Italy .. from Taylorae DeWitt Ciao! Hello everyone! I am currently writing you aboard the MV Explorer after SIX DAYS and EIGHT CITIES of backpacking through the beautiful country of Italia! Anyone sensing a marathon, detailed novel coming on? With three days at sea before arriving in Italy, I think we are due for some serious ship updates, so here it goes. Life at sea has been calm… just cruising along through the salty Mediterranean waters. We got a new kind of peanut butter on board… apparently it’s almond butter, but the ship kids (children of the faculty) really did not like that switch so now they put out both- delicious. Some of my favorite parts of our “C-days” (class days while we are sailing away… ) are my Marine Biology class where my professor puts on “documentaries” of humans in shark/coral reef/marine life costumes that put on a Broadway musical about the ocean, 1:45-3:20 every day when my good friend Francesca sit down to study with a jar of Nutella, or when my roommate walks in the room and decides that we’re going to give me a haircut and play her favorite “would you rather” game just because. Other favorite moments include our muster station drills where the entire shipboard community puts on giant life jackets and we report up to the 5th floor dining hall, then out to the decks where the lifeboats are.. total Titanic moment. Meal times are always fantastic because no matter what, my close group of friends 11 people strong (give or take the day) always find each other at meals times… and we refuse to spread out onto two different tables. So, as crazy as this sounds, it’s probably crazier than you can imagine. Plates stacked up, elbows flying everywhere, only a few drinks getting spilled, people talking over people, laughing, more and more eating and sharing what everyone else is eating…. It is one beautiful mess, but it is definitely in these moments that I appreciate my dysfunctional family on the ship the most. With this group, we have nightly Pilates sessions around 9 on deck 7 overlooking the ocean and we even developed our own version of cultural preport (what happens before we dock in each new port) consisting of watching Hercules before Greece, The Lizzie McGuire Movie before Italy, etc. It’s a pretty fantastic addition in my opinion! Even cooler than the movie nights we all have, is absolutely the greatest thing I’ve experienced since being on this ship sailing the Mediterranean Sea…. DOLPHINS! TWICE! Whilst eating dinner, Francesca, fellow Marine Biologist and good friend, spotted a whole family of dolphins having the time of their lives in the wake! They love playing in the wake behind big cruise ships jumping through the waves- so of course we videotaped that! Later that evening we sailed past Stromboli Volcano- a volcano off the coast of Italy that is still erupting! We literally saw erupting lava! So yes, that was a super cool three days at sea! Finally, as we felt the ship slow down, and made our final turn (which creates an extremely loud motor noise that undoubtedly wakes you up), we pulled up to the coast of Italy and docked in Livorno! It was an exciting morning with the parent trip beginning and a lot of family members coming aboard the ship- as if there weren’t already enough people on board. We met Francesca’s younger sisters first thing in the morning at breakfast, then ran into my other good friends Katie and Kathryn and their families… it was such a great start to the day. We meet all of these wonderful people on this ship, and we always talk about our favorite people back home and tell stories and show pictures, but here we were actually getting to meet these people we hear so much about. It was a beautiful thing to take our friendships to this level and really get to know the families behind the incredible people you meet on the ship! Luckily, we ran into these families so many times throughout Florence and Rome! Which we will get to…. Walking to the train station we saw the first waterway with bridges over it and beautiful buildings on each side- there was no denying it, we were in Italy! We found the bus that took us to the train and made it on with seconds to spare! As we road traveled to Pisa we saw gorgeous views of fields of sunflowers. Upon arriving in Pisa, we followed amazing streets lined with neutral buildings complete with vibrant colored shutters and doors. It was sure a sight to be seen. As we rounded the final corner, right before us was the leaning (actually sinking… ) bell tower (the most famous of three anyway…) and boy was it a funny looking building. I may have giggled a little bit. This building, seriously leaning, was just so funny to me. What was even funnier was that there were leaning people everywhere too! Everyone was standing around taking the classing holding the tower up/pushing the tower down picture… in the exact same pose. Leaning shot glasses, leaning coffee mugs, etc. accompanied the tower. Too funny. A couple hours of laughing and creative picture taking later, we moved around the tower and entered the Cathedral next to it. One thing I learned in Italy is that no matter what building you are walking into, ALWAYS LOOK UP! Some of the most exquisite views are that of the ceilings! Second… definitely the street performers. Live music, statuesque human beings, dancing, art work, and everything of the like only enhanced the many hours we spent strolling around and experiencing life in the city. As we walked back to the train station, we casually stopped inside a Zara clothing store which are all over Europe and finished out Pisa in the best way possible- the first of MANY stops for gelato! The first flavor I tried was recommended to me by the gelataria owner called Riso Soffiato which had actual sweet rice in the gelato. This flavor, as all others, was accompanied by the infamous Nutella (hazelnut) gelato. As we waited to head to the next of the Tuscan cities, it began to rain! This was the first rain we had encountered since London…. And as hot as Tuscany is, we were incredibly excited! The rain was short lived as we pulled out of the Pisa train station and began our journey to Lucca we watched the rain slowly fade away. Walking out of the train station, we entered my favorite of the Tuscan cities. Lucca, with its intact Renaissance-era city walls houses the old, medieval city just inside the 4km circular walls, whereas the more modern city sits on the outskirts. After a long morning in Pisa, by about 3pm it was time for some serious Italian lunch and so we climbed atop the city walls and walked into a quaint little restaurant called San Colombano and ordered 4 pizzas! As recommended by a friend of a friend who studied abroad in Italy, we learned that when you ask for Prosciutto ham on every type of pizza, you really can’t go wrong! My favorite was the gorgonzola cheese, sausage, and walnut pizza… makes your mouth water huh? As for myself, I’m not a big red sauce fan, but in Italy, you just have to LOVE that dang red sauce! We found it funny while we ate that we really noticed the flies flying around- generally, when you eat outside of course you are going to experience flies. However, we have sure been spoiled eating outside on deck 6 of our ship because not many flies make the trek all the way out to the middle of the Mediterranean Sea to bother you while you eat, so this was something we had to remind ourselves does actually happen on land. #livingonashipproblems After lunch, and a beautiful walk around the medieval city up on the city walls (where we ran into a fountain and were FINALLY able to drink the water!!), we walked past a restaurant that was 100% vegan prepared Italian food which I thought was pretty cool, and then wandered into some very nice Canadians that pointed us to the city center. You will find in Italy that all the streets are like a giant spider web. Generally there is some central point in the middle of all the chaos which also acts as the very center of the spider web where all the streets branch off from, but finding it is quite the challenge. Walking through all of the famous alleyways we found incredible live music, the Torture Museum, great Italian markets with amazing, amazing pasta, the famous Limoncilo liquor, delicious aloe juice, and a wide array of hanging meat and cheeses. Venturing back to the train station of Lucca, we took about 15 minutes (until the rain picked up again) and sat right outside the city walls just to take it all in. This city is peaceful, rich in history, vivacious, and everything you could ever hope for from central Tuscany, Italy. I would totally raise a family there… sometime in the long future We traveled back to Livorno and had another successful day maneuvering our way through the public transit. I think it’s pretty amazing the level of respect locals have for the honor code when using public transportation here… no one ever checks to make sure you have a ticket, it is just expected that you respect the country enough to purchase one on your honor whether you need it or not. On the way back I felt like we were on the Polar Express. The one time our tickets were actually checked, we got them punched.. no cool design, but I sure felt like I was in the movie. We switched trains in Pisa and saw some adorable little boys on the side of the tracks that loved watching the trains and ambitiously attempted to get the train engineer to honk the horn. Getting on the next train it was as though we entered Harry Potter and found our way to our own little closed off cart; luckily everyone still had their limbs attached as we just barely made it on the last train to get back to Livorno for a night on the ship. The wildflowers we passed on the outskirts of the train tracks lead us to a conversation about weddings , wedding dresses from the past and of today, and what a wedding looks like in my roommates Vietnamese culture. This kept us busy for a solid hour and we had arrived back to the ship in no time. Naturally, we ended the evening with packing for our backpacking adventure through the rest of Italy and watching Titanic while eating oatmeal. The next morning began our slew of early mornings as we got up and made our way to the 8:12… 8:29… and then finally 9:06 train platform to Firenze (Florence), Italy! At this point we were definitely still figuring out the train system and location of all the different platforms, and with several inputs on the best route to take, sometimes your plans just have to change a bit. Leaving Livorno, we said goodbye to the first of our Italy ports and said goodbye to our ship until we met it again in Civitavecchia, Italy venturing out on our first overland port that we chose to travel independently from the ship. Arriving in Florence, we had earlier arranged to meet my roommate Kim’s good friend from high school Sarah. She is currently studying abroad at the University of Florence and so graciously opened her apartment to us to stay for the couple nights we were there. With a little bit of a delayed start, we arrived a bit later than planned which made coordinating with Sarah a little difficult. Naturally, I took one for the team so we could access the wifi and bought a chocolate croissant from the McDonald’s at the train station- unbeknownst at the time, this was easily one of the most incredible croissants I would have in all of Italy! Good work McDonald’s, good work. Nearly an hour later we came to the silly realization that in order to call in Italy you have to use the international calling code +39 rather than +1 like in America…. So that was a helpful piece of information to discover. Upon meeting up with Sarah and beginning our trek in to the city, we just casually ran into the Duomo that was actually getting cleaned on one side for the Pope who is coming in 2015! Does that give you a sense of how massive this is? It’s like 4th largest in Europe massive. About two blocks further, we reached Sarah’s apartment located right in the heart of the city. I would have easily walked right past it because literally you just walk down these pathways until you run into a random door and you’re there! Just like that her Florence home came out of nowhere. We met a few of her roommates Taneisha and Julie and got settled in her apartment before heading out to lunch. For lunch we went to this tiny whole in the wall Panini stand that all the locals know of, but yet as a visitor I would have never, ever been able to find. It was called Fratellini, and it was soooo good. Lunch, as every meal, was followed by gelato at Grom where I managed to pair melon (cantaloupe) gelato with nutella gelato… I’m convinced a bad pairing doesn’t exist! Naturally, to work off all of this food we had just eaten we reluctantly climbed all the way up 414 stairs inside the clock tower next to the cathedral to get the best possible panoramic views of Florence on the Terrazza Panoramica. Many people decide to climb to the top of the Duomo (dome), but when you are IN the Duomo you can’t actually SEE the Duomo- I was so happy we chose the clock tower! The view was undeniably the best I had seen in Europe yet, it gave me chills (even at the level my body temperature had reached after those 414 steps) to see such beauty. I loved it! We (semi) safely made our way back down the winding, extremely tiny, 414 steps and headed to the Fontana del Porcellino or what I refer to as the pig statue. At this statue you take a coin and stick it in the pigs mouth, make a wish, and if you come back to Florence then it will come true! I made a pretty incredible wish so fingers crossed that darn pig helps me out On our journey to the statue we made our way in to Gilli, the most delicious decadent sweets store in Florence where I tried my first freshly baked pistachio macaroon and then stopped in an H&M to meet Sarah’s other roommates. Post macaroons and introductions we made our way over to the Arno River and to the cutest arch bridge in Florence called The Ponte Vecchio with its brightly colored houses now full of jewelers, incredible art, and many stores full of souvenirs from the Italian folk story of Pinocchio! Continuing on we made our way to the Palazzo Pitti (Pity Palace) and walked around the Giardino di Boboli (Boboli Garden). The grounds of the Pity Palace are vast and it’s pretty crazy to think that only ONE family, those in royalty at the time, lived there. The Boboli Gardens were gorgeous overlooking the outskirts of Tuscany, Italy, and home to a collection of sculptures that date back to the 16-18th centuries- this was one of the very first true Italian gardens and set quite the standard for what Italian gardens, those for royalty anyway, should be. After the Palace we made our way to the grocery store for much anticipated peaches then walked to Buca Niccolini for dinner. Their slogan is “Make Food Not War” and in their menu denotes exactly what is frozen and what is fresh (basically everything) which I thought was pretty cool. Sitting down with Sarah’s roommates and watching them struggle through the SPICY tomato sauce while I enjoyed ravioli with truffle sauce was a great topping to a great day. Though, the day was definitely not over! The Italians love their night life. Post pasta, we headed over to the Piazzale Michelangelo to watch the sunset and watch the lights come on over the beautiful city! Camilla and I had a rather funny moment when we misunderstood a man selling scarves in the plaza… I think the amount of stairs and hills we climbed this day was starting to wear on us… But boy was it worth it to see this view and watch the big moon come over the city. Definitely a must do in Florence! We ran into so many study abroad students while atop the hill which was fun to hear about so many different experiences, and I quickly understood that no matter how long I was in Florence I would love nothing more than to watch the sunset here every single evening! As morning came all too quickly, we awoke bright and early, grabbed a crème filled croissant, and headed to get in line at the Galleria dell’Accademia (Academia Gallery)… a TWO HOUR line. Phew. While in line we saw tourists EVERYWHERE. It has been a difficult endeavor for me to call myself a tourist and group myself with many other tourists that travel in less peaceful, open-minded way than I try to. All along the streets in front of the Academia I saw more and more street vendors, many of which were selling paintings of the famous art we were about to see. Unfortunately, some tourists become very unaware of their surroundings and were stepping all over this man’s paintings without knowing it. I could see the despair in his eyes and found myself wishing I knew Italian better to go and talk to him. He quickly picked up his stuff and moved to a new area as to protect his paintings, and of course to avoid the arrogant tourists. Eventually making our way into the Academia, we ran into Kathy and her family who I was informed are stars on the Real Housewives of New Jersey TV show- I always find it so admirable when celebrities can be such humble human beings; I had not the slightest idea who they were (in part because I don’t watch this show) as they passed in their tour group. The main attraction, of course, was THE statue of David that was sculpted in the years 1502-1504. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect would be much different than the pictures I had seen of this statue, but I will say that there is something magnificent about seeing it in person. To think that this gigantic stature was carved from one piece of marble, and to see the attention to detail from the veins in his arms all the way to his strong facial expression that showed through in his eyes… so amazing. We continued into various other rooms full of paintings and other statues that literally looked so real they could just get up at any moment and walk out of there.. a little scary in my opinion. But hey, one is to be applauded on their efforts to making these sculptures realistic. On this third day we had planned to take it easy, and by that I mean we didn’t take it easy at all. So after the Academia we were on the move and headed to the train station to travel to Sienna. Sienna. Was. Phenomenal. This was the most incredible city to finish out our sampling of the Tuscany cities of Italy with it’s beautiful winding streets, peaceful locals, fantastic peaches…everything just seemed as though life was happening as usual in contrast to the big historical sites we have been visiting and the hustle and bustle of the thousands of visitors. Sienna had little pockets of joy around every corner- beautiful churches, pottery stores that were built into caves, Vespa-shaped travel mugs, and in the very center we found joined the locals and found the most perfect shady spot to sit… for almost an hour we just sat. And watched. And listened. And enjoyed the peace that was Sienna. This area is actually used today, bi-annually for horse races which serves as the main excitement in this central area. With a final gelato, we headed back to Florence for the night where we went to the grocery store for even more fruit and enjoyed dinner with all the girls, the roommates, and the roommates friends at il Gatto e la Volpe where I had the best Salmon pasta in existence. The night only got more exciting as all of my good friends, doing all different travels around Italy with the parent trip, other field programs, or independently all came together when we met at the Duomo to head out for a night on the town in celebration of Katie’s birthday! One of the bar’s we went to was pretty cool in that it was geared toward American students that are studying abroad in Florence. If you bring a T-shirt from your college they hang it on their ceiling and then everyone from that school signs it…. I found the CSU shirt! And ironically, actually ran into a friend from CSU who is studying abroad in Florence currently. This night was full of dancing and great friends, and ended the way all great nights should end…. With a freshly-baked croissant! It’s really actually. By this time it was rather early in the morning and so all of the bakers are up baking all of their treats for the next day of business… if you follow the smell (which is the best smell in the WORLD) you will find a little whole in the wall kitchen and you are able to buy the croissants literally right out of the oven before they get transported over to the actual shop that they are sold out. Holy best croissant of my entire life! The next morning began far too early. We packed, said our goodbye’s to Sarah, and were on the train to Rome at 6:38am! Staying at Sarah’s apartment really offered an interesting take on my experience in Florence. One of the wonderful perks of staying with Sarah and her roommates was that as students at the University of Florence they all have Museum Cards which we borrowed to get into a lot of the museums and historical sites, free of charge. Winning! It was also very cool to be shown around by someone who experiences being a tourist and a local each day as an international college student, and therefore knew some really great places she had learned of that we may have never visited otherwise. As we left Sarah we were realizing that even though had only a few hours of sleep, with a happy heart and a happy tummy from the night before and our time in Florence, we were more than ready for ROME! The train ride was about three hours and we happened to get an awesome sleeper train with little rooms that you can pull all of the seats out and make one giant bed. This. Was. Awesome! Needless to say we cuddled up real close and that three hours past in no time. Upon arriving in Rome we quickly realized that nearly every street name begins with “via” which confuses things a bit. After a little bit of planning out our two days in Rome, we dropped off luggage and were right at it…. I think we hit a monument about every half hour because there was so much to see! Two minutes for pictures, twenty-eight minutes to sit there and relish in the beauty. Topping my list…. The Trevi Fountain! The Lizzie McGuire Movie doesn’t even do it justice. I could have spent my entire time in Rome just enjoying the fountain and watching as individuals from all walks of life connect over a simple wish. There was such an exciting atmosphere surrounding the fountain- hopefulness, the future, positivity, and joy! I had no shame in getting us “lost”/”randomly” running into the Trevi Fountain three more times. Post wish making, we stopped along the side of the street to watch a very talented spray paint artist, then continued on to the giant circular dome down the street from the fountain with its’ rather large columns and central opening to the sky called the Pantheon (Pantheon meaning “temple to all Gods”). When it rains, this is the best building in all of Rome to be in because the rain comes right through the top filling the whole temple with that wonderful smell… and it just so happened that it was a bit of a rainy day! We then visited the Piazza Navona which is the true city square in Rome. Dating all the way back to the 1st century AD, this plaza was actual the central place to watch the games is now just a beautiful public space full of fountains such as the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (Fountain of the four Rivers), as well as the Fountain of Neptune and Moro, and this is also a hotspot for some of the most wonderful Italian restaurants and artwork. Next up was the Ponte S. Angelo (bridge) that lead up to the Castel Sant’Angelo (castle) which once upon a time was the tallest building in Rome and was initially commissioned by the Roman Emperor Hadrian as a mausoleum or tomb for himself and his family, then used by the popes as a fortress, and now is a museum visited by millions each year. By this time in our hectic morning it was well past the appropriate lunch time and so we finally stopped at a restaurant recommended to us called Cul-de-sac, then head back to the Trevi Fountain for some Gelatario Valentino before returning to the hotel for some much needed rejuvenation. After a quick nap, and a necessary shower, we headed out to enjoy the rest of the evening in Rome! Within minutes of leaving Hotel Quirinale, we walked across the street and had a bit of a Marilyn Monroe moment…. Needless to say, steam from below the ground and skirts/dresses is quite the unfortunate combination. We continued walking, a bit more cautiously, and made our way north to the Villa Borghese gardens which provided a BEAUTIFUL walk through the park at sunset leading us to a lookout over the city. We walked back down the hill stopping at the Piazza del Popolo (literally meaning “People’s Square”) first, then headed to one of my favorite stops at the foot of the Trinita dei Monti (Renaissance church) and leading into the Piazza di Spagna… the infamous Spanish Steps (Scalinata della Trinita dei Monti)! Total Lizzie McGuire moment #3! Feeling so exhausted from our travels thus far, we literally just sat, without talking, without moving, for at least an hour. This was one of my most favorite moments. I was in Rome… I had made it here and I was learning so much. I can remember saying this to myself over and over again… intermittently between short naps and chocolate croissants of course. Over an hour later, the all too common phrase “ciao bella” woke us up and reminded us that we had dinner plans to attend to! We headed back over to the Piazza Navona to meet Francesca and her family for dinner. We met her younger sisters Isabella and Gianna as well as her mom, dad, and grandpa. Talk about an Italian dinner! The Agostino’s sure know how to order! Gianna (her 8-year old sister) and I became best friends at the dinner table as I tried to explain to her that my birthday was coming up and no it was not my sweet sixteen… we talked about her dance recital and various other things as well. This was my favorite meal of all of Italy- the food, the family, the love, ROME. It only got more phenomenal when we stopped at the Trevi Fountain again to see its beauty once darkness had fallen. The Trevi at night is truly GORGEOUS! Closing off the fourth day, we made it back to our hotel, mustered up enough energy to buy tickets for the Vatican the next day, and fell FAST asleep. Kim and I woke up the next morning and I had literally used my wallet as a pillow for the night…. Italy can seriously exhaust a person! Day five began bright and early as we enjoyed a delicious breakfast at the hotel and headed to the Vatican City (where the Pope lives; separate from Rome- literally its’ own city and actually the smallest sovereign state in the world)…. So does that mean I actually traveled to NINE different cities?? Regardless, The Vatican was phenomenal, literally every piece of it- the artwork, the gardens, the statues, the chapel, the ceilings, the floors, the trash cans, the picture frames, etc. Everything! As we walked through the Musei Vaticani (museum) you may as well just accepted that you were going to trip because you could not look down, not even for a second. The ceilings were BEAUTIFUL! I guarantee 95% of my pictures are of ceilings. At the end of the museum was the Sistine Chapel- famous for its architecture and decoration, 12,000 square feet of which was painted by Michelangelo in a 4-year span. Incredible doesn’t even begin to do it justice. The most famous, recognized painting in this 12,000 square feet span is called The Creation of Adam which depicts the near-touching hands of God and Adam. When in the Sistine Chapel it is very strict with covering knees and shoulders as well as not taking pictures- which I later was told that has something to do with the chapel actually being copyrighted by Japan. After the Chapel came the Basilica which is the main church in the city- complete with the classic dome architecture. One Vatican City later and it was time for lunch which we ordered our favorite Caprese salads which consists of tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil. As we delve into the afternoon of our fifth day exhaustion began to take over- people (mainly me) and cameras were getting left in all sorts of places. It began with my ticket getting jammed at the metro, and when I turned around I saw the red line…. And all of my friends ride away. In this moment any normal person would have probably cried and possibly been rather terrified (okay, maybe I was), but all I could do was laugh at the situation and recognize that I was strong enough to do this on my own. I knew we were all heading to the Coliseum and I was pretty dang good at maneuvering the metro system… and in the very moment I told myself that I could do this… I see the red line coming back the other direction and my three friends waving their arms like maniacs running to hug me like we hadn’t seen each other in years. It was quite hilarious, but it sure warmed my heart to know that these ladies sure do care an awful lot about me. After we had gathered ourselves and “weaseled” our way through the sweaty metro, we successfully made it to the Coliseum… Camilla’s camera did not. Rushing BACK to the blue line, then the red line, then where we had lunch… we successfully collected her camera. What is the first thing she does? Naturally, in true Camilla fashion, she takes a picture of a cat. After this hour long adventure, I had Rome down like the back of my hand! Upon retrieving people and cameras, we rewarded ourselves with tiramisu and more gelato. FINALLY, we had arrived at the Coliseum. Literally, you walk out of the metro and BAM! The Coliseum! Right in front of you. There is no sticking this structure around a corner or behind a tree… it’s huge! Built of concrete and stone, this Coliseum is considered one of the greatest works of the Roman Empire and is even the largest amphitheater in the world… so I hear anyways. Romans… always thinking everything is the most glorious (okay it really probably is)! Just west of the Coliseum is the Roman Forum (the site in which politics and ideas were discussed in Ancient Rome) which we wondered around for just a bit before heading back to our hotel, which I directed us to perfectly I might add, to grab our luggage and head to the train to Civitavecchia! On the train ride home (which was full of fellow SASers) we ate almonds, chocolate and baguettes… so European of us. I later enjoyed a Pink Lady apple (only the best) as we pulled into the port of Civitavecchia an hour and a half later. We had literally walked into a port party with live performances, music, and all sorts of fun stands upon arrival- not a bad first impression. As we got a little lost in the chaos, Kim and I scaled a wall with all of our luggage (so awesome), and then we finally saw that beautiful string of lights and knew that we had officially traveled Italy, and made our way back to our home away from home- the ship. The next morning was very relaxed… given we were still struggling with exhaustion even after a 12-hour night’s sleep. We had the great idea of heading to the close by city of Santa Severa to relax on a beach that had a beautiful castle. A relaxing day it was not…. We start walking through the town from the train station and see a strong resemblance to what you may think of as Kansas… and finally stumbled upon the castle. It was a ghost town…. So we walked a bit further to see around the other side where the actual beach was and what do we run into? The 15th Annual Italia Surf Expo. A freaking Surf (surf as in wind surfing) Expo! And let me tell you, this place was NOT the peaceful beach we were hoping for. We walked into famous surfers being interviewed, giant Red Bull inflatables, everything Italia surfing! We did get quite a lot of free stuff…. So that was awesome! I literally just found myself looking around thinking “Is this real life?” in the most confused sort of way. We played in the ocean, literally watched a man fly with the power of a jetski (only video can explain this…), were entertained by trick surfers, and basked in the sun while eating free granola bars. Not a bad day in the office! Once we has sufficiently gotten sand in every crevice of our body, we headed back to the ship, said goodbye to Italy, and prepared for class the next day….. and just when you thought these e-mails couldn’t get any longer….. The next time I write you I will be an entire year older, but I assure you it will come faster than you think so don’t hold your breath I’m saying goodbye to my teenage years and Italy and hello to Malta and a whole new decade tomorrow! Hope you all enjoy the rest of your Sunday and I will write again so soon! Much love to you all! Best, Taylorae DeWitt Semester at Sea Colorado State University ‘15 “We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us.”
Posted on: Mon, 29 Jul 2013 01:55:10 +0000