tylarwiley

[tylarwiley]

dear child...

*this post is an assignment that requires us to write a letter to our future child*

To my child, you are about to head off to study abroad in Italy. I hope you are as excited as I am! This is truly an opportunity of a lifetime. You are going to learn so much about Italians and their culture. At times it will seem as though you are learning more information than your brain can handle, but trust me, you can get through this. Take notes during class, and do not be afraid to ask your professor any questions you may have. Study the material a little bit each day so that you will not have to cram at the last minute. Here are some tips that I learned when I studied abroad at 19:

Don’t be afraid to try new things! It is okay to try different things that you would not normally do in America. I don’t normally drink alcohol very much, but I didn’t let that stop me from trying out a few drinks. Now, this doesn’t mean that you should go crazy on the alcohol. I know you are legal in Europe, but you still need to be responsible. Only do things that you truly want to do. Do not feel obligated to do something just because someone is pressuring you into it. I raised you better than that.

Be aware of your surroundings! You may feel as though you are completely safe, but you still need to be aware of the things that are happening around you. Do not keep things in your pockets, always either hold it or keep it in your bag. When places get very crowded, be aware of your backpack. You should place it on the front of your body when you feel it necessary. Not everyone you meet will be completely trust worthy, so once again make sure you are being smart and responsible.

Don’t pack too much or too little! You are going to be told to pack light, but you should make sure you pack everything you truly need. Packing too little causes you to easily run out of clothing options. This is bad for 2 reasons: you are going to feel like you never have anything to wear, and you will be doing a numerous amount of laundry. This does not mean that you should pack too much either. Make sure it is possible for you to maneuver your luggage on your own without much help. You will be traveling cities and you don’t want the stress of a heavy suitcase on your back. Pack a good medium and you should be fine.

Have fun! The most important thing you should do is make sure you have fun. You never know when you will possibly be able to visit Italy again. Buy any souvenir that you would like, become friends with the people you are traveling with, and become invested in the Italian culture! You will remember this experience for the rest of your life.

I hope the things I have said will help guide you during your journey. I am so excited for you to be able to experience what I once experienced many years ago. Have the best 5 weeks ever, and don’t forget to call every once in a while.

Love, mom

[tylarwiley]

Pompeii & Naples

Tuesday July 3rd: I had the opportunity to visit a city that I have always wanted to visit. On Tuesday the group headed by train to have a guided tour of Pompeii. Due to the enormous size of the city, we only toured a section of it. We were able to see where the gladiators lived and trained, houses, and even the body castings of the victims. Pompeii was destroyed by Mt. Vesuvius in 79 a.d. The people of the town were in the middle of a celebration, so they simply thought the loud noises was “the gods clapping”. The entire city was cover and destroyed by dust and ash, killing everyone who lived there as well. Though this story is a tragedy, it is very interesting to learn about. I will remember this tour for a very long time.

Thursday July 5th: on Thursday we headed by bus over to Naples for a tour of the city. The same lady that gave us the Pompeii tour gave us the tour of Naples. It is a very busy and overwhelming city to go through. We did a walking tour, viewed a beautiful cathedral, and visited the Archaeological museum of Naples. The museum had Pompeii remains, and tons of wonderful sculptures. The trip to Naples definitely changed my original perspective of the city.

[tylarwiley]

Pompei, Naples & service learning

Tuesday July 3rd: I finally had the opportunity to visit Pompei, a place that I have wanted to visit for years. We arrived by train and had a guided tour throughout a section of Pompei. It is amazing that there are still things standing to this day. We saw where the gladiators lived and trained, the theater where shows were held, houses, and even the body castings of the victims.

Pompei is nearly 3000 years old and was completely destroyed by the eruption of Mt Vesuvius. The people of Pompei were in the middle of a celebration festival, so they simply believed that the loud noises were “the gods clapping”. They had no idea that they were living at the foot of a volcano. All of the people suffered from the dust and ash that came from the volcano. It is an extremely devastating story, but the history of this town is very interesting and will forever be remembered.

Thursday July 5th: Thursday was the excursion to Naples. The group traveled there by bus and we had the same tour guide as we did on Tuesday. We all rode around for some time while we were given facts about the historical town of Naples. Once we were off the bus, we visited a beautiful cathedral and had a walking tour of the deeper parts of the city. Once lunchtime arrived, a few of us headed to a pizzeria that was absolutely delicious! The last thing on the list there was to do was visit the Archaeological museum of Naples. The museum contained Pompei remains and wonderful sculptures.

Monday July 2nd & Wednesday July 4th: the service learning that we experienced these 2 days was such an enjoyable few days. It was at a facility called Oltre I Sogni, a local association for the diversely-abled members of the community. The activity that we did with them was create ceramic heart ornaments. On Monday we were told how to create the heart, and then we had the freedom to decorate the heart as we pleased. I have always wanted to work with a form of pottery.

On Wednesday we got to paint our hearts that we created. After the hearts are painted, a form of glaze is placed upon it, and it is properly cooked. The people who work at Oltre I Sogni then sell it to the community to try to raise money to maintain the facility. It was a great opportunity to be able to talk to the members of this association and get to know them.

[tylarwiley]

northern Italy vs. southern Italy

On Saturday June 30, I left Florence and headed down to Sorrento. Sorrento is an absolutely beautiful city and I have enjoyed being here the past 5 days. There are so many differences between the north and the south of Italy. Some of the differences are obvious, like how Sorrento is on the coast and Florence is midland. The way people dress in Sorrento is way more lenient than it is in the north. This is mostly because of the coast and the beach. The south is also very into superstitious and will do things to attempt to keep bad spirits away. The churches in the south are built differently than they are in the north as well. I even see more children in the south than I did in the north.

I personally am really enjoying being in Sorrento. I love the vibe the city gives and the fact that the ocean can be seen from multiple angles. Don’t get me wrong, I love Florence just as much as I love Sorrento. The 2 cities are so different that it is hard to compare and choose. I am looking forward to these next 4 days in Sorrento and what the city has to teach me.

[tylarwiley]

Here’s to the group ❤️🇮🇹

[tylarwiley]

arrivederci Florence

Today is my last full day in Florence. As I look back at the past month, it amazes me how much information about Italy I have learned. The facts will stick with me forever. I will always be grateful that I was able to experience the beauty of this city. I now know the history of Italy and how it came to be, the political side of Italy, facts about the Italian mafias, family life, and the cultural aspect of italy. I will go back home truly feeling as though I am Italian myself. There are many things I have done as I have been here, and many things that I still wish to do. I hope that I will one day arrive back in Italy with an experience just as great as this one. This is not the end however, I am currently packing up my belongings to head to Sorrento bright and early tomorrow morning. I am looking forward to spending a week on the coast, visiting the beach, and going to places i have always wanted to see. Until next time Florence 💛🇮🇹.

[tylarwiley]

monday & tuesday

On Monday 25/6/18, the group made a visit to Santa Croce. My church group project was over Santa Croce, so I knew information about it before we visited. A few facts about the church are that Michelangelo and Galileo were buried there, Dante has a memorial statue outside the front of the church, St. Francis has frescoes dedicated to him, and so much more. It is an absolutely beautiful church that was badly damaged during the 1966 flood. The entire town came out after the flood to help save the pieces of Santa Croce ruined by the flood.

The next day, Tuesday the group made a trip up to Fiesole. It is a small city that views the entirety of Florence from up above. It’s amazing how such a small city can hold so much history. We were able to visit the home of St. Francis and where the monks lived.

We ended the visit with some great gelato which happens to be right next to where Guido used to live. I am glad I was able to go up to Fiesole before the trip ended since I was not able to go up there during the hike.

[tylarwiley]

St. John the Baptist day

On Sunday June 24th, the celebration of St. John the Baptist occurred. Medieval Florence aspired to build its economic fortune and good government of the Republic on John the Baptist. The day has been a day of celebration for the city through the centuries. Every year the city organizes several cultural events that end with the magnificent fireworks show, called i fochi di San Giovanni by Florentines. The fireworks take place between 10 and 11pm and are set off from Piazzale Michelangelo. Jessie and I viewed the show next to the Arno River. There was a huge crowd of people gathered around to view the fireworks. You saw people taking pictures and videos of the beautiful bursts of color in the sky. I didn’t do any of the festivities during the weekend, but I made sure to view the wonderful show that ended the weekend with a bang! After the show ended I treated myself to a tasty gelato as Jessie and I walked home.

[tylarwiley]

roomie day

On Saturday June 23, my roommate Jessie and I had a fun day of shopping, eating gelato, and walking the streets of Italy together. We left around noon to our first destination, to get gelato! We went to a place right near capa that makes your gelato into a rose. You can also add a macaroon to top off your gelato!! The flavors i got was creama, strachetella, and raspberry with a vanilla macaroon. It was honestly the most beautiful gelato I have ever had.

After Jessie and I finished eating our gelato, we headed to H&M to achieve some shopping. The Florence H&M was a total of 3 stories. We spent lots of time looking for things to wear while we are in Sorrento during the last week of our study abroad experience. I ended up buying an army green skirt and a red swimsuit. Jessie got a swimsuit top and 2 rompers.

We then began to wander around the area and eventually raised into the famous pig statue. Of course we made sure to rub the nose of the pig to guarantee that we will come back to Florence one day!! Right next to the statue are lots of stands that sell t shirts, leather, souvenirs, and so much more. We both bought 2 t shirts from one of the stands, and a postcard from the stand right next to it. We have been gathering postcards from each of the cities that we have visited in Italy. After looking around the leather stands, we slowly began to make our way back to our apartment. Although the day was short, i had such an amazing time hanging out with the sweetest Jessie!! 🇮🇹💛

[tylarwiley]

Solstice & Uffizi

On Tuesday the 19th I was able to view the (pre) summer solstice and visit the Uffizi Gallery. The viewing of the solstice was healed at the Duomo, and there was a brief presentation before the solstice light appeared.

Since it was Tuesday, it was not the full solstice. The entire viewing was on Thursday the 21st, the first day of summer. After the viewing we had a break before the Uffizi Gallery to eat lunch. The class met at the front of the Uffizi Gallery so we could all receive a tour speaking device. After everyone got one, we headed inside. All of the many paintings and sculptures held at the Uffizi that was once owned by the Medici family. There was 100 rooms each filled with multiple paintings and sculptures.

The Venus painting is held at this museum and so are things like the Medusa head painting, and tons of paintings by Michelangiolo, Davinci, etc.

Although the paintings are very beautiful, it was also very overwhelming. The Medici owned a numerous amount of art to the point where I was questioning where they could’ve possibly put it all! The day was filled with lots of interesting information and I’m glad I had the opportunity to visit the Uffizi Gallery and view the solstice!!

[tylarwiley]

Roma

On Saturday June 16, I traveled to Rome with Haley, Emily, Talya, Michaela, and Alexandra. We had an early train ride at 6:50am with a 2 hour travel. The first thing we did when we arrived was visit the beautiful treni fountain!!

I have wanted to visit the treni fountain ever since I was young...mostly because of Lizzie McGuire. We all took photos at the fountain, made our wishes, and headed to our hotel for the weekend. Or so we thought. Turns out it wasn’t exactly a hotel and we missed our check in time with the owner. After lots of worrying, texting and calling, we had to end up waiting until 2:00pm to get into our place for the weekend.

Once everything was settled, we headed to the metro to go to the Vatican! I didn’t know much about the Vatican, but I found out that Vatican City is it’s own country, and that it is where the Popes residence is.

We bought tickets to go inside the Sistine Chapel and it was more than beautiful. Every single painting was extraordinary and took my breath away. After our visit, we headed back to the hotel and decided to chill and go eat dinner.

The next day was quick, but still worthwhile. We all packed up our bags and headed to the coliseum. Michaela, Alexandra and I only had time to take photos outside of the coliseum, but it was still so amazing!

I would have never thought that I would complete 2 things off my bucket list in just 1 weekend. I am excited to hopefully one day go back to Rome and go inside the coliseum!! 🇮🇹

[tylarwiley]

Siena & San Gimignano

On Friday my study abroad group made our way down to Siena and San Gimignano for a day trip with Laura from CAPA. A school from New York also joined us on the trip. When we arrived in Siena we were split into groups and taken on a tour within the small city.

After our tour we were given some free time. During this time I ate lunch with some friends, went souvenir shopping, roamed around, and took plenty of pictures. After Siena, we headed to San Gimignano. Of course the first thing everyone did when we got there was try the worlds best gelato!! It was definitely some pretty darn good gelato!

There wasn’t a guided tour in San Gimignano, so everyone just casually walked around during the free time.

This trip was extremely fun and I am hoping to return to these 2 cities in the future!! 🇮🇹

[tylarwiley]

Tuesday, June 12, 2018

Today was an extremely eventful Tuesday! After class, I attended a lunch breakers global event that was held at I Ragazzi di Sipario. It is an association for young people with intellectual disabilities. Founded in 2008, Sipario is now a thriving reality in Florence with a restaurant where the kids have a chance to prove their talents and work together in a friendly and fun environment. They served us pasta, roasted potatoes, meats, bread and unlimited water. All for only £5!!

I will definitely be going back for lunch. It is also a cinema that shows mainly independent films. It was a cinema primarily, and has been a restaurant for 10 years.

After lunch , the group attended the Specola museum. This museum was very interesting. They had a mixture of wax and real body parts. Most of the body parts were wax, but things like the skull was real. The next part of the museum contained animals, which were all real! I enjoyed the animal part of the museum more than the anatomy part.

The last part of the museum was minerals, which was very beautiful. They had minerals of all kinds and all colors.

The museum contained lots of interesting things, but it is not a museum I would personally willingly go back to.

[tylarwiley]

Monday, June 11, 2018

Today was overall pretty relaxed and fun. After class we didn’t have to be back to capa until 15:00. In the break that we had, a few of the other girls and I discovered this extremely tasty cafe!! They sell smoothies, smoothie bowls, sandwiches, juices, and so much more!!

The cafe was not pricey, and all of their food seemed very fresh! Back at capa that afternoon we had the opportunity to meet high school students from Florence and the surrounding area. Everyone split into groups of 4, 2 American students and 2 Italian students. I was in a group with the wonderful Emily :). Our Italian students were both boys, and they were very friendly kids. We learned so many fun facts about them, for example, both of those favorite foods was a steak. Yes a steak. In Italy. I would never have guessed. After spending some time at capa we all went out for some tasty gelato and shopping. I’m glad I had the opportunity to talk to students from Italy and discover how the schooling system works on the other side of the world.

[tylarwiley]

schiacciatas, apricots, coffee, oh my!

One word, FOOD! The food is Italy has definitely met my expectations. Not only are the foods healthier, they’re so much cheaper too!! Fruit is one of the first foods I experienced here in Florence. All of the fruit here is natural with no preservatives and no gmos. The fruit in America can not compare whatsoever.

Just walking next to the fruit in the market or the grocery store causes your nose to become filled with the beautiful aroma. One of the best smelling fruits here are 100% the strawberries! The apples here are quite delicious as well. Although I am very terrified of one day finding a worm in my apple, I am 4 apples down and have witnessed 0 worms. I hope my wormless apple streak continues!

I had a schiacciata for the first time and all I can say is yum yum yum. It was absolutely delicious and I will be going back for more. My schiacciata was from Pane & Toscana, costing me only £4.50. A sandwich like this in America would probably cost $10 if not more.

Food here in Italy is so much cheaper than food in America. Just the other day I went grocery shopping and I only spent a total of £27 for so much food!! I was expecting to spend at least £50. Things like this are what makes moving to Italy so tempting!! 💛🇮🇹

[tylarwiley]

exploring the city...

During the first week of arrival, our Professoressa took us on a journey throughout the streets of Florence! The destinations of the day were the Rose Garden, Piazzale Michelangiolo, and the Oltrarno. The walk was very enjoyable because of all the aspects of the city we were able to view. Upon arrival at the Rose Garden, immediately everyone whipped out their phones to begin taking photos. The Garden was filled with healthy green grass, and beautiful roses. There was also an amazing view of the city of Florence that was able to be seen!

Even though there was lots of gorgeous roses, there were also lots of roses that were beginning to die. During the middle of summer, the roses begin to slowly die off which is part of the reason the Rose Garden closes for a few months. Fear not, starting in September the roses are back to blooming and the garden is open once again!!

Continuing upwards from the Rose Garden is the Piazzale Michelangiolo. The trip to the Piazzale is tremendously brutal!! As a fellow classmate has stated, “they are like Alkek on steroids”. I had a hard time pushing my way to reach the top, but once I finally made it up there I was taken away. The view of the city was absolutely amazing! Almost every part of the city could be seen from that single Piazzale. You were able to see the Duomo, Santa Croce, the Synagogue, the Medici, and so much more from that single spot.

It was definitely a picture moment. It is phenomenal to me how one spot alone allows you to witness the beauty of the entire city. There was so much to take in. The beauty of the Arno river was seen from this area as well.

I am definitely willing to go on this tour again before I leave, and for the (hopefully) many other times I visit Florence!! 💛🇮🇹

[tylarwiley]

Here’s a few pictures from these past few days!