. When am I ever again going to be able to have a bedroom window overlooking Tuscan hills?! This villa and this program are amazing, and I couldn’t imagine a better way to spend my study abroad.

 

My great experience at the villa is why I must sadly add that we have just found out that Michigan doesn’t have enough people enrolling into the program anymore and will be closing down the villa after next fall semester. (Here is an article from Michiagn on the recent news- http://www.ur.umich.edu/update/archives/110419/cgis.) It is devastating news to all of us here, all of the employees, and anyone who has ever done this program before. But there is something we could do to help. Since Madison has no problem enrolling students, and Duke is also involved with the fall semesters, we can e-mail those in charge at both those schools and convince them why to keep the program here at Villa Corsi Salviati alive. (Here is whom you should e-mail at Madison Gilles Bousquet, Dean of the Division of International Studies, UW Madison bousquet@intlstudies.wisc.edu and Julie Lindsey, IAP Managing Director, UW-Madison jzlindsey@bascom.wisc.edu). All the support for the villa we can get is helpful. To not allow other students to have an experience like mine and the other students on my program would be devastating.

 

Well on a happier note, I am super excited to start my two-week European travels. I will be traveling with Andi and Melissa, and also meeting a few other students from my program along the way. We leave tomorrow morning on a 10 am train for the first leg of our journey in the Amalfi Coast. Here is what our itinerary for the next two weeks looks like:

 

Amalfi Coast: April 23^rd- April 28^th

Prague: April 28^th-April 30^th

Berlin: April 30^th- May 3^rd

Amsterdam: May 3^rd- May 5^th

South of France: May 5^th - May 9^th

Then I fly from France to Florence on the May 9^th, and then back home out of Florence to Chicago on the May10^th.

 

I am so excited for these next two weeks. I am ready for a little more European traveling before heading home for the summer. I can’t believe how fast this semester flew by. This has truly been incredible. I will be available only through Facebook and e-mail the next couple weeks. So if you want to see how my travels are going feel free to contact me that way. My final blog will be posted when I return.

 

Tanti Baci da Italia!

-Laura 

Dinner in the courtyard

Some of my villa-mates and I after dinner

Arrivederci Firenze! I will miss you!

 

 

Venezia e Sicilia

Rialto Bridge in Venice

Gold mosaics of the Basilica di San Marco

My Dad and I in Murano

Camellia and I on a lovely gondola ride

             

              As the end of my time at the Villa creeps closer and closer I am trying to make the most of every day I have left. And the past two weekends I think I have definitely taken advantage of my time here by traveling to two of the places I’ve always wanted to see in Italy, Venice and Sicily.  The Venice trip was two days and one night with my whole program. My dad was also visiting for that weekend, so he came along! It was really nice to have him with us, and to have him experience a little bit of what my life in Italy has been like for the past 3 months.

We left early on a Friday morning and headed on the 3-½ hour bus ride to Venice. When we got there we immediately hopped on a boat to go to the beautiful island of Murano. Murano is where the famous Venetian glass blowing is done, and we even go to watch the making of it. It was amazing to see them transform glass into almost any object. After Murano we headed to see some of Venice’s main tourist attractions. Even just walking down the streets was exciting because all of the bridges and canals. We eventually made it to the Piazza San Marco. The Piazza is filled with tourists, pigeons, museums, restaurants, and the Basilica di San Marco. The rest of the afternoon I just explored the streets of Venice with my Dad. We had a nice sit down dinner before heading back to Piazza San Marco for a private night tour of the Basilica. The church was filled with beautiful, gold mosaics from ceilings to floor. It was amazing to have our own private tour in such a popular tourist spot.

            We began the following morning with a tour of the Accademia di Venezia. The rest of the day included more tourist activities like a visit to the famous Rialto Bridge and a gondola ride. I loved the gondola ride! It is something that is so unique to Venice I couldn’t imagine leaving without going on one. It was a bit of the expensive side, but with a large group it was totally worth it.  We ended our Venice activities in the Jewish Quarter. It took us forever to find it, (Venice being of the easiest cities to get lost in), but we made it. It was cool to see such an active Jewish community in Italy.

            Overall, the trip was very enjoyable. Even though Venice is such a touristy spot, the lack of cars and abundance of canals gives it a very unique feel. I also really like being able to see the differences between all the major Italian cities.

            This past weekend I definitely got to see a different side to Italy too, when I headed south to Sicily.  I went with three other girls on my program: Andi, Breanna, and Hillary. We left on Thursday, and I got off to a bit of a rough start when I stupidly forgot my passport at the Villa. Luckily, there was another group from our program going to Sicily who just happened to be catching a later train the airport. They grabbed the passport for me, but their train was delayed.  I was sitting in the Pisa Airport by myself waiting for the other group to arrive, while our plane was boarding. Five minutes after the plane started to board they arrived. We rushed through security and thankfully made it to the plane just in time. It was hectic beginning, but I would soon find out all the chaos was absolutely worth it.

           

We flew into Palermo, got a delicious dinner (I got pizza with shrimp, arugula, and parmesan cheese), and soon after went to bed. We got up early the next morning in order to head to our next destination, Cefalù. We got on a train, and arrived in a little over an hour. As soon as we arrived we were in awe. The beach, the town, the palm trees; uh it all looked amazing. We continued to get more and more excited as we headed up to our resort. Hillary found this awesome place with bungalows in the hills overlooking the water.  The resort workers were so friendly, and helped us to our bungalow. It was adorable, and had an awesome view of the water. We spent the rest of the afternoon lying out by the pool, drinking wine. That night we headed into the center of Cefalu’. We ran into so many friendly people, and one helped us to find a lovely restaurant for dinner. He told us it had an intimate atmosphere and great food, and he was correct. The food was delicious and the staff, like everyone else we kept running into, was extremely nice. I ordered pizza once again and we had cannolis and fruit for dessert. It was one of my favorite days in Italy thus far.

            The next morning we were supposed to check out by 11, but the staff let us stay in our Bungalow until 1 instead. So we decided to lay our once again. We had great weather both days, 70 and sunny. I was so sad when 1 pm came along. None of us wanted to leave Cefalù.  I definitely want to go back someday. So after our sad farewell to Cefalù we headed back to Palermo because we had to fly out of there the following morning. We checked back into our previous hotel, and then just walked around a bit. That night we had another nice dinner. I had a salmon risotto, and we all got free dessert because our waiter Massimo seemed to be somewhat fond of us. It was a funny, and delicious end to our weekend. I loved Sicily. It was wonderful to see a different part of Italy. It really feels like an entirely different country there.

            I’m glad I was able to travel to two more must-see spots in Italy. I can’t believe I only have two weeks left of my program. I plan to truly appreciate all the time I have left here in Italy. Plus I still have a lot more traveling to do after that.

Tanti Baci da Italia!

-Laura

My shrimp pizza in Palermo

Our resort in Cefalu'

Our relaxing afternoon in Cefalu'

Hillary, Breanna, Andi, and I out for dinner

One last picture stop on our way out of Cefalu'

Certaldo e Copenhagen

A Street in lower Certaldo, with the older town in the background

Andi and I in upper Certaldo

Our family dinner :)

Award-winning Gelateria in San Gimignano

View of Sam Gimignano from the top of its tallest tower

Two weekends ago I went on a trip to a little Tuscan town called Certaldo with Andi, her brother Ben, and his three friends; Bryan, Nick, and Nate. One of my favorite aspects of the weekend was the adorable Bed & Breakfast we stayed in. The owner picked us up at the train station, and was so accommodating and friendly! It was great to be able to stay in such a nice place, especially considering all the hostels I’ve been staying in. After getting settled into our weekend home, and taking advantage of the free coffee and tea, we decided to explore Certaldo.  We started out in the lower part of town. That part was fairly urban and somewhat reminded me of Parma. We then headed to the upper town, the older part of Certaldo. This part of the town included medieval, castle looking-buildings amongst a gorgeous Tuscan landscape. It was a very quiet town, mainly because it gets most of its business in the summer tourist season. But it was nice to just walk around and enjoy the scenery. We eventually wandered into a wine bar called Enoteca Boccaccio and sat down to enjoy some Chianti and bruschetta.  After wandering around the medieval town for a while, we headed back to the B&B to make dinner. I was so happy because I was finally able to cook, which I’ve been dying to do since we don’t have access to the Villa kitchen. I made pesto rigatoni with pine nuts and tomatoes. We busted open a few bottles of wine and had a very relaxing evening.

The next day would be slightly less relaxing, but still very enjoyable. We had our hearts set on riding bikes to San Gimignano (another Tuscan town which I briefly visited at the beginning of my program) and the owner of the B&B told us it was only about 6 miles. When we woke up it was gray and rainy, but we decided to be adventurous and bike anyways. There was a bus we could’ve taken, but the route of the bike ride included a bunch of wineries and we wanted to stop on the way. The B&B had bikes for all of us, so we set off in the rain towards San Gimignano. I think the owner thought we were insane for riding in the rain. But the ride started off pretty pleasant. The landscape was so incredible that it was hard to care about a little bit of rain. We arrived at the first winery and decided to check it out. Unfortunately that one was closed, so we headed to the next one. This one was very far back in the hills. We had to walk our bikes up, up, and up to only later find out that winery was closed too. We soon realized that since it was a Sunday, most wineries were closed. We decided to continue and to wait until we reached our destination to have wine. As we continued we began going more and more uphill. As we went up, we could see a clearer view of the Tuscan hills, which was beautiful.

By the time we reached San Gimignano we had been riding for 2 hours. We were wet and exhausted, so we found a restaurant to dry off and relax in. After resting a bit, we were able to get up and explore San Gimignano. I think it is one of my favorite Tuscan towns.It is such a picturesque, quaint little town.  The last time I was in San Gimignano we were told it has a world famous gelateria, but unfortunately it was closed. Luckily, this time it was open! And it was delicious!  After gelato we climbed one of the town’s famous towers and got a great view of the whole place. We ended our activities by going to a torture museum, which was strange but interesting. We then rode back to the B&B. I was definitely not excited for another 2-hour bike ride. But because the way there was extremely steep, the way back only took about a half hour! We had another relaxing night after we all got out of our wet clothes and showered. Nick cooked steaks, we had a salad, and some more of the wine.

It was a very enjoyable weekend. I was happy to just relax and enjoy some other Tuscan towns. I hope that someday I will be able to come back in the summer. If those towns are beautiful now, I cannot even imagine how incredible they are in the summer.  It would also probably be a little more pleasant to ride bikes in the summer sun, rather than on a gray, rainy day.

This past weekend was also a little bit cold, although luckily not rainy, because I was in Copenhagen! I left with Andi and Melissa early Friday morning. We took Swiss Air, so it was nice to be on a real airline. Although, because we were flying into big international airports our flights were delayed. We had to run through the Zurich airport to catch our connection to Copenhagen! We thankfully made it with a few minutes to spare.  Andi’s friend Allison is studying in Copenhagen so she and their other friend Sara picked us up at the airport when we finally arrived. We converted our euro into kroner and were on our way. It was interesting to hear about Allison’s study abroad experience because it is very different from ours in Florence. Her program is huge with over 700 people and she lives in dorm-style living. She has a single room, and the 5 of us had a nice cozy squeeze both nights we were there.

Once we set all of our stuff down in Allison’s room we headed to a street of shops. We wandered into the Lego store (since legos were invented in Copenhagen), which was fun, and just looked around. We also went to one of Allison’s favorite cafes. The coffee was incredible. In Italy they don’t really do normal coffee, just espresso and lattes. So it was really refreshing to have a large cup of coffee to just sip and enjoy. The cafes and restaurants all have a very cozy ambience. So this café had dim lighting, couches, and relaxing music. Every café we walked by looked awesome! And they all had very fresh, organic food and drinks. Another thing I noticed as we walked around the city, was how environmentally conscious it was. Only 30% of the population drives (they make it very expensive for people to have cars), so they’re public transportation is very efficient. And everyone bikes! It was really cool to see everyone out and about on bikes even in the cold.

That night we decided to go out to dinner, and I got to satisfy one of the foods I’ve been craving since January- Thai Food! It was pretty expensive, as are most restaurants in Copenhagen, because people don’t generally go out to eat. The Thai Food was wonderful, and definitely worth the expense. I got spicy pad see ew with vegetables. Yum. After dinner we went out to the bars. We had some delicious beer and it was a fun night. All the Danish people were very friendly.

We started off our Saturday morning with a bagel breakfast. Bagels are very big in Copenhagen.  I got a wonderful whole grain bagel with locks, cream cheese, onions, and lettuce. It was a slightly warmer sunny day, which was nice. After our breakfast we headed to the Carlsberg Factory. It was my first visit to a brewery and I really enjoyed reading about the history of a brewery. When we finished at the brewery and drank our two free beers we went off to one of Copenhagen’s round tower. On the way up there was an exhibit called Hungry Planet, which is based off of a book. It displays pictures of families from all over the world standing with their average groceries. It gives you an idea of the differences between food cultures. The exhibit also included posters on food and water issues and solutions. I got excited because there was a poster on 350 and the international day of action that I helped organize with WISPIRG. Overall, I loved the exhibit and was really excited that Danish people are so interested in food issues. When we got to the top of the tower there was a great view of all of Copenhagen. There were beautiful buildings and we could see wind turbines in the distance. We were up there at the perfect time, right as the sun was setting. The last touristy thing we did was go to this village called Christiania. It was this very strange, hippie village that doesn’t consider itself part of Copenhagen and has no government. It was an interesting environment but we were able to get some great food. There was a café with fresh veggies, hummus, and pasta salad. The hummus was wonderful, and it is another food I’ve been really craving while in Italy. That night to save money we decided to cook in Allison’s dorm room. I made a veggie stir-fry and we just hung out the rest of the night.

Sunday morning we went to another great café and had some delicious pastries and coffee. It was a lovely end to our weekend. I really loved the city, especially how environmentally conscious it is. It was refreshing to see an urban city be so aware of its ecological footprint.

I can’t believe it but my program ends in one month! And then I will be traveling for two weeks after. I just booked my flight home, and am coming back May 10^th. I have an exciting month and half ahead of me though. I have a lot more of Italy and Europe to explore. Miss you all at home and can’t wait to see you fairly soon!

Tanti Baci!

-Laura

A lovely harbor in Copenhagen

Carlsberg Brewery

Hungry Planet Exhibit

Melissa and I at the top of Copenhagen's Round Tower

View of wind turbines from the Round Tower

My Spanish Spring Break

Melissam Andi, Taryn, and I at Park Guell in Barcelona

The port in Barcelona

Our seafood paella

La Alhambra in Granada

          I just got back from spending nine wonderful days in Spain for my Spring Break.  I visited the cities of Barcelona, Granada, and Seville with three other girls from my program: Andi, Melissa, and Taryn. Nine days of Spanish food, drinks, beautiful parks, beaches, tourist attractions, and friends from home: it was definitely a relaxing, fun-filled break!  I’ll break down this post into sections since nine days of traveling is a lot to cover in one post. I’ll divide it into sections of Food, Drinks, Nightlife, Friends, and Tourist Attractions.

Food:

       I found Spanish food to be a hit or miss for me. I liked a lot of what I ate, but the food is very different from what I’m used to eating. One of my favorite meals was the first one I had when arriving to Barcelona: seafood paella. We had it at a restaurant that was right on the beach. The weather was great when we first got to Spain, about 70 and sunny.  So sitting outside next to the beach, eating paella in Barcelona was a nice way to start off of the break. It was a little on the expensive side, so we tried to eat cheaper the rest of our time in Barcelona. For a few meals we just got baguettes, proscuitto, and cheese to save money. One other great meal I had in Barcelona was at a sandwich shop. It had super fresh veggies, a variety of sauces, and delicious meats. The shop had a line done the block, but it was definitely worth the wait. We also found a great sandwich shop in Granada. I got a wonderful panini with goat cheese, caramelized onions, and spinach two days in a row.  We had a lot of tapas throughout the trip too. My favorite was in Seville at a place called Coloniales. It was also super packed, which is usually a good indicator of how good the food is. We ordered a bunch of dishes for everyone to share including chicken, potatoes in a spicy sauce, a friend egg with proscuitto on bread, and goat cheese and honey on bread.  It was all really good, and well priced. I went there two nights out of the three I was in Seville.

Drinks:

      The one drink I had the most whenever we went for tapas in Spain called Tinto de Verano, which is just wine and sprite. It was super tasty, light, and cheap. Another great drink we had was in Seville is called Aqua de Seville.  Not exactly sure what was in it, but a few types of alcohol and lots of fruity juice with whipped cream on top. The juice in Spain was wonderful! It’s so fresh and there are a huge variety of flavors. Also, we had a lot of Sangria while in Barcelona. I loved all the fruit in it. It was a good drink to share with a large group of people.

Nightlife:

        The nightlife in Spain is slightly different from the states and Tuscany because people don’t usually go out until 1 or 2 am and don’t come home until 6 am or later.  This is partially because they eat dinner so late, usually around 10ish. We experienced their crazy nightlife hours right away in Barcelona. The first night we were there we stayed out until 5 am at a club called Razzmatazz. It was very fun, lots of American music (which seems to be the usual in European discos), and lots of dancing. We were so exhausted though because we had gotten up at 5 in the morning to leave Italy the day before. So we were literally up for 24 hours. Ahhh. But that didn’t stop us from staying out that late once again our second night in Barcelona. That night we went to a club called Catwalk. A lot of people from my program were also in Spain for Spring break and we ran into a ton of them at Catwalk. There was huge line, but we finally got into the club around 2 am. It was a great time. Unfortunately the fun night ended badly when I my camera got stolen at the club. I felt better having all my possessions on me instead of in our hostel, and I was careful with my purse but somehow someone opened it up. It was super scary because when I realized it was open I looked down and my passport was on the ground. I quickly swiped it up, and checked my purse and everything was there except for my camera. The camera was on top of my purse and was in a wallet-looking case so the pickpocket most likely thought it was my wallet.  I bought a new camera right before I got to Seville. Andi, Melissa, and Taryn were so nice about the whole thing, and let me use their cameras when we were in Granada. Luckily, I don’t lose my wallet or my passport, so in a sense the camera was probably the best thing they could’ve taken. I will for sure be even more careful from now on. The next time we went to a nightclub was in Seville. This time we were staying in a hotel with a lockbox so I felt safe leaving all my valuables there. This disco was called Buddha, and had three different floors! It had a super fun atmosphere, and once again lots of American music and dancing.

Friends:

            One very exciting aspect of this break was that I have a lot of friends studying in Spain. It was great to see familiar faces from home while in Europe. I had one friend, Maddie, in Barcelona. We got lunch and hung out for our last afternoon there. It was wonderful to catch up. I also had a friend in Granada, Audrey. We went out for tapas one night. She had some crazy stories about her home stay experience!  That was another nice thing about talking to friends studying in Spain, hearing about their study abroad experience. It is vastly different from mine in Italy, because all of them are doing home stays. Also, most of their classes are taught in Spanish, so they are being more integrated into the Spanish culture. I really love the set-up I have here in Italy but I am jealous of how immersed they are able to get in a new culture. I have three friends studying in Seville- Melissa, Claire, and Jasmine. I got to see all three of them a ton while I was there! They did a great job of showing me around the city, taking me to good restaurants, tourist attractions, bars, etc. It was really wonderful being with all of them, and it was nice to get a taste of home while abroad.

Tourist Attractions:

            Barcelona had some awesome tourist attractions. One of my favorites was the Park Guell- a famous park designed by Gaudi.  The park is filled with strange looking building, lots of bright colors, and many beautiful gardens. I also enjoyed looked at another famous Gaudi attraction- La Sagrada Familia. Another very cool looking Gaudi structure with strange columns and arches, the Church is one of Barcelona’s main tourist attractions. Unfortunately, it is under construction right now, which took away some of its charm. We didn’t end up going in, but just walking along the outside of the Church was exciting. We also went to the Picasso Museum while in Barcelona. It was interesting because each room showed the progression of Picasso’s work, starting out with his sketches and ending with his most famous works. The final touristy thing that I loved about Barcelona was the beach. Even though it was exactly laying out weather, it was gorgeous! I loved that there were so many restaurants and bars right along it too. It definitely felt like Spring Break when we were able to just sit and relax on the beach in the afternoon. My favorite tourist attraction in Granada was the famous La Alhambra, which consists of palaces, extravagant Moorish art and architecture, and beautiful gardens. We spent about four hours there, and probably could’ve stayed for another hour or two in order to see everything. It was a little chilly out that day, but the sun was shining, and it was a very exciting experience walking through such a beautiful, historical place. Our last destination, Seville, included a lot of must-see attractions as well. The first thing we saw was the Alcazar- a royal palace with gardens and more Moorish architecture. The Plaza de Espana was another awesome part of our time in Seville. This plaza was lovely with a moat in the middle and beautiful bridges over it. Another fun thing we did in Seville was see a free Flamenco show. Since it was free it probably wasn’t the best show, but I still really enjoyed it. The dancers and singers were extremely passionate, and the clapping was so cool! The last touristy thing we did in Spain was the Plaza de Toros. We took a tour of the bull-fighting arena. When we got there some of Spain’s most famous matadors were in the ring, promoting the upcoming season. We continued on a tour of the Plaza de Toros museum, it was very interesting to learn about bull -fighter strategy and its history. I would love to go back someday and see a bullfight!

            So I apologize for such a long post, but I hope it gives a taste of what my experience in Spain was like. I absolutely loved Spain, and I think Seville was my favorite city of the three. It seemed to have the most culture, and it reminded me a lot of Florence. I am happy to be back in Italy, to be around a language I understand and food that I love. (I got pizza within an hour of being back at the villa). Overall, I had a wonderful Spring Break! But now that’s it’s over it means my program here in Florence is over halfway over. I really can’t believe that. I have a lot more excitement to come in the next couple months though. I am going on a wine tour this coming weekend! Can’t wait.

Miss and love everyone as home. Hope all is well! Keep up the protesting in Madison, wish I could be there with you guys.

Tanti Baci!

-Laura

Standing next to a beautiful view of Granada at La Alhambra

The Alcazar in Seville

Plaza de Espana in Seville

Flamenco Show in Seville

Plaza de Toros in Seville