I am sad to say that this will be my last blog post. It has been a wonderful journey I am so grateful for all the wonderful memories I have made. Unfortunately, everything great has to come to an end. But if it didn't, it wouldn't be special right?
In our last couple weeks, we got to do two final trips before getting into the thick of finals. It was unfortunate that we had to do our final rounds and say our goodbyes during finals week, but we made the most of it and not a moment went to waste.
Siena
One of the last trips that we took before finals week was a day trip to Siena. It was a really beautiful town situated on the hillside and so there was a lot of walking up and down hills to get around which you didn't see much of in the other places we visited. There were many beautiful views and fountains to see there and it was a nice relaxing visit to have towards the end. Around the town you see a lot of symbols referring to children raised by wolves. That is because it is said that the descendant of one of the kids that were raised by wolves was the one who founded the town of Siena, and that history is paid homage to by all these statues and depictions that are around.
One cool thing that we saw in Siena was a historical torture museum! It had a lot of information about the different ways of torture and punishment that were used on people during the medieval times. It was disturbing to see and hear about, but it was also interesting what crazy things were thought of.
Amalfi Coast
Our final trip of the semester was a school organized trip that was paid for by UH Manoa! It was such a great way to end the semester knowing that we had a free overnight trip fully planned that we just had to show up. It is a very nice change from the chaos that can occur when planning your own trip to have something where everything is taken care of. And it was also really nice to see everyone from the beginning of the semester that we hadn't seen in a while and reconnect. In this trip we went to three different places in two days: Pompeii, Sorrento, then Capri.
Pompeii
The first place we went to was Pompeii. From Florence it was a 6 hour bus drive which was not fun, but we got there and got to have lunch and walk around a bit before exploring the historic town. While we were there, our teacher that was accompanying us gave us a guided tour of the area which had a lot of interesting facts about the town that I wouldn't have known otherwise. One thing that was cool was that the streets are a bit lower than the sidewalk and ground and even the cross walks are elevated, and that is because there would usually be dirty water or mud running through the streets which the horses walked along. Those little canals helped to keep the areas clean and direct the dirty water out of the city.
As we walked around, we saw the buildings which were reconstructed to look like what it would have been at the time, the amphitheater of the town, the open gym yard, and the people frozen in hardened ash. I liked walking around the town the most and imagining what it was like to live back in 79 AD.
Sorrento
After finishing the Pompeii tour, we traveled down the coast to the city of Sorrento. We stayed in a nice area that was right near the ocean. The town was on a cliff and so there was not really any beaches despite being right by the ocean except for one very small sandy area that was next to a boat harbor. One thing that I learned while in Italy is how lucky I am to be living in Hawaii because there are just great beaches everywhere! In Italy, it was such a hard task to find a good beach because the sandy beaches were either up north where it was cold, in areas only accessed by plane like Sardinia or Siciliy, or they were small, rocky beaches that are crowded because it is the only one in the area. Coming back to Hawaii, I am grateful for the beaches and will be making the most of them in the nice summer weather.
We did not do much in Sorrento as our time was limited and we had a long day of travel so it was mainly a place to eat, sleep, and rest up for the next day. However, one thing that we did do while we were there was go to a lemon goods store. The Amalfi coast is renowned around the world for their lemons which are larger, sweeter, has less seeds, juicy, and grown prominently within the area. They are also known for creating Limoncello! According to Eatsplorer, they originally became a prime crop for helping to prevent the passing sailors from getting scurvy. Farmers developed the lemons into a more desirable crop by crossbreeding them with bitter oranges to lead to the lemons that are grown today. It was through trade and tourism that these lemons got to be well known and well loved by chefs and food lovers around the world (Norval-Kruger).
Given the reputation of the lemons of the area, I was excited to try the different things that they had. At the store we got to taste samples of a variety of different liquors such as plain and creamy Limoncello, melon, and even pistachio liquiors. We also got to try lemon candies and gummies, chocolate covered lemon and orange peels, and lemon flavored cookies. It was quite a treat to have all the delicious goods and to be able to have lemon in so many different ways!
Capri
The final place that we went to was the island of Capri. After waking up on the second day of the trip, our school organized a guided boat tour to take us to see the beautiful mountains and scenery of the island. It was such a pretty view to see the whites of the rocks on the cliffs along the greens of the trees and shrubbery growing on top in contrast to the deep blue of the ocean below. The cliffs were so tall and high up, it towered above us and we had to crane our neck to see the top of it.
Along our trip around the island we got to stop to go into a sea cave called the Blue Grotto. Because of the small opening of the cave, it is mostly dark inside the cave. However, as you go deeper into it, you can see that the sunlight is coming through the water and as when you look down, the water becomes a glowing, florescent light blue! It was beautiful and magical! I know I say things are amazing and beautiful all time, but that's because everything in Italy was new and scenic and so different from what I have seen in Hawaii, so everything I saw always blew me out of the water.
Finally, we stopped on the island and they gave us free time to explore and go to the beach. Once again it was a rocky beach that was packed full of people, but it was a nice way to wind down after a busy weekend of adventuring.
The Final(s) Week
Thankfully, European schools are pretty lax when it comes to school and so the studying for finals was not as intense as it typically feels at UH. So although we were studying we got to still enjoy ourselves and make the most of our time. By that point, we just tried to pack every hour as full as we could and spend time with the new friends we had made before it was time to leave. We also made sure to go back to all our favorite views and food places and relive the tourist life one more time. All in all, I don't think this semester could have gone any better. I am just happy and thankful to have made it to Italy and met such great people along the way. Any whose, here's some food.
My Final Words
My final thoughts on it all is that study abroad has been by far the best decision that I could have made for my final year in college. I was never one to think that I needed to study abroad before. I thought that I am already having a good time at college, the people I like are here, why do I need to leave? I can travel already if I want to, how is this any different? But I was wrong! Study abroad is amazing and something that I have never experienced before and something that I will never experience in the same way again, in the best way possible.
I really enjoyed my time being abroad, and part of that was that Italy is just perfect and there are so many beautiful sights and the food is always the best thing you have ever eaten. The other part of it is just the experience of studying abroad itself. I now understand why not studying abroad is always everyone biggest regret after graduating because there is nothing like it! When else are you going to be able to travel to another country, live there for 4 months without having to worry about work, be able to have it paid for by loans or scholarships, be around a bunch of other people your age who also are there on there own to meet people and travel, and just have adventures all the time? It is just the perfect storm to be able to basically have a 4 month vacation with your friends in another country!
Also, it is such a different experience to live in another country for 4 months compared to visiting for a week, two weeks, a month, or even two months. The longer that you are there, the more you are able to see and experience and you really begin to understand the people and the culture of where you are so much more than if you are only there for a short time and trying to cram everything into that short stay. It has made me feel much more comfortable traveling and going to foreign countries knowing that I was able to go there and live in Italy! It was just such a great experience for me and I hope that everyone who is thinking about it or wants to goes and does it! I could not be happier about it.
Anyways, thank you for following along with my adventures in Italy. It was a great time and I am sad to go, but I have made the long travel back to Hawaii and am happy and grateful to be back home and I am ready to enjoy the summer. Wishing you the best!
- Cobalt