So there are two important things
that happened in March and April! Even big events such as people coming to
visit me all the way from America seem easy to forget with everything that’s
going on, but I thought I would rewind just one more time for all of you to
recall those significant 6 days that each set of visitors spent here in Bologna
with me.
Sam
came to visit me in March! Which was extremely exciting! I managed to find him
an apartment nearby to stay in (my dorm has very strict visitor policies) which
was small and had a somewhat-dangerous bathroom, but served its purpose. I had
a lot of plans to show him around and travel, but as is very usual in Bologna
in March, the weather was dismal. We did
manage a wonderful day in Venice, which is a city that never gets old, no
matter how many times you visit. Also, the light drizzle of rain did not take
away from the beauty of Venice’s canals and windy alleyways. I really loved
showing Sam around, since I know Venice pretty well, having traveled there so
many times with my parents. I think that ended up being the most successful
travel day of his trip. We also did a half-day trip to Ravenna to see the
mosaics again…and then a disastrous trip to Siena in which we:
(1). Took the train to Florence
from Bologna in the morning.
(2). The train from Bologna to
Florence was delayed.
(3). When we finally got to
Florence we waited for a bus to arrive to take us to Siena.
(4). We got on the wrong bus.
Rather than taking us on the highway, it took us on back country roads and
stopped at every. single. little. town. on the way to Siena.
(5). Over-eager, I made us get off
the bus at the bottom of the hill of Siena. Siena is at the top of the hill.
(6). We climbed for about two
hours, getting lost multiple times, until we finally reached the city center.
(7). At this point it was 3 p.m…so
everything was closed. And it was grey and raining.
(8). We ate a spectacular lunch.
(9). The tower in the Campo was
closed due to rain. We went to the church instead, which was beautiful.
(9). We struggled to find the bus
ticket booth to get back to Florence. We got on the correct bus this time.
(10). We made it to Bologna and
crashed, completely exhausted.
This day-trip to Siena was physically
and emotionally draining. It was probably the most difficult traveling I’ve
dealt with, just because one thing kept piling on top of the other. Other than
these small days of traveling, I toured Sam around Bologna, which involved a
lot of food-eating. Welcome to Bologna.
Siena!
On the Rialto in Venice
The top of Asinelli Tower in Bologna
My parents also came to visit! They
came quite recently in April. We stayed in Bologna for the most part, but spent
two days in the city of Lucca, in Tuscany. We really went full-circle with this
trip: the only other time we visited Lucca, I was eight years old. I had been
incredibly excited about this completely-walled medieval city for weeks and it
was just my luck that as soon as we got there, I had developed an incredibly
high fever and became so delirious that I woke up in the middle of the night,
babbling in Italian. It was at this point that my mother discovered that every
time I had come home from Italian school claiming to have learned nothing was
all a lie. I was apparently fluent in Italian. Or at least I was in my
fever-induced state.
As
a result, I didn’t really get to see the city I had been so excited to see. My
eight year-old-self was always very disappointed by this. My parents were nice
enough to take me back there this time! We even stayed in the same hotel that I
had originally gotten sick in. Luckily, this time, there was no fever. We spent
a wonderful two days touring around the medieval city and eating way too much. In
the morning of our second day, we rented bikes and rode them along the walls of
the city (the walls are so wide that there is a huge bike/walking/running path
that runs along the top of them, so that you can look down at the city or the
moat on either side the entire time). We also rode our bikes into the city and
got a bunch of sliced meat, cheese, vegetables and bread and had a huge picnic
up on the walls in the sunshine.
Once
back in Bologna, I showed my parents around the city. They really had just
wanted to get a feel for how I was living here in Italy and I think I succeeded
in showing them…again, mainly through food. I also was able to tell them a lot
about the history of the city thanks to my Urban History class, which was
really cool. I was kind of surprised by how much I had learned since being here!
Marta and Viola cooked my parents a feast, just as they had done for Sam. Both
dinners with my roommates were really fun and I can’t express enough how
grateful I am for the apartment I was placed in. They are just such a wonderful
people.
In Lucca
Riding bikes!
Lucca's walls
Cooking dinner with Marta
:)
My absolute favorite picture ever.
It
was strange having people from home here. I think I have a very Military-brat type of mentality when
abroad: when I’m in a new place, I immerse myself completely. My contact with
“home” is limited, if only because as a kid, I grew up knowing that “home” was
not the place I had left behind, but the new place that I was in at that
moment—and the one that would follow soon after, just three years later. This
should explain to some of you why I’ve been so bad at keeping in touch
throughout this semester: not out of lack of love, but just a lack of
consciousness of what “home” is. Because
of this, I have the world of Bologna and the worlds of Virginia Beach and
Fredericksburg very divided. Having people come from one place into the other
was really weird. It was like their
faces didn’t fit on my streets here, just as I’m sure it’ll be strange when I
visit the American friends I’ve made here when we’re all back in the States. I
know that not everyone goes through their semester abroad like this—a lot of
people spend hours skyping family and friends every week. There is nothing
wrong with this way of studying abroad! I completely understand the need to
stay in touch with the people you feel closest to. I’ve just realized that
being raised by the Navy means that when I’m in a place, I’m in it completely.
I’m looking forward to my summer at home and my Senior year at UMW, but I can
still wait for it to come. Right now, I’m enjoying the moment and the people
here. Speaking of right now, it’s 2:30 a.m. and tomorrow I have to study for my
exams, in addition to writing an update about my trips to Gaeta and Barcelona. I
should probably head off to bed soon!
So
if I’ve been out of touch, but you still stop by this blog from time to time, this
is my way of reaching out and letting you know that thousands of miles away,
I’m still thinking about you occasionally. I’m just very much invested in my
time here; and let’s be honest, that’s how it should be, right? Virginia Beach
and Fredericksburg will still be waiting for me on May 31st. I only have
Bologna and Europe for these next few weeks and I’m going to be here completely as much as I can
before these five amazing months come to a close and I have to figure out how
to go back to normal.
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