Hello again my study abroad fans. This time I was lucky enough to go to three new areas of Italy: Cortona, Venice, and Sardinia! Every time I write one of these blogs, it really reminds me to be grateful and happy with all the wonderful trips that I have been able to go on because I really have seen so many great views of beaches, hills, cities, architecture, and more and I have been able to make so many special memories that I will keep for the rest of my life. Having 4 months in a country is such a different experience from any vacation that I have ever had before because I have been able to explore and get to know this place unlike anything I'd ever done in the week or two vacations that I had taken in the past. You see so much more, experience the culture more, taste more food, and see and appreciate the little things so much more when you are able to breathe and relax in your travels than when you are in such a rush to see everything in the week or so that you have there.
Being abroad has made me realize that I want to explore more of the world, and to do it while I am young. I want to go and live in many different places around the world and experience them for months at a time. It has made me rethink what my priorities are and what I want in my life in a way. Before coming here I was so focused on what's next for myself and my career and how I can set myself to be as successful as I can in the shortest amount of time that I can. Now, my perspective has changed in that now instead of chasing money as fast as I can so I can retire earlier, I would be okay with getting to that goal later if it means that I can spend the present doing all the things I would want to when I retire.
I want to look for a remote job and go and live in other states or even countries while I am working. Although it would mean that I would have much less time for self improvement because I would want to use that time to explore the places I am in, I have come to see that it would be a worthwhile trade off.
Another thing that I realized is that traveling is fun, but it wouldn't be the same if you don't have good company to share your experience with. Italy is great and the views and food all are wonderful, but for me I feel like it would not be nearly as fun of an experience if I had to do this all on my own. Study abroad is so nice in this way because you are going to a school where everyone is there looking to explore and travel and its like starting college over in a way because everyone has to make new friends. I am very grateful and thankful that I have been able to make such great friends here, and I hope that everyone who studies abroad can as well because it changes the experience from being another semester of college in an interesting place to being on a 4 month vacation with your friends.
Study abroad is really interesting besides the traveling in that way because I feel like I have been learning a lot about myself being here. But anyways, lets get into the travels.
Cortona, Tuscany - Olive Farm Villa
For the first weekend, it was our friend Lexie's birthday and so we rented a villa close to Florence in Cortona, a small city in the hills of Tuscany. It ended up being on an olive farm where an older couple lived and made olive oil. It was a really cool experience and the hosts were really friendly and really made the experience a lot better showing us around their farm. And they had really good olive oil that was perfect for dipping bread in! We spent the weekend relaxing so we just stayed at the Airbnb the whole time and enjoyed the beautiful view, cooked and ate good food, played with the animals, and competitively played ping pong.
The animals on the farm were so cute. They had 3 donkeys, a pony, and chickens. We spent a good amount of time with the donkeys feeding and petting them and brushing their fur. We brushed out so much fur that it looked like they had a new baby donkey at the end of it!
Venice
The next place that we got to visit was Venice. We went on Tuesday as it was a holiday from school for Italian Labor Day. It was a nice day trip because I felt like we got to do a lot within the day and see what I wanted to see there. The train ride up there was 2 hours and the ride back was on the slower train so it took 4.5 hours, and the cost was about $70 per person.
The trip started out really miserable because it was like torrential down pouring and cold and windy for the first 4 hours which made it really not fun to walk around the city. We spent that time eating breakfast in a cafe, looking at art in museums, and overall just waiting out the conditions. Thankfully for us, by around 1pm it all cleared up and actually turned into a sunny day. From that point on it became another one of my favorite places that we have visited.
When it was warm and sunny we went and got lunch before walking around and exploring the whole city. We did a lot of walking and we wound up walking around 22k steps, which was about 9 miles! I really loved the aesthetic of the city and all the water streets and canals that went through all the buildings. Every time we went around a corner and saw a new canal I would get excited and stand and stare at it for a while. As someone who loves water and the ocean, a city where canals run through every part could not have been a better fit. I felt like I could have sat there and stared at the boats going by all day. The one thing that I wish we could have done was ride in a gondola through the city because it would be such a cool vantage point to sight see, but it was $80 and out of our budget.
Cagliari, Sardinia
Finally, this past weekend we went to Sardinia! Sardinia is a little island of the south of Italy and is a great destination in the summer. I had found that most of Italy's beaches on the main land is either rocky or small or both, so Sardinia and Sicily become the main areas for Italians to go for a vacation of nice beaches and sun. While abroad, beaches are one of the things that I have missed most about Hawaii, so after the fun we had in Mallorca, we wanted to go find another good beach.
While in Sardinia, we spent a lot of time at the beach. Our first day we spent at the nearest beach tanning and swimming and doing exactly what we set out to do. The second day we decided to try to find another beach and went on a 2 hour long walk to the next closest beach near our Airbnb. Luckily it was a really nice walk along a canal that was attached to a marshy area and we got to see vibrant plants, unusual wildlife, and have nice conversation while getting our exercise in. With that long walk, it ended up being the second day of that week that we walked over 20k steps.
While on the walk we saw flamingos in their natural habitat! This was the first time for all of us to see flamingos in a setting other than at the zoo. I learned that flamingos can fly long distances and that the underside of their wings are even more red than the feathers on the outside of their body. In the marshy area, there must have been at least 100 different flamingos that we saw hanging around searching for food.
When we went to the beach we ran into the two cutest dogs that kept running up to us to play. We got to play fetch with the dogs for like an hour before they ended up leaving. It seems like on every trip that we have gone on we have met such nice animals everywhere.
Food :O
With that, that concludes our adventures for now. As always, here is the mandatory food picture dump. We did a lot of home cooked meals so I didn't end up taking as many photos, but many scrumptious meals were enjoyed nonetheless. I will do a better job of remembering to take pictures of my future meals.
