Ciao! My name is Ashley Jennings, and we have one week of living in Italy under our belts. Living in Italy has been such a surreal experience that I don’t think I will be able to fully grasp until it is gone. The food, people, and culture are making me realize what Italy is all about and why people never want to leave!
Everything seems bigger and better in Italy including the color palette! Is everything brighter and more luminous or is it just my eyes? Starting with the quaint town of Asolo, we visit this town multiple times on our study abroad journey because of its rich culture and greenery. It is only 10-15 minutes away, so a quick taxi ride is something to look forward to during the week, or a quick trip on the weekends. There is green ivy growing up multiple buildings to paint the town an evergreen color. This ties into the green shutters lining windows surrounding the beautiful town. You continue to walk down the street to find rows and rows of beautiful flowers. From purple, to pink, to white this town is adorned with the colors that makes you want to stop and stare.
Another stop we have taken on this (so far) one-week incredible journey includes Bassano del Grappa. Even cloudy, this town is incomparable. Another amazing benefit to the CIMBA program is during your free periods or even around dinner time, the program gives you the ability to travel to the establishments close by to experience the food as well as the day and night life with their transportation. Bassano is a sight for sore eyes; it is something I feel like I have been waiting for for quite some time now. There are mixes of pale blue of the shutters to the red flowers hanging underneath to the lush green of the trees and to the deep blue of the water under us. My group couldn’t help but to stop and take in the view surrounding us; I debated asking someone to pinch me! We took rounds of pictures of each other and the view because we didn’t think our eyes would be good enough to capture this moment. When the sun finally went down, we tried to take as many mental pictures as we could, and then we turned around and left for dinner.
The first weekend on this trip of a lifetime, my group decided to go to Florence! We took trains there and when we arrived, we immediately starting fast walking, anxious to see the newest sights. The neutrals of the city come to life during the day and shine especially at night. We were tourists seeing the statue of David at the Gallery of the Academy in all his glory. All the nudes, soft blues and pinks make this city spectacular. We were one with the people, attempting to act like locals eating at the underground restaurants and acting like we knew what we were doing. At one point during the night, we found a rooftop, looking over the city. We could see all the amazing sights including the Duomo from the rooftop. The experiences we made in Florence are the ones we are going to look back and smile about.
In the short time I have been in Italy, the number of memories I made has been numerous. I wish I could bottle every moment and wear it as perfume, so I never forget. Multiple cities, delicious food and good company makes me wonder what else I could ask for. Italy’s imagery is in the big picture as well as the small one. For the big picture, look to the trees, architecture, and museums. For the small picture, look for the sun barely touching the buildings at sunset or the skylight over statues that make them luminous. I have lived a hundred lifetimes, and its only week one! Here’s to the weeks to come and the memories to be made!