Category: Winter Session

Submitted by Fiona Letko on the 2024 Winter HLTH program in Italy…

This was such a bittersweet week, as it was the ending of our Winter study abroad. This week, we started off by visiting beautiful Siena. We started off the day by touring Santa Maria della Scala. We finished off the day by enjoying an amazing lunch as a group in the center of the city. 

I was able to spend some time exploring the beautiful atmosphere and culture in Florence this week as well! I shopped for some leather to bring back with me, and tried many different foods, such as the best pesto pasta I have ever tasted!

This week we also took a trip to the Tuscan region of Italy, and learned how they train dogs for truffle hunting, pasta and ravioli making, and a beautiful dining experience trying many foods! I specifically enjoyed playing with the truffle hunting dogs!

This week my friends and I also traveled up the duomo, climbing 463 steps to the top for a beautiful view! This was an amazing experience and the view of Florence was breathtaking and well worth the climb. 

We traveled to Chianti for our last meal together as a group on Friday, and it could not have been more perfect. We took a tour of the beautiful Castello di Verrazzano, and finished off the tour with an amazing family style meal. We ate a variety of foods such as different meats, cheese, vegetable soup, bolognese, ribs, sausages, potatoes, salad, and steak. I couldn’t ask for a better meal and way to end the trip as a group. It was very bittersweet to leave Italy, but I am so grateful to have had this experience, and I can’t wait to go back! (Submitted on January 29, 2024)

Submitted by Kat Severson on the 2024 Winter SPAN program in Costa Rica…

This weekend our group had the opportunity to to visit the wonderful Cateratas de La Paz!  loved getting out of the city of Heredia, where we are staying, and into the rainforest. This nature park’s mission is to preserve and protect the natural environment and educate visitors about the importance of these natural habitats and their preservation. 

We drove up into the central mountain range, all the way up into the clouds! The reserve covers around 70 acres, 40 acres of which are rainforests and cloud forests. The tour started with visits to their wildlife sanctuary exhibits including the aviary and hummingbird garden, the butterfly garden, the snake house, insects, frogs and the jungle cats. I have never seen so many hummingbirds in one place before! We stopped at their cafeteria for a buffet-style lunch (gallo pinto, plantains, picadillo), then were off to hike the waterfall trials.

I had been waiting all day for the waterfalls. Ready to explore we headed on the guided path, which was all built without taking down any trees or vines, and without using heavy machinery. All of the materials were brought down on foot to cause minimal disturbance to the wildlife around it. The views from the five waterfalls were breathtaking! La Paz is definitely staying on my bucket list! (Submitted on January 28, 2024)

Submitted by Antoinette Collazo on the 2024 Winter NED24/ENGL365 program in The Netherlands…

Closing out our final week in the Netherlands, we ventured to the Hortus Botanicus gardens in Leiden. We were able to see a 400-year-old tree (seen in the back of the first image) that the building was built around due to how long it has grown there. Our guide informed us of the garden’s history and how it was originally a professor’s collection of medicinal herbs that has since evolved into a beautiful and monumental garden. Another interesting feature of these gardens is a whole section of plants dating back to the prehistoric era. Being able to see plants that have thrived and survived for so long was a very unique experience, as well as a great way to close out our time in the Netherlands. (Submitted on January 29, 2024)

Submitted by Sam Ferguson on the 2024 Winter HIST program in Italy…

One of the most remarkable things about Ferrara, the last stop on our trip, was the historic walls that surrounded the city. Ferrara was an important center of power for the Este family in Renaissance Italy, and in order to defend this city from outsiders the Estes built a monumental set of walls around the city. Although the Estes were ultimately removed from Ferrara in the late 16th century, the walls have been maintained in good condition into the modern day. Today the walls no longer serve a defensive purpose, instead existing as a beautiful nature trail that goes around the whole of Ferrara. Walking on these walls was a truly spectacular experience, as the trail combined beautiful views with impressive markers of the city’s amazing history. 

One particularly interesting spot on the walls was at the site of an old tower which had been used by the Estes to defend Ferrara against invaders. In the 1990s, this historic tower was converted into the prestigious Jazz Club Ferrara, which has hosted Miles Davis and other famous musicians. Although our class did not go there, my friend and I were very interested in checking out this unique and historic space, and we ultimately decided to visit the Jazz Club on our last night of the trip. When we entered the building, we were immediately impressed by its amazing atmosphere, which blended the rich history of the tower with the lively and cozy aesthetic of the Jazz Club. We loved the bustling crowds, the smooth music, and the absolutely stunning interior, and all of these beautiful characteristics combined to create a simply beautiful. This space combined old and new in a way that made it a wonderful reflection of my time in Italy. Like so many other amazing sites we visited, Ferrara’s Jazz Club and walls both show how Italy’s rich history contributes to the country’s beauty in the present day. (Submitted on January 29, 2024)

Submitted by Aly Markley on the 2024 Winter LLCU/LANG program in Siena, Italy…

For my final days in Italy I spent the weekend in Venice. It was definitely my favorite place I visited throughout the whole trip. The day started with a 10 minute train ride on an extremely foggy day to the main island. After exploring for a couple of hours we took a boat to Murano. There we saw the most beautiful blown glass stores. There were cups, plates, bowls, statues, bracelets, anything you can think of. After lunch we headed back to the boat and just spent the rest of the afternoon in aw. We went into a little bookstore called “Alta Acqua Libreria” which had an area in the back where people could take photos inside a gondola. We wandered around the entire day with no plans just going into places as we saw them. This was by far the most peaceful I have felt since being here. It is easy to over plan and try to see everything when in actuality the most beautiful things and moments present themselves when unprompted. I am sad to go but I am extremely grateful for this experience and I hope to return someday. (Submitted on January 29, 2024)

Submitted by Matthew Slawik on the 2024 Winter PHIL program in Italy …

 My final few days in Italy were pretty uneventful. We went back to Rome and saw some new things and sites we had already seen. It was fun to go explore a city which I already knew how to get around. My favorite thing I saw was probably the synagogue since it was interesting seeing a religious site from a different religion rather than the usual Roman Catholicism. When the time came to go home, it was sad but I was also happy the trip went so well. 

   All together I couldn’t have asked for a better trip, I made great friends, saw amazing sites, went to a soccer game, experienced local culture and food, and had one of the best months of my life. Now that I’m back home I have been looking back on all the great times I had and feel grateful that I got to experience it. (Submitted on January 29, 2024)

Submitted by Samantha Epperson on the 2024 Winter ENGL program in Italy…

Today we did a guided tour of Santa Croce Basilica and I really enjoyed it. I am not religious but the church is beautiful inside and out, and I learned so much I did not know before. I did not do a lot of research before I came here on Italian history or art/culture which makes things like this morning’s tour really fun because I am learning so much new information that I did not know before. I also really love looking at sculptures so it was amazing to see the fine details on all of the tombs. We do not see a lot of art in our day to day lives in the United States. I also love learning about history, I am a huge history nerd. So I thoroughly enjoyed the tour guide going into depth about the Medici family and how Italy was divided and did not even reunify until after the United States had gained independence. I also thought the tidbit about Galileo was so incredibly interesting and such a crazy story to hear about how his body was missing when they opened the coffin to try and bury him properly. Another part I loved of the tour was hearing about the historical soccer there and how it is every single year. I have played rugby for almost 9 years now so I am really into more physical sports and I love the aspect that it is such a huge thing in the community that it is bigger than the holidays. It reminds me (on a much larger scale) of how in my hometown we have a football game between the rival high schools every year on thanksgiving day in the morning and it is such a huge deal everyone in the town goes to it and it is just such a nice sense of community, nad it is really awesome to see that in other cultures and on a much larger scale. (Submitted on January 28, 2024)

Submitted by Sofia Sacchetti on the 2024 Winter CGSC/LING program in Italy…

Time has really been flying by here in Rome. It feels like we just got here even though it has been almost a week. We have done a few really neat excursions while in Rome so far. My program and I were able to take an amazing tour inside the Colosseum and around the Roman Forum. This was really interesting to learn about because of my background in Latin and Ancient Rome and it was fascinating to see it in person. We also got the chance to see the Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, the Pantheon and Piazza Novana. While Sorrento has amazing views, Rome takes the award for its beautiful architecture. All of the places we have visited so far are so wonderful to look at. You can spend hours just staring at every detail crafted in all of these locations. 

During the beginning of our week in Rome, a smaller group of my program decided to take the metro to the Vatican to visit the square and museum. Inside of the Vatican Museum was so amazing. There were so many different sections and rooms it was almost like a maze. Seeing the Sistine Chapel was honestly unbelievable. We stayed there for 25 minutes just looking at the ceiling and we luckily got a seat for half of it. The only reason we decided to leave is because we had to be back in time for class. If we didn’t I definitely would have stayed there longer. In addition, my program was able to take a ravioli and tiramisu making class. We made the pasta dough and sauce from scratch. It was incredible and so much fun to see everyone make their own shapes and sizes! (Submitted on January 28, 2024)