Submitted by Daniel Tokar on the 2018 winter session program in Italy sponsored by the Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics and the Department of English…
My second week abroad was a tumultuous one. Though, I didn’t believe I would, I had begun missing home more and more. I did my best to fight these feelings by bonding with the students on my program and soaking in as much of the Italian culture as I could. A delicate balance of this push for involvement and some talking with the people back home ultimately solved the problem.
After a lovely farewell dinner in Volterra, we went to Florence for our first big chunk of free time. The city offered huge amounts of new experiences; after taking a three hour historical tour of the city, some of our group went up to Piazzale Michelangelo, which provides a stunning overlook of all of Florence. Halfway through our free weekend, I took a day trip to Rome. We were able to see the majority of the historic sites there in one day; by the end we had walked over ten miles!
Both cities were a sharp contrast to Volterra, giving us a look at the different facets of Italian life. Even Florence and Rome, two major cities not far apart, were two different animals. Next we head to Paderno del Grappa, where I’m excited to meet students from other universities in the United States.
