Katie Ferriss
Reflection 2
Professor Seaman
8 June, 2017
The past
three days of my Italy May Term experience were one in a million. Beginning
with a bus ride to Lake Como, in the town of Bellagio. It was a foggy, rainy
day up in the mountains and our group had the luxury of staying in this
beautiful town. Our view was amazing with the mountains surrounding us all over
around our hotel with water of Lake Como directly below us in between the
mountain sides. We walked through the Gardens of Villa Melzi where we came
across many statues and works of arts. They were breathe taking, beautiful, and
one of a kind pieces. The rain made everything in the garden to appear fresh,
clean and calming. We then walked throughout the center of the town where many
of us found gifts made of silk, which they are known for producing. Afterwards
we took a water taxi to our dinner. The water taxi was speedy and gave our
group an amazing view of Lake Como and its surroundings. I was mesmerized by
looking around and in awe that this is where my journey has brought me.
The
following day we bussed on over to Verona. We were right by Romeo and Juliet’s
homes and was able to see both on our walking tour. Juliet’s house was built in
the 14th century and is built from Gothic style architecture. Today,
people still write letters to Juliet asking for her advice in love by leave
tiny notes along the walls of her house where the statue of Juliet stands in a
small garden area where one can see the balcony where Juliet stood as Romeo serenaded
her. As we continued on our walking tour we then saw the famous Verona Arena,
which is a Roman Amphitheatre in Piazza Bra in Verona. The history is very
unclear, where many different dates have emerged ranging from the first to
third century and built between the emperors Augustus and Claudius. Today the
arena holds many opera festivals, musicians, and international singers. While
we were in Verona, Charlie Puth was performing in the arena.
Our final
day of our three-day excursion was spent in the northeastern city built on
canals, Venice. When we first arrived I was in amazed by the amount of walking,
water taxis, and gondolas, there really was no bikes, cars, or even motor
scooters. It was truly amazing to see the city and how well kept it was with
limiting the amount of pollution that could have been produced by allowing
street cars or even bikes on the roads. We began to walk around the city seeing
churches and many works of art, such as The Tempest. We then walked over to see
the Grand Canal. Of course, many of us took pictures of the sight, but it was
absolutely incredible to see the Mint, St. Mark’s Square and much more
architecture from that single point at the edge of a building. We continued to
walk to lunch where had, now, one of my favorite meals: salad, pasta with
clams, calamari, and tiramisu for dessert. I have been trying all the different
types of tiramisu and by far this was one of my favorites. The texture and
amount of ingredients tasted just right to me and so much more. We then walked
to St. Mark’s Square. We had a cappuccino in Café Florian, the oldest running
café in Italy and then walked through the Basilica of San Marc (Church of St.
Mark). The church was absolutely breathtaking and eye opening, I could think of
nothing to compare it to or anything that could come close to how extraordinary
it really was.
We finished our day with a gondola
ride and water taxi back to our bus where we then drove back to Grado. As we
drove back I reflected on the many adventures this trip has offered me and by
far these three days will be ones that I will never forget.
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