Hello! I am finally home from my adventure abroad in Italy. Let me just start by saying that if you ever have the chance to go abroad, be it for school, work, or for fun--take it. You will regret it your whole life if you do not. It is so much fun and you get the opportunity to meet so many new people and experience a lot of new things. My final week in Italy included an overnight stay in a farmhouse in Perugia, and the remainder of the week in Rome.
Perugia is beautiful. I highly recommend visiting if you are ever in Italy. It is a relatively small town compared to Florence and Rome, but it has a lot of life and history that just beg to be explored. The day there started with a chocolate-making class at a candy company called Perugina, whose specialty is a piece of dark chocolate topped with a single hazelnut on top coated in a layer of chocolate called a Baci. The class was tons of fun. It included an intro to the process of making chocolate from scratch. We got a tour of the facility and even got the chance to try some of the other products that they make. After this I went on a walking tour of the town with my class and then spent two hours exploring and having a small meal before we departed for the farmhouse.
The farmhouse we visited was converted into a small hotel and we had a mainly vegatarian meal, with the exception of some sausage, that was really delicious before heading off to bed. The following morning we departed for a vineyard tour and wine tasting at a local organic winery. I, personally, am not a fan of wine or any alcohol. In part because of age and in part because I just genuinely do not like it. After this, the class visited Civita di Bagnoregio, a small village of sorts set atop a plateau overlooking the River Tiber. It sits at the end of an incredibly long bridge and while it looked absolutely beautiful, it was very hot out that day and I was not feeling all that well, so I did not make the trek out to it. After this we finally left for Rome itself.
Rome is like New York City and is definitely worth exploring. Rome has something for everyone. Obviously there is the history, the Colosseum being the first thing that comes to mind. The Trevi Fountain, while beautiful, is hard to see because it is almost constantly surrounded by tourists. The Pantheon was awesome to see and there was a cellist outside playing the day I visited which only added to feel of the area. The Spanish Steps, unfortunately, were closed during my visit, but I did get to see them. There were a lot of very cool buildings and shops scattered throughout the whole city. Rome was definitely a great way to end the trip.
Italy was awesome to visit. The difference in culture was clear but I could also see a lot that was the same. Being able to draw these different comparisons between life there and life at home was definitely mind-blowing. If I have learned anything from this trip, it's to take time to enjoy and appreciate the little things in life, because you never really can appreciate them until you do not have them.
