Exploring Cities

Hello all! I'm trying to expand a bit and get a few more posts out before the heavy travelling begins - both to keep me entertained and also to get more into the swing of blogging. I figured I'd build off of something I mentioned in my last post - trying to feel like a resident of Perugia and not merely a tourist. It got me thinking about what much of my travelling around Italy will be like, trying to see everything I can in just a long weekend. 

Being in Chicago last weekend opened my eyes to the logistics of exploring a city in a limited amount of time. We visited my brother, saw his new apartment - which is awesome, by the way - had a taste of local cuisine (Deep Dish Pizza!) and hit up some tourist spots: Millennium Park, Wrigley Field, sightseeing of skyscrapers and the lake front. We got to delve a little under the surface with a hole in the wall burger joint that brought nostalgic flashes of Cook Out minus the extensive menu and then saw a hilarious comedy show. But even so, as most of my travelling through Italy will be, it was a blitz trip. In Italy I'll have an extra day or two to explore, but for the most part it will be the same formula - hit up the must see tourist attractions, take in some local flavor, and partake in an enjoyable night life experience.

Life Updates

Howdy! I'll try to keep this going with little updates here and there until things really get moving. As far as travel destinations done, I've used my free time to do a lot of research. Rome is still a lock, obviously; Florence is also a lock, but I'd like to try and work out a day or two in nearby Bologna as well. Both are heavily influenced from the middle ages and the Renaissance, and being the history nut that I am, that's right up my alley. Looking into the Perugia Jazz Festival more, it will be in town for about 10 days, so that may be a better option of something to see during the week, rather than waste a travelling weekend on it. That frees up my plans a little, and as a result I've been running back and forth in my head of what else I would want to see. The Cinque Terra, Naples, Genoa, Verona, Venice, the Amalfi Coast, Milan, Torino, and Bari are all viable options, and each one has its own unique character and inviting aspects to it. It is a tough call but a fortunate one nonetheless. As my grandpa told me, anything you don't see is just an excuse to come back. If you're interested, take a glance at the map I have worked out for myself. I normally like to take things as I go and just kind of wing it, but this trip has brought out the planner in me.


View Italy Study Abroad in a larger map

Ciao! From Michigan

Well it's taken about 24 hours, but I am officially bored at home...my trip to Italy is still 55 days away (no worries, I have a countdown on my desktop), but I figured I'd go ahead and get this kicked off. I'm new to blogging - unless you count the middle school days of Xanga, which I don't - so we'll see how this shapes up. But I got multiple requests and suggestions to keep a blog, so here goes. I will be flying out on July 1st (landing in Rome on the 2nd), and returning by July 30th. Our first weekend is full of travel to the Umbria Institute in Perugia and new student orientation, and our last weekend consists of boarding a bus at 1 AM Friday night (Saturday morning) to be able to make it to the airport in time for morning flights. Basically that leaves me with three open weekends to travel as I please - starting Thursday morning and ending Monday afternoon. I have lists of plenty of places I'd like to go, but unfortunately time is limiting. Trips to Milan, Munich, Paris, Marseilles, Vienna, Switzerland, Greece, Naples, etc. etc. etc. would have been lovely no doubt. However, as of now I'm looking at hitting up the big 3: Rome, Florence, and Venice.