Note: I am going through the old posts from Monday-Thursday
and adding pictures (and some more little stories to them) so if you want to
see those, you may have to actually go onto the website instead of reading it
via email! It may take me a while to do all of the days as I have slow internet
and grocery shopping and homework to attend to but I hope it will be done by the
end of today! Also, happy daylight savings! I also got to fall back an hour
because of the time difference in Italy!
I am so glad and fortunate that I was able to have this
experience to go to Italy for a week! It was overwhelming to be in a country that
speaks a different language; however, most people seemed to know a bit of
English. Even when people didn’t, pointing, gesturing, and holding up fingers was
typically sufficient to get the food that I wanted. On Friday night, we were at dinner late and
they were closing as we were finishing and our server had already left. The guy
who worked there held up a piece of paper with 18.00 written on it so we knew
how much we owed. Then, he gave us each a free coffee. It was absolutely
adorable and wonderful.
Milan- Milan was my least favorite of the cities we visited.
It was cosmopolitan, but it also felt very touristy and elitist. Some of the
architecture was pretty and the cathedral was gorgeous, but it was not my ideal
city.
Rome- Rome was so incredibly overwhelming and touristy. We
tried to (and did) hit all of the major attractions in one day, but it was
exhausting. The city is too large to walk around so we were worn out after a
day there. I would love to go back and spend at least a week only in Rome.
There are lots of historical buildings and ruins that I could spend time at.
Pisa- Pisa was perfect! It was so adorable, quaint, and
lovely. I enjoyed the relative calmness and peace of the city and could have
spent a full day there as there were museums and a garden we did not go to. It
was also way cheaper and had gorgeous scenery!
Florence- It is hard to quickly sum up Florence as we spent
so much time there. It has so many churches and cool buildings and there is art
everywhere! The town is big enough so you do not feel clautorphobic, but small
enough that everywhere was walkable. Although touristy, the town did not feel
overwhelmingly tacky. It felt very safe and I was not worried walking back when
it was dark (sunset was 5). It was well lit, there were always people around,
etc.
Hostel- This was the most amazing hostel! It only holds 10
people so it is incredibly personal and we got to know the staff (Taylor) and
owner (Jonathon) well! They were always so helpful and cheerful and full of
information. Although we had to walk a few blocks to get into town, we only
were at the hostel at night so it was not a problem.
I already want to go back so I think that is a sign of a very successful trip! I am exhausted now, my feet have some new blisters, and my body is sore from all of the walking so I am having a relaxing day and reading for my Irish literature class which begins tomorrow! Two of my flatmates have returned and had wonderful trips as well! We begin phase II tomorrow which is really exciting but sad because it means we only have six weeks left in London!
Now, I want to buy everyone Christmas gifts in Europe, but obviously there would be no way to exchange things. Thus, I want to get some feedback from y'all about what you want. I have used a website called surveymonkey. If you can fill it out that would be super helpful. It is just to give me some ideas on what you may want and use. It should take one minute.
Just click on this: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2V9TPMS