PLU J-term Study Away 2024 - Italy

      After spending three weeks in Italy, I learned so much about the History and Present day culture. In terms of what I was expecting, there were some things that certainly were how I thought they'd be. For instance, the views. The beauty of Italy was just as incredible if not even more so than I was expecting, which given that that's what I was most excited for, was definitely a wonderful thing to experience! In my first post I also talked about the food, and while there were many tomato centric dishes, as expected, there were also a plethora of dishes I had never heard of that were absolutely amazing! My favorites of these were the pistachio pasta and the truffle pasta.      One thing that I was not expecting how BIG the portion sizes would be!  Though, by the end I did get used to having bread, then pasta, then a main course, then a dessert, somehow! Also the fact that there would be bread available at basically every meal, I never thought I could get tired of bread haha

Final Reflection: I have decided to go through some of the places I visited on this trip. I cannot go through them all, but here are just some of the places I visited along my journey! First, Venice was spectacular. I was grateful we traveled here in the winter, as the sidewalks were sometimes very narrow and it is said to be very crowded in the summer during tourist season. The place we stayed at was on the outskirts away from the main attractions in the city square, which I was also grateful for because I was able to see more of the authentic Italian culture. I learned of the factories of Italy, its current tourist driven economy, its historical economic dominance in the Mediterranean, and its naval history and old military boat collection. Venice was an absolute gem, and if you every get to travel there, I recommend taking a ferry over to the islands of Murano and Burano, where you will find first an island of beautiful glass-blowing gifts and designs, and colorful buildings! Next,

  The very first picture I took in Italy, which I think is fitting to place here Well, I am right up on the deadline for this post, much to Dr. Hames’s annoyance, I am sure. However, I have an excellent reason for this: while many of my classmates went home at the end of the program, I did not. For the last week, I have been in Europe, starting in Bologna, and now I’m in Berlin, which is where my adventure will end in the next few days. Yet, due to the fact that the trip isn’t over for me, it's not the easiest to write a final overview of the trip. But I know that is what I must do, so I want to quickly return to my original blog post from the beginning of the month, where I spoke briefly about expectations and fear. For an entire post, I wrote about the fact that I didn’t know what to expect from a trip of this magnitude, as well as the insecurity of not having an answer to a fundamental question: “What are you looking forward to the most?” This trip was intimidating, as the exp

Sage Warner On our last night in Rome, I spoke with Alessio about how everywhere in Italy has been touched by people. With people living there, at least in a way we can trace, for at least 4 thousand years, anywhere you go was occupied by people at one time or another, even if it does not appear that way. It is so interesting to be somewhere and feel like you’re totally by yourself, and then you see some building that was maybe built 800 years ago and realize that there has been so much happening that I can’t even fathom. Especially visiting Orvieto and Fontecchio, which have changed over the millennia but with many ancient elements remaining intact, there is a sense of a place that has fused with the "natural" environment. One of the things I like most about history is how people have always been people, which I think is evident in the artwork or architecture of a region. In Pompeii, there is loads of ancient graffiti, which mirrors the silly and inappropriate graffiti peopl

January 26th discussion and adventures: The topics of my discussion centered around the artistic culture of the Renaissance, and how the role of a women fit into its culture over time. In Rome, we were able to see many artistic pieces crafted over many generations which represented a shift during the Renaissance. Here, traditional religious artworks turned into personal aspirations and passions of all sorts of character. As high demand required for ample access to art for social status and luxury, the people of the Renaissance were quick to delve into their creativity and present new approaches to artwork. Until the Renaissance, art was exclusively crafted as a relic of the Gods or of ancient prophets and legends and was kept in its traditional roots. This shift paved the way for new forms of painting, theater, music, and all types of creative passions to prosper in new and authentic ways. During this time, women's perception towards their own treatment in society began to shift to

It's astonishing to think that our incredible adventure through Italy is over! We started in Venice and worked our way south through Orvieto, Fontecchio, the Amalfi Coast, Rome, and many places in between. Here, I will share some of my favorite pictures and memories from each location. Venice We started out in Venice where we took tours of various sites such as the locations of historical factories and the Venice arsenal. While in Venice we had a free day, and I went to the islands called Murano and Burano. Murano is known for its beautiful glass and also has a really nice glass museum.  the island of Burano ~ known for its colorful buildings a canal in Venice a sunset we saw while on the taxi boat on the way back from Burano a cat crossing a bridge in Burano   a gondola! Venice is full of tiny walkways and beautiful bridges and canals the group I went with to Burano Orvieto After Venice, we continued on to Orvieto. Orvieto is a small town perched high on a hill. This location tran