Just returned form a two week Spring Break. I was so luck to be able to visit 5 cities in such a short amount of time. First I was off to London for three days. I chose to see Les Miserables and Wicked while there and I am so glad, they were wonderful productions. The second day I was there I walked through the whole city and did some major site seeing but didn’t have much time to go into any of the more popular sites or museums. I did however get to see the Tate Modern. I did a quick walk through; wish I could have stayed longer because it was very impressive. The next day we went to an Arsenal Game at night. The energy of the passionate fans was indescribable. I wish soccer was as popular in the states as it is in Europe; in my opinion it’s as fun to watch as college football. 

The next day we took off for Dublin just in time for St. Patrick’s Day. Though it’s a religious holiday in Ireland there was quite the festival in Dublin. We were lucky enough to have a hotel on the route of the parade so we watched it from the roof. It was a beautiful day, definitely a St. Patrick’s day I will never forget. We spent the next day meeting up with friends from Dublin and exploring the city. For our final full day we took the train down the coast and saw some beautiful towns along the water. It was great to get a change of pace and see the countryside after having been in cities for so long.

From Dublin we were off to Paris. We were very lucky to find an apartment for only 100 euros (more…)

Early Wednesday morning our class left for Bologna pronounced “boloɲa” which is a large University town. As a class we were required to create a lesson plan and do presentations on Bologna while we were there. We had a creative lesson plan, presented some history on the town and planned a field trip to Grom’s gelato shop which is said to have the best gelato in town. We went to lunch at a restaurant that our concierge recommended and were welcomed warmly and directed to the second floor of the restaurant which provided a private atmosphere. We took turns deciding what the restaurant had previously served as because there was an abundance of red and lamps which led some to think it had been an Asian restaurant. At the same time there were some metal handrails around holes in the floor and an eccentric wall texture which alluded to a potential club scene. One of the girls eventually called our waiter over to bring menus to us and he came bearing just two for our group of 15. Though we tried to make the best of the shortage of menus we eventually caved in and requested two more. In the end we had a good first meal in Bologna and looked forward to our next couple of days walking around the University area, visiting Modena, the Ferrari Museum and the Porticos of San Luca which encompassed a 3 mile long stretch up a hill and over 660 arches.

After our class ended in Bologna, many of us continued on to Venice to spend the weekend. Venice was an even bigger tourist attraction than Florence (more…)

For President’s Day Weekend I went with a couple of the girls to Greece. I had wanted to go to Greece for the longest time and that desire was only intensified after watching Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants where there are scenes of a lovely white town on the hill along the sea. I wanted to see a white city for myself. We arrived in the afternoon to a nice sunny day after settling down in our hotel room we set about exploring the area around Monastriki. We found ourselves near a street that was lined with great shopping stores which we ventured into encouraged by the Sales signs on the windows. That night we went out to dinner and I had an amazing cheese pie, traditional meat plate and topped it off with dessert, a plate of warm baklava and macedonia ice cream. It was a great first meal.

Over the course of the next day we visited the Acropolis, Temple of Zeus, the new Mall in Athens and had the most delicious gyros called Thanasis recommended to me by my friend Vicky back home. She was right and we went back for another round. The only thing that put a damper on our day was that a woman who we met mentioned something about a snow storm due to approach from Siberia and we just tried to brush it off because it seemed ridiculous to think that it could really snow after the incredibly nice weather we were having.

We woke up the next day and I got what I wanted. A white city. (more…)

Since this is my first blog I believe it warrants an introduction. My name is Cecilia Velazquez and I am a sophomore business student studying abroad through the Honors Program at the UW Rome Center. This is my first study abroad experience and it has definitely given me a thirst for more. Right now my classes consist of taking History, Art and Italian all of which come to life more so because I am living in it. What could be more powerful than learning about the Trevi fountain, the Vatican and the Pantheon than getting the opportunity to see them for myself?

My class went on a field trip to Florence the third weekend into the quarter to have a change of scenery and experience another city outside of Rome. Florence, like Rome is also located by the river, but the fact that it is smaller made it more manageable. On our first day there we went to lunch as a group and were able to try some of the famous Tuscan soups. Ribollita, which is a vegetable soup, was by far my favorite. I never knew that a vegetable soup could have such flavor and taste so good. One of my favorite activities that we did in Florence was climb to the top of a hill on which there was a church. The church was linked to a monastery with monks who chanted at the evening mass. While we did not arrive in time to hear them chant we were treated to an almost bird’s eye view of the city below, taking in not only the historic center and the river but also the landscape that surrounds Florence.

The one thing that surprised me most about Florence was that when we went in the markets the street vendors all spoke various languages. Depending on what language they thought we spoke they would address us differently. At one belt shop the woman running it spoke to us in English and Italian but also knew Spanish and Portuguese in addition to knowing phrases in other languages to help her in her trade. (more…)