International Travel

A Rimini

One of the best things about being in Italy, besides learning the language, absorbing the culture, and inhaling the food, is being so close to the other European countries. When else can you seriously say, "Oh, I think I'm going to go to Spain this weekend, or maybe France. And next weekend I want to go to Austria." Being able to say that is AWESOME. This summer is not only a once in a lifetime opportunity to become fluent in Italian while living in Florence, but an opportunity to travel! You can go see the world! All of Europe is knocking on your backdoor, and all of Italy is just a short step away. I LOVE to travel, and so does my family. We spent Christmas in Egypt this past year, and it was a trip that I will never forget. After I decided to study abroad in Italy, I knew I wanted to purchase a Eurail Global Pass so I would have the ability to go as I please. The first weekend we were in Italy, a bunch of students and I decided to go to Rimini, a small beach town on the Adriatic coast that attracts a lot of traveling students. We stayed at a really fun hostel called Sunflower Backpacker Hostel. The beach, tanning, discotecas... It was a great way to kick-off the summer! The next weekend I went to Venice with some friends for an electronic music festival called ElectroVenice. We saw some of our favorite DJ's like Afrojack, Deadmau5, and Fatboy Slim! The third weekend we had a three day weekend, so we took advantage of the extra day and went to Vienna, Austria, and Prague, Czech Republic. We took overnight trains to and from Vienna and so it made the trip seem a lot shorter. This trip was different because we weren't surrounded by Italian anymore. New countries, new languages, and new currencies. We truly felt like outsiders, but nevertheless, we had a really fun time! Tomorrow I am planning on going to Barcelona, Spain with one other friend for the weekend. I am really excited to explore this historic, and eclectic city, and to go to the beach, of course! Who knows where my Eurail pass will take me in the future... Maybe France, Switzerland, or even the Netherlands. So while I soak up the Italian culture during the week, on the weekends it is time for me to say, "Ci vediamo, Italia!" The world is out there waiting, and it is time to explore. --Meg Reesing