Venice and Being Back in the States

After the study abroad program ended, Lindsey and I had a couple days to travel anywhere and celebrate my birthday. We decided to stay in Italy and visit Venice. Venice was remarkable, I couldn’t fathom that the entire city was built on water. The people of Venice have a daily life that I can’t compare to any of the other places that I went to in Italy. It is a relatively small city and it was crazy to see that there are not any streets! Instead you can go everywhere by boat. In Venice, there is one big canal, and over 100 little canals. Two things that blew my mind were that instead of having an ambulance vehicle, they had a boat with a siren and instead of taxi vehicles they have taxi boats. You can get around the city by ferry boats that run every 10 minutes, or by walking across the little bridges that connects everything. Most of the locals in Venice had their own boat. Venice also had the best food I have ever had in my life. We actually didn’t stay in Venice. Our hotel was located on Lido, a 7 mile long sand bar near Venice. We spent one day at the beach, which was packed with people. Lindsey got really burnt, which was a little funny. We spent another day walking all over Venice. The coolest thing we saw was the St. Marks Square. Its size and the amount of tourists there was pretty overwhelming. We also spent $80 on a gondola ride, and it was worth every penny. Lindsey and I were very sad to leave Europe. All I can think about are all of the places that I didn’t get to see. I definitely plan on going back to Europe to see Ireland, Germany, and Greece. Being back in the United States has brought lots of mixed emotions. It is weird hearing everybody speaking English again. But I have lots of stories for my family and friends. I would highly recommend anybody to travel to Europe, and I feel so lucky UNK gave me the opportunity to study abroad in the beautiful country of Italy.
 

My Roman Holiday

Colosseum

Every day I fall more and more in love with Italy. This past week we learned about Italia's economy as well as how culture influences the industries. We were educated on the music industry, cinema industry, video game industry, and Italian architecture. This course was interesting because we had the wonderful opportunity to go on different field trips. Our professor Guido, took us window shopping where I saw beautiful jewelry and high fashion clothing. He also took us to see the largest Armani store in the world! After our shopping visit, we went to the Garibaldi station. I was amazed by the city as soon as I came up from the metro station. The first thing I saw was the building that looked like a garden which I was astonished by and immediately got my phone out to take pictures. The other tall cities surrounding me made me feel like I was almost in New York. This is the most modern part of Milano I have seen and I thought it was really cool. We also had the experience of eating at Eataly. The store/restaurant was not only beautiful but very fascinating. I found several cooking books that I really liked. For dinner I had a delicious pizza and of course, had gelato for dessert. Guido also showed us La Trienalle di Milano Expedition. This expedition was extremely fascinating because it had so many different parts to it. There was a historic expedition, showing ancient objects as well as technological objects used today. My favorite part of this field trip was the Women in Italian Design Exhibition. This exhibition showed incredible products created by amazing and talented women, ranging from a blanket made of plastic bags,  to modern chairs used today. This week was followed up with the most incredible weekend. Lindsey, Jordan, and I, traveled to Rome and Florence. While in Rome we not only saw the Colosseum, but got a ticket to go inside. This was something I will never forget. I was also in shock at the story behind the Colosseum. The Colosseum served as place for entertainment and held events called "The Games." People who had been condemned or imprisoned by the city were forced to fight wild beasts and were eventually ripped to shreds. Next, we saw the famous Trevi Fountain which took my breath away with it's beauty and massive size. Trevi Fountain was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. The following day, we made our way to Florence. Florence was exactly what I pictured when I think of Italy. All of the piazza's, statues, art museums, bridges, and Duemo were something I feel everybody who ever travels to Italy needs to see because it felt like the heart of this country. I am excited for my last week in Italy and to see what else this exhilarating country has to offer!   

Florence!

19 Days in Europe and Counting

I have now been in Europe for 19 days and it still doesn't feel real. I always heard about my friends studying abroad and never imagined that it would be me one day. My colleague and I have seen Korcula Island (Croatia), Prague (Czech Republic), as well as Bolaglio and Milano, Italy. All four places have been absolutely beautiful but all in their own unique way. Korcula Island was breath-taking to the eye because it had amazing historic architecture of stone, beautiful beaches, as well as mountains and forests. It is a small island of 3,000 people and didn't have running water until the last thirty years. Prague is a place that I wish everybody could see in their lifetime. Something about the colorful and tall houses/buildings and small streets gives off such a welcoming feeling. The St. Charles bridge and the John Lennon Wall were two of my favorite places. Milano, Italy is perhaps my favorite city I have seen so far. Everybody here looks so beautiful and carries themselves so proudly. Duomo is the heart of the city and never fails to make my jaw drop. The enormous Cathedral, bountiful amount of shops, and the Italian architecture is amazing. Our hotel is not too far from an awesome canal district called Navigli that has delicious restaurants and is always busy with locals. This past weekend 6 of us went to Lake Como in Bolaglio, Italy. The lake was full of different small, colorful villages and was a blast.  I am still in awe that I am experiencing this wonderful and enriching opportunity. We just finished our first course, introduction to Italian language and the week couldn't have gone better. I learned several different phrases and words that have already helped me communicate with the Italian people. The language isn't too complicated and I hope to continue learning more of it throughout my journey. This upcoming week, we have the Economics course and I can't wait to learn more about Italy.