When I was looking at what classes to take this semester, I found out about Viva Italia. One problem, though, was that this class conflicted with one of the classes for my major that I could have taken. I decided to leave that class till next semester and take Viva Italia and I am really glad that I did because it was an amazing opportunity and I met people I probably would not have interacted with otherwise. In the course we talked about the history of Italy, and we worked on a research project. For my research project, I researched the importance of music there.
I was a little nervous before going to Italy because I did not know many people and I did not know what the terrain was like. I have Mild Cerebral Palsy, which means that I have balance issues and I had to have a lot of meetings with Erin, the Director of Accessibility Services before the trip. It all worked out in the end because we ended up not being on uneven ground, except in Pompeii.
My favorite city to go to in Italy was probably Venice because it was our first day there and it was just a really cool city. We got around by a water taxi, which was really awesome to ride in because I have never been in a water taxi before. The coolest place to go into, in my opinion, was Saint Mark’s Basilica because of the very detailed interior. It was just really intricate. We were in Venice for two days and the next day we went to an awesome glass blowing demonstration that was really cool to see how they made the different objects out of glass. There was, also, an optional gondola ride to go on, which I opted not to do because I wasn’t sure how people got into it. Now I am glad that I decided not to do that because it was pouring rain, and I got to hang out at a café with Dr. Dennis and Dr. Lawson.
My favorite local tour was in Rome because our tour guide was awesome, and the Colosseum was amazing to walk through. Our tour guide answered our questions with no problem, and I just thought that Rome was the best tour. It was a fantastic way to end our trip.
My favorite day of free time was in Pisa because I was traveling around with a group of people who quickly became my friends on that trip. During our trip to Pisa, we went exploring and we took pictures of either pushing the tower down or holding it up. There were other good days of free time, but that was my favorite.
While we were in Italy, we had hotel rooms of three or four people. The first few nights, I was with the same people and then I was rooming with two different people and the last few nights, I was back with those people I was with at the beginning. I had so much fun getting to know them all and spending time with them. We also had free time and I was with a different group depending on where I wanted to go.
The food in Italy was amazing! The first night that we were there, we had this really delicious pesto pasta, which usually they add too much pesto, but this was the right amount of pesto. We had a lot of group dinners, but we also got to go off on our own. On the second day, my friends and I went to a restaurant by our hotel and a got a yummy pasta dish and a virgin mojito. The food the whole week was delicious, but those are just two meals that I enjoyed.
I got some souvenirs for my family before we left Italy. I got my sister a glass hedgehog from the glass blowing place because she loves hedgehogs. I got my mom a leather journal that has the letter A on for Abby from the leather shop in Florence and I got her it to do the New York Time spelling bee in. I got my dad a little diorama from Capri to put in his office or wherever. I got my uncle a keychain/bottle opener that just says Rome on it and I got my aunt a magnet of the Colosseum.
When we were still in Italy, but getting ready to go home, I felt like I was ready to go home. When we got on the airplane, I started getting a little sad that I was heading back to America, but I was also really happy to see my family and my cats. When we got to Logan airport, I was mainly just excited to see my parents after a week but Italy was a very nice place to visit.
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