November 2014 – Valpo Voyager

Month: November 2014 (page 1 of 2)

Totebags and other Souvenirs

November 30, 2014 / katherineackerman / 0 Comments

So, upon settling into university life for real, my life has come with a lot of first in the last week. Here are a few:

1. First German Doctors Visit

Although Germany is famous for its nationalized healthcare system, I did not get to experience it firsthand until this week. I had been feeling sick for a while, but until last Friday, I didn’t actually feel sick enough to do anything about it. So once I woke up with no voice, I decided it was time to visit the apothecary. In Germany, the pharmacy is called the apothecary and it is kind of like an in between place for small ailments like colds and the flu that do not require a prescription, but could still use some homeopathic remedies or a bit of medicine. However, once I got to the apothecary, I was quickly advised that I would need to go see a doctor. Within the next 10 minutes, I was on my way to a nearby doctor’s office and in less than ten minutes I was back on my way to the apothecary to get antibiotics. I was incredibly surprised how quickly it took for me to go to the doctor. It was easy, since all I had to do was show my insurance card and give my address and phone number and since I only had a small ailment the doctor looked at my symptoms and then told me what needed to be done about them. This may have been an exception since I came kind of close to closing time and the practice was small, but I have never experienced a doctor’s visit that has taken less than a half hour’s wait and I was shocked by how efficiently my visit was handled.

2. Feijoada

Some of my friends are other exchange students and amongst these one of the largest nationalities are Brazilians. I was lucky enough to be invited over to one of my friends houses to try the national dish of Brazil, feijoada. It is a delicious dish of black beans served with rice. Although this has nothing to do with German culture, I really enjoyed getting to know something about the home country of many of my friends and it was great to try a delicious home-cooked meal from another country as well.

3. Visiting with Eva

I went on my first visit to a German friend this week. My friend Eva lives in a nearby town where she has lived since graduating from Uni Tübingen. We worked together 2 summers ago at a language immersion camp, so when I got to Germany, I was sure to get in touch with her to arrange a visit. I got a lovely tour of her town called Esslingen, which has retained a lot of the architecture of the middle ages like Tübingen, but also a lot of the architecture of the Industrial Revolution which is different, but equally beautiful. I also realized how fortunate I am to have friends nearby. It occurred to me suddenly that the best part of this trip was seeing Eva because she is a good friend and that she is the first person who I have seen in the past two months, that I have known for more than two months. It was really great to hang out with someone who I know and love for a change of pace, rather than someone who I am getting to know.

4. Improv Group

When I got to Germany, I received an e-mail from the international student group at the university asking if I would like to sign up to have a German mentor. I immediately said yes and was quickly paired up with someone. I was happy to find that my mentor, Maike, was absolutely fabulous. We hit it off right away and she invited me to join her improv theater group in Tübingen. This experience was really wonderful. It was great to have a situation in which it was acceptable to just talk to Germans, but less formal than most of the classroom settings in which I had previously experienced. And hopefully the practice of having to speak without too much prompting will help me to improve my language skills even more.

A map of Köln, because I have been collecting maps lately.

5. Köln

I went to Köln this weekend for a conference for my scholarship this weekend. Basically, this trip was whirlwind 24 Hours heading up north on the train and listening to two whole presentations and getting to hang out with some very interesting people. I really enjoyed being in Köln because it is near where I lived during my exchange year and it was nice to see some of the culture differences between the Northwest and the Southwest of Germany. The main difference was the beer, which in the south is usually as heavier Hefeweizen and in the north a lighter Kölsch, which is a much more bitter beer. It was overall a great trip, but by far the highlight was the totebag that received as part of my scholarship. Totebags are surprisingly popular here in Germany and I must say I have been eyeing them with envy since arriving here. Needless to say, I was perhaps embarrassingly overjoyed once I arrived and was immediately handed a totebag, which I proceeded to carry around with me for the rest of the day. Sometimes it is the little things in life that count the most.

6. A Valpo Visit

On Monday a few weeks ago, Professor DeMaris from the German department was asked to be a keynote speaker at the opening for an art exhibit in Rottenberg about the Indiana Dunes. She was nice enough to show me the city and teach me a bit about Josef Eberle, the former owner of the Stuttgarter Zeitung and a donor to Valpo. It was a lovely tour and I really enjoyed reconnecting with Valpo in the process. Rottenburg is a lovely, beautifully preserved city much like Tübingen except with one big difference: it is not a university town. Although much of the architecture was similar, it gave the town a much different feel to see it brimming with people of all ages as opposed to mainly twenty and thirtysomethings.

Bis bald!

Stratford, Bath, and Stonehenge

Last weekend, the entire group embarked on our last trip together to see all sorts of castles around England. We also made stops at other places of historical significance. It was a great last trip for everyone to take together, and we had a lot of fun.

First, we stopped and visited Warwick castle. There are many different parts of the castle that were built and rebuilt over the years, some by the Normans, some during the Tudor reign, some much more recent. The oldest part of the castle, however, dates all the way back to the Anglo-Saxons, who lived in England before William the Conqueror and the Normans invaded. It was fun to climb the towers and walk around the outside of the castle.

Warwick Castle

Our next stop was in Stratford-upon-Avon. This was where William Shakespeare was born and lived with his family. We went through the house where he was born, and visited other houses of various family members, such as his daughter Susannah. He was probably one of the most wealthy in the town, because the rooms in the houses were huge (for that time) and had real glass windows. Most people would not have been able to afford glass, so that just showed how wealthy he and his family were.

Shakespeare’s Birthplace

The best part of the day was when we saw the Royal Shakespeare Company perform “Love’s Labour’s Lost.” This play is not nearly as well known as many of Shakespeare’s other plays, and was only recorded to have been performed in England three times during the 1800s. They set the story during the early 1900s in England, and had amazing sets and costumes that resembled those of Downton Abbey.

In Bath, we visited the Roman Baths. Bath was a very different kind of English town, because it really didn’t feel English at all. I felt like I was back in Italy, which makes sense, since this was an old Roman city. It’s amazing that the baths are still in such good condition for being as old as they are. They still had the natural hot spring running nicely, and it was cool to get to see something that old and that historical.

Roman Bath House

On our last day, we stopped for a cold and rainy hour to see Stonehenge. After that, we travelled to Surrey, right outside of London, and visited Hampton Court Palace. This was by far my favorite thing that we did. I am especially interested in history surrounding the Tudor monarchs, and was ecstatic that I got to see Henry VIII’s rooms. One of the hallways is said to be haunted by the ghost of Henry VIII’s fifth wife, Katherine Howard, and people have reported seeing her ghost running toward the chapel to beg for her life from King Henry, and hearing her screams as she’s dragged away.

Stonehenge

Hampton Court Palace

It is getting right down to the end of the semester, and I think everyone is excited to go home, but sad to be leaving Cambridge. We have done so many things and experienced so much that our perspectives have changed, and we have truly made Cambridge our home. It’s been a thrill so far, and I can’t wait to see what these last few weeks have in store for us!

Thanksgiving

November 29, 2014 / Tobiah Meinzen / 0 Comments

On Thursday our group walked down to West Lake into the gathering dark. Our three months of Hangzhou “experience” was obvious as we sauntered between the once terrifying flurry of mopeds, bikes and pedestrians. We conversed in groups of two or three. Along the north edge of West Lake we came to our destination, the Shangri La Hotel. The imposing entrance and facade would have been suitable to greet a foreign dignitary, but we walked around the side to a nondescript entrance where we were ushered into an expansive dining room.

It was Thanksgiving, although it hardly felt like it: the leaves around had just started turning color, the crush of Christmas & Black Friday ads were absence, and we had just taken midterm exams the week prior.

The meal was satisfying and unanimously declared a success—many of my classmates were particularly appreciative of the “authentic” American dishes—the turkey, gravy and mashed potatoes. Yet pursuing the expansive buffet provided reminders that we weren’t Stateside—particularly the seafood: clams, muscles, oysters, and snails. (None of which I tried.)

And amazingly, (I’m an engineer, but) I’m learning Chinese. I can’t claim to speak or understand conversations yet, but I can form sentences, (abet with a lot of thought) and read over 200 characters. I no longer feel that if I got lost in Hangzhou I’d end up having to do an interpretive dance to communicate. My Chinese class is a blast, we are constantly cracking jokes and laughing at (and with) one another’s mistakes, from the German student who always incorporates baozi (a type of food) into his sentences to the time I misheard a question and responded in Chinese with “America is not beautiful.”

Although my days still hold enough variation to avoid monotony it is rather odd to realize that I have settled into life here, “just in time” to return home in a little over two weeks.

My room faces east, so I enjoy a few hours of sunlight to disperse morning chill. I have noodles and two fried eggs from the cafeteria downstairs every morning. On colder days I get a hot soymilk in between morning classes. Almost everyday I visit a small Halal shop just down the road from north gate for one of my meals. The food is tasty and cheap, with a variety of veggie options while an adorable toddler providing constant entertainment as she dances between the tables. Desert is either ice cream, or a Nutella ‘wrap’ (sorta like a fried crepe). I’ve also gotten in the habit of buying three oranges (although more like tangerines in taste and peel quality) a day and eating them one after another. Long walks have become my go-to activity when I don’t feel like studying or when I need a change of pace. I try to go running/walking on the hill behind campus or shoot some hoops at least every other day. Thursday evenings I got to the ‘Big Bang English Club’ which is often a highlight of the week as I learn lots about Chinese culture and am often asked to reflect even more critically on my own “American” assumptions. And so goes my life in China…

Home for now: The International Student Building

The fall leaves outside my dorm.

Big Bang English Club (I’m the tallest one.)

Checking In and Catching Up

November 25, 2014 / Katie Rinda / 0 Comments

Okay, I realize it’s been a while. I just got so caught up in traveling that I forgot to document the traveling. And general life experiences. We’ve traveled a lot. Since I’ve written last, we’ve been through the lands where Luther and Bach walked. We’ve seen Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Budapest, Prague, Munich, and Paris. At points, we also attended class and slept.

Brittany and I were amazed at the precision of our neighbor’s leaf raking.

I have just looked at when I last posted. September. Sorry, guys. I’m going to try and catch you up with the last month or so in my next few posts, but to keep the ball rolling forward, let’s start with the last weekend: Paris.

Me! In front of the Notre Dame.

Paris was not originally on my must see list. It seemed to be such a cliché- See Paris! See the World! The city of lights was more beautiful than I expected it to be. It is also way too crowded a place for me to ever live in. Parisians are strangely bad at English, considering that it is basically the language of international tourism (i.e. how to make money off of all the culture they’re so proud of.) The first day in Paris, we took the metro to a stop near the right bank of the Seine River. From there we walked across the Ile de’ Cite, which is the island home to the Notre Dame Cathedral and the Palace of Justice. The latter is known primarily for something involving the revolution (as well as being a beautiful old building). Notre Dame means the Church of Our Lady in English, and it is quite impressive in person, although there were too many people there, a general theme for famous tourist spots in Paris.

There were a lot of cars, and a roundabout with no lanes, which to me seems like death.

We then crossed over the Seine and took the RER suburban metro train to the Eiffel Tower, which is much larger than it seems in pictures. It’s massive. 986 feet, according to my Art History professor. (He actually gave it to me in meters, but I thought you would all appreciate the imperial system. I definitely miss it.) It is also gorgeous at sunset. I took approximately a million photos, one of which I shall share with you now.

Sunset at the Eiffel Tower, just as the lights were being turned on.

Perhaps most importantly, across the Seine from the Notre Dame is a little bookstore, one may safely say is the best in the world. It is known as Shakespeare and Company, and coming to Paris, it was the only thing I needed to see. It did not disappoint. It was, in fact, the most magical place of selling books that I could have ever envisaged. Outside, there are carts of secondhand books for sale, spanning everything from the most generic children’s book about football to obscure short story writers from the 1930’s. The ground floor is overrun with bookshelves, new stories from the US and the UK. The second floor has a collection of children’s books in the landing and two perfect reading rooms filled with books. There is even a cat, who only sleeps in the best of the reading room chairs.

Here I am, in front of my favorite bookstore in the world.

So, Paris was a beautiful and hectic city. Coming back to classes and responsibilities in Reutlingen was a little painful, but such is life. I will begin catching you up on the rest of my adventures soon!

The study abroad kids at Professor Springer’s house for lunch- but more about that later.

Closing Time

November 24, 2014 / margaretprunty / 0 Comments

The weeks are flying by here in Namibia. I cannot believe that this Friday will be my last night here in Windhoek. In the blink of an eye, we wll be boarding a plane and heading to Cape Town, but before that happens, we will be having integrative projects, which is a creative presentation of everything we learned. We make one project that embodies every class we have taken. My group decided to make a children’s book that brushes on Namibia’s history, the role religion played during apartheid/segregation, and the nation’s development. I feel confident that everyone’s project will be unique and I look forward to the presentations.

On Thursday, we will making a Thanksgiving dinner for all the students and staff. It will be the last time we will all be together as a community. In the past, students have enjoyed this event and cooking together all day. We’re making food by the masses and I’m thrilled to have a little taste of home. From what I understand, Thanksgiving at CGE can be a bittersweet event because we say goodbye to most of the staff that night, but it’s good company and delicious food. This year, we decided to make superlatives for all the students and staff to show our appreciation for one another (and for entertainment’s purposes).

Later this week, I’m also going to a farewell party at my internship. The students will be singing Christmas carols in their choir and refreshments will follow. I’ll be sad that day because interning was a wonderful experience. I’ll miss the students I worked with and their lightheartedness. I was guaranteed a laugh everyday I spent there and I became pretty close with a few of the kids. It’s been a lot of fun and they made everyday worth coming in for.

All in all, this week has some bittersweet moments that lie ahead. There will definitely be a lot to miss about being in Windhoek from the people I’ve met to the staff to my afternoons spent interning. Being in Namibia has certainly been rewarding and I will absolutely miss it. On the other hand, I have been very excited to visit Cape Town for some time now. We get the schedule later this week, but I know we have big plans. For now, I will be soaking in my last days in Windhoek and cherishing the opportunities I have taken here.

The Namibian sunset

Fun at the BNC (my internship)

Emily and Sarah… my Swedish friends that I met interning

Arashiyama at the Peak of Autumn Colors

November 24, 2014 / Sarah Blackwell / 0 Comments

I’ve actually been meaning to go to Arashiyama for about a month now but kept getting delayed. Earlier in November the forecast showed rain on the days I had intended to go two weeks in a row. Another time I had to prepare for my first speech in Japanese class. But everything worked out; the trees change colors much later here because it’s warmer here than at home. There are still lots of threes that are completely green in our city.

If there was one drawback to going this weekend, it was the unbelievable number of people. Arashiyama draws crowds year round, but autumn colors season is second only to spring sakura season in Kyoto. The trains from Makino, my home station, to the JR station in Arashiyama were incredibly packed. I transferred four times and even the subways were more populated than usual. I spent my entire limited express ride from home to Sanjo station squished like a sardine and I stood on the subway because there were absolutely no seats, which is unusual as far as my experiences go. The trains from Nijo station to the station in Arashiyama were just as packed and sardine-tin like as my first ride. It doesn’t really bother me, but it’s always interesting when I’m the only obvious foreigner packed in and as nonplussed as the locals because sometimes I catch people looking at me to see if I’m used to the trains. Three months, a trip to Tokyo, and hours on other trains into my life in Japan, I don’t feel much about trains will surprise me anymore. Unless they start running more than two minutes late.

At the intersection right across the famous Togetsukyo Bridge. There were so many people that there was a three or four block line to cross the bridge to get to Arashiyama.

People crossing Togetsukyo. On the left side, of course.

It was a bit cloudy at times, making it a bit chilly with the breeze off of the water, but it was still warm for what I consider to be normal end-of-November weather.

To be honest, none of my photography (or the professional souvenir prints you can buy in the area, for that matter) truly do the sight justice, but I feel that this one is one of the closest:

I spent several hours just walking the area. There are several temples and a monkey park I didn’t get around to visiting, but walking even some of the trails was more than enough for one afternoon.

Though I wasn’t in the monkey park, there were still signs on the mountain warning tourists about the monkeys, as they can be dangerous:

“Please be careful of the wild monkeys. -Do not approach the monkeys -Do not interact with the monkeys and do not meet their eyes. -Do not give food to the monkeys.”

It’s hard for me to describe how vast this looked in real life. Especially for someone who has always lived in the flatlands of the Midwest, mountains feel so incredibly and incomprehensibly large.

One of the temples in the Arashiyama area, far away, across the river, and halfway up the mountain.

As the afternoon pressed on, the light started to filter through the leaves, creating a stunning canopy.

I actually got a little lost trying to find the train station, but I ended up finding the bamboo forest I wanted to walk through anyway, so it turned out alright. Especially since I remembered the train station being very close to the entrance of the forest. Unfortunately, I missed a turn somewhere and ended up walking twenty minutes past the station, ended up on some side streets outside the Arashiyama area. But I had a map and my Japanese, so I found the station pretty quickly, which was just as packed as it had been when I had arrived in the morning.

The bamboo forest honestly looked exactly like bamboo forests I've seen in movies, games, and anime. It was honesly kind of surprising.

The bamboo forest honestly looked exactly like bamboo forests I’ve seen in movies, games, and anime. It was kind of surprising.

Torii as far as the eye can see- Fushimi Inari

November 21, 2014 / Sarah Blackwell / 0 Comments

On Saturday some friends and I went to Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto. It’s one of the most famous in the area, well-known for its abundance of torii. The larger torii are typically bought by companies, as they typically cost many thousand dollars. They are then erected across the mountain paths, often so close together that the paths become more like hallways. It makes for an incredible walk.

However, families and individuals can buy smaller torii, also in varying sizes, that they place on the many smaller altars on the mountain.

Inari is the kami of rice, agriculture, and prosperity among other things. Statues of Inari’s messenger, the fox, are all over the mountain.

The front of the main part of the shrine.

A fox at the entrance to the main part of the shrine, holding the wish-granting jewel in its mouth.

It was a long hike to the top of the mountain. From the time we exited the nearest train station to the time we left the shrine, it probably took us over two hours, and we didn’t explore every path. The paths aren’t exactly hiking paths, though. Some are several hundred years old and wind through the mountain. None are direct. But it didn’t matter, as the scenery, torii, and smaller shrines were beautiful, especially as the fall foliage added dashes of color here and there. (Though November is almost over, it’s the height of fall colors here.)

The view over Kyoto from roughly halfway up.

Additionally, that Saturday was Shichi-Go-San, a rite of passage festival day for young boys and girls ages seven, five, and three. Pictures were, of course, not allowed of the inner shrine where the rites were taking place, but it was a beautiful but quiet festival, noticeable only by the conspicuous young children in tiny kimono. They were adorable! It was really cool to again see how ancient traditions are alive and well here.

Looking for Nessie (or, Our Weekend in Scotland)

November 20, 2014 / stephanieblack / 0 Comments

It was a nice change of pace from our big trip to Spain and Italy, because instead of there being ten of twelve of us all traveling and trying to go places at once, there were just a few of us. We got to spend a lot of time leisurely walking around and seeing whatever we came across.

We trained up to Edinburgh on Thursday night, which, with all of the train changes, is nearly a five hour journey. We made it in the middle of the evening and had a chance to walk around and look at all of the Christmas lights. Because it was the weekend before Veteran’s Day (or Armistice Day, as it is officially called in England), all of the gravestones at the churches and cathedrals had poppies on them in honor of those who were killed during World War I. It was very pretty and also very moving to see that sort of large scale memorial.

One of the things that Scotland is most known for, besides bagpipes and kilt, is Scotch Whiskey. There are so many distilleries all over the country that brew different kinds of scotch. While we were in the city, we took a tour of a distillery in Edinburgh and got to try scotch from different regions of Edinburgh. We also got to stand in a room that houses the world’s largest scotch whiskey collection. All in all, a fun afternoon.

On Saturday, we trained up to Inverness, Scotland, the city that is closest to Loch Ness. In the afternoon, we took a boat tour of Loch Ness. Our boat’s captain was a very nice old man who let us each take turns driving the boat. He was a member of the Loch Ness Investigation team back in the 1960s, and recorded one of the first camera sightings of the supposed Loch Ness Monster. He showed us a video about all of the work he did, and gave us some explantations for what Nessie could be. It was a very interesting tour, to say the least.

View from Loch Ness

That evening, we went to a pub called Hootenanny’s. This was my favorite part of the entire trip because we got to sit and listen to (or dance to) traditional Scottish music for three hours. The live band consisted of an accordion player and a guitar player. The accordion player is actually pretty well known, because not only is he a musician, but he has his own band and is also a professional athlete in a sport called shinty. The guitar player was one of the most talented musicians I have ever heard in my life, so it was a great night to get to sit and listen to the two of them.

This weekend, we’re traveling as a group to several castles, Shakespeare’s birthplace, and Stonehenge. Hopefully it’ll be a fun way to wrap up our time abroad, which for most, is quickly drawing to a close. We’ll all be back in Valpo before we know it!

Uncertainty and the Unknown

November 14, 2014 / Tobiah Meinzen / 0 Comments

Being a foreigner, particularly an American, presents an interesting dichotomy when it comes to wholly understanding the lives of Hangzhou’s Chinese. On the plus side, most (English-speaking) Chinese I’ve had conversations with are greatly interested in learning about America, this has led to many dinner invitations, an occasional pick-up basketball game and my regular Thursday evening Big Bang English Club. On the flip side, I am an American, which means I’m treated like a celebrity so the belief that Chinese are the friendliest people on the planet is obviously skewed.

Also I didn’t inherit my father’s aggressive curiosity, so I have a long way to go before I am a professional asker-of-questions. While I could obviously learn more if I was more outgoing, my passivity has taken me to some very interesting topics. (Who knew wearing long johns could be such a generational controversy?) A regular at Thursday’s English club, Alan (that’s his English name), has an unparalleled (among the Chinese I’ve met) interest in politics and we’ve ended up debating obscure topics on multiple occasions. While Chinese have a decent recognition of the relationship between money and politics I’ve heard some borderline hilarious assessments of the Fed—the most common being a secret cabal puppeteering Obama and Clinton (though not Bush). This last Thursday we discussed the Free Masons—who I know very little about—except that they don’t control U.S. politics.

Even as my interactions with Chinese continue to add up I find there is more and more I don’t know. Fittingly it has become harder to summarize (or stereotype) Chinese as more and more paradoxes or outliers arise. For instance the topic of homosexuality has been brought up and calming discussed on multiple occasions (who in the US would voluntarily discuss homosexuality in a hostile environment?), yet Chinese society largely retains traditional conservative beliefs on sexuality and virginity. (When I say ‘calmly discussed’ I mean almost yelling—the density of the city means most Chinese never learned to use their ‘inside voices’ when in groups more than five. They can be very loud.)

The homosexuality topic though might also have something to do with being an American. I’m a magnet for repeated relationship and sex questions. Average American dudes are hit on by Chinese women as though we look like Ryan Reynolds or something. (He’s the most recent attractive dude, right?) It is an ego boost for sure, returning to the States will deflate us back to boring bachelorhood.

I wish we had home-stays while we were here. Back in early October I was lucky enough to spend one night at a Chinese friend’s family home in the countryside. Then again, I saw the physical house and watched the familial interactions but without understanding Chinese I left wanting to know more. Language, though is the critical element to understanding any social environment, hence my attraction to the English clubs.

While my Mandarin skills have progressed at an amazing rate, we’ve still only scratched the surface and I’m years away from conversational or discussing beliefs and values. Even if I had the technical proficiency there is an unspoken cultural language which I may never gain. I notice it even between Valpo and Eugene. When I catch up with high school friends we often exchange fewer words, yet they are loaded with ideas and meaning which simply translate with even my closest of Valpo friends. I wonder if I developed a cultural telepathy in Eugene—for eighteen years.

With a month left in my study abroad I’ve become more uncertain about who the Chinese are—but that’s only because I realize how expansive their lives, traditions, jobs, and relationships are. Maybe study abroad isn’t about gaining knowledge, but instead being humbled by the expansive unexplored cosmos of humanity.

Lena, myself & Damon at Big Bang English Club

Big Bang English Club (I think they named it after the American TV show.)

Learning Rocket Science…err, Chinese…with Speaking Teacher Alex

The almost surreal simplicity of a bamboo grove near campus.

Today’s six hour hike south of campus into forested hills and beautiful tea tree fields.

Terraced tea trees.

Big Break Part 2: Italy

November 12, 2014 / stephanieblack / 0 Comments

The second part and majority of our ten day break was spent in various towns in Italy. From Barcelona, we flew into Milan where we spent a day. We walked around and saw the Duomo (which is just a really big cathedral), and walked around the city. We didn’t get to do a whole lot else, because our train to Venice was that night, but that was perfectly fine with me.

Venice was by far my favorite city in Italy. When we were planning our trip, I was pretty indifferent about everything we planned to do in Italy. However, I am so glad that I went along because Venice was one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen. It was a gorgeous day outside, and we spent an afternoon eating gelato and taking a gondola ride down the canals of Venice. Venetian glass is one of the biggest , and there were at least three shops down every little street. It was a wonderful day of relaxing and browsing the stores.

From Venice, we visited Florence. We went into the museum that houses Michelangelo’s statue of David, and saw the Duomo in Florence. My favorite part of our day in Florence was when a few of us climbed up to Michelangelo’s plaza, which was on top of a hill that overlooked the entire city of Florence. It was a long walk, but worth the trip, because we got to see the city at sunset and watched all of the city lights come out.

Florence

After a quick stop in Pisa to see the leaning tower, we made our way to Rome. There are a thousand and one things to do in Rome. Everywhere you turn there is some ruin, cathedral, or plaza that houses something of interest. We were quite disappointed, because both the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain were under construction and we couldn’t live out our childhood Lizzie McGuire dreams of throwing a penny into the fountain and then riding on the back of some Italian guys motorcycle to go off and become a pop star. Oh well, you can’t win them all :).

We still got to see a lot of things, like the Colosseum, the Pantheon, Hadrian’s Temple, and Trajan’s Market, just to name a few. The coolest thing to see was the ruins of the Roman forum. We had a really good tour guide through the area, and that made it all that more interesting. These ruins are surrounded by modern city buildings, and if they weren’t there, it would have been impossible to know that the Romans had once conducted business there. It was one of those moments where I felt like I was going back in time and stepping into a historical moment.

The Colosseum

The Roman Forum

We also spent a day in Vatican City. The Sistine Chapel was beautiful, but the best part was seeing St. Peter’s Basilica. First of all, this church is massive. I have never seen a church so big in my entire life, and I have seen quite a few cathedrals. Second, it was absolutely stunning. The painted ceilings were so intricate and well kept, and the statue of Mary holding the dying Jesus is also there.

Our trip was definitely worth the time and effort we put in to planning it. Coming soon is our weekend trip to Scotland, to Edinburgh and Inverness!

Valpo Voyager

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