Fall Break Adventures

-Fall Break- Italy

-Venice-
Fall break was full of so much fun, adventure, hospital trips, missing trains, and lovely beaches. Three students and I decided to go to Italy and explore three big cities, Venice, Florence, and Rome. We left Friday afternoon and landed in Venice late that night. Our first night we unpacked and planned what we would do the next day. Our first day was in Venice, was full of Gonalda rides, great food, lots of shopping, picture taking and historical monuments. We walked all of Venice and visited

almost every shop that was along the way. We also had our first authentic Italian food like pizza and spaghetti, and now can never have American Italian again! The places that we visited was St. Marks Square, Doge's Palace and Burano.

Our second day in Venice we had scheduled a 4-hour boat touring the different islands around Venice. On our way there, we got on the wrong train going in the opposite direction, delaying us and the boat ride by 30 mins. After a long, stressful and tiring train ride there we ran to our boat tour just in time! We then had such a wonderful day visiting 4 different islands, visiting a glass blowing store, a couple of small mid-century churches, and great gelatos places. Our favorite stop on the boat tour was stopping in the most colorful city of all, Burano. It was truly such a beautiful site, I loved seeing all the different colors and how it made the town feel more pleasant. I wished we had some places like this in America, where we can be creative with our architecture and the color of our cities. After the boat tour was over, we were all starving and decided to stop for food at this amazing restaurant. We sat outside and watched Venice light up the night, it was one of my favorite parts of the whole trip.

-Florence-
The next day we hopped on a train to Florence and took a day to rest. We were in Florence for 6 nights and took day trips to multiple places.

We explored Florence and went to the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, saw the statue of David at the Galleria dell'Accademia of Florence, went to Saint John Baptistery of Florence and went to Piazza del Duomo. It was a long day but it was worth it. However, during the day two of the students started to feel ill and because of their illness, we headed back to our Airbnb early. One of the girl's illness resulted in an ER visit, she felt like her throat was closing from an allergic reaction, however, never knew the cause of it. She ended up being all better and it was an experience for all of us.

-Rome-
A couple of days later, we headed to Rome to see the Coliseum, the Trevi Fountain, the Sixtine Chapel, and the Vatican Museums. It was a busy, packed day for us. It was indescribable seeing the Sixtine Chapel and the Coliseum, it almost felt like it was a dream, like it wasn't real. It was an amazing cultural experience for all of us. One of our favorite stops was

the Trevi Fountain. Seeing it in person made me appreciate the amount of time and the amount of effort it took to create this monument. It was truly a site to see!

-Cinque Terre-
Our last official day in Florence we traveled to Cinque Terre, a city known for its incredible color, beauty, and beaches. It was probably my favorite spot in Italy. I absolutely loved Cinque Terre and craved the beach! It was one of the prettiest beaches I have seen and the weather was perfect! We also celebrated our friend Gabby's birthday that day, blessing her with the beach, good food, and fun memories! I would go back to Cinque Terre in a heartbeat and probably will travel there multiple times in my life.

One bummer that did happen on this trip was being charged a $269.00 fine for getting on the wrong train. That was such a bummer, but now we know that it is extremely important to make sure you are on the right train!

Our main inspiration for traveling Italy and staying only in Italy for fall break was art history. Three of the four girls on this trip, including myself, have studied art specifically art around Italy. Actually seeing these monuments, art pieces, buildings, sculptures, and paintings was truly a blessing to me. I really enjoy learning about art and have a great

passion for the artists that lived in Italy. I loved seeing Michelangelo's David and Brunelleschi's Dome. The art history really inspired me to tour Italy and it did not disappoint. I had an incredible time in Italy and enjoyed the great girls I went with!

-Paris-
As far as making the most of my time in Paris, I really want to take advantage of the people here and be more invested in their lives. Visiting another country was fun, but I did miss Paris and its culture a lot while I was gone. Once I came back to Paris, I left very relieved and felt home. I personally needed that revelation because I was missing American a lot before Fall break and did not appreciate Paris. Now that I have seen a whole other country, I truly appreciate Paris a lot more and I am so happy to be back to the familiar. I want to use my time here in Paris to the fullest and do all I can do, learn all I can learn, and invest what I am able to invest. I am so grateful for my time here, it is going by fast and I

need to take all of it in before it is no more.