Ciera

Having the opportunity to learn about the Renaissance and the ancient civilization of the Etruscan's in the places where they established themselves was an amazing experience.

The Renaissance coming to life

There was one experience I had in particular that set the tone for learning about the Renaissance where it actually happened. I was having dinner at a beautiful restaurant on a small side street enjoying classic Tuscan cuisine while reading Dante’s Inferno. Suddenly I was struck with the idea that Dante could have sat directly where I was at some point and had dinner. He certainly was observing the small details in the streets of Florence as I was. What would he think about a student reading his works hundreds of years later possibly where he once stood? It was a strange and magical feeling that I knew I would continue to have throughout my summer program and was excited to retrieve whenever I was learning something new about this inspiring city

Food Culture

I will deeply miss the Italian food culture and how respectful they are of the ingredients. One thing that I have noticed and has become dear to me, is that the food in Italy is completely natural and not modified in any way. The natural progression of growing food, taking care of it over time, and then harvesting ingredients is done with a level of respect toward food that I have never seen before. They put a lot of time and effort into the way food is prepared so that it is made to simply be enjoyed. Food is seen as something of importance and yet something to be enjoyed instead of just fuel. Anything from hand made pasta noodles, coffee, wine to gelato is craftily made with farm to table precision and care. Its easy to taste the difference!

Florence Summer Program 2018

Having the opportunity to learn about the Renaissance and the ancient civilization of the Etruscan's in the places where they established themselves was an amazing experience. Its one thing to read about these subjects in a textbook, but to be able to walk where Dante and Machiavelli walked or to touch the stones that are left behind of the Etruscan tombs made in the 3^rd century allows one to travel back in time and feel connected with past events. I am so grateful to have had the experience of living where so many great artists and thinkers were inspired to do some of their best work. It has also been an interesting lesson in learning that the Etruscans can be considered an inspiration to those same artists that thrived during the Renaissance.

Etruscan Tombs

Easily one of the most exciting aspects of our program was incorporating time to bring our lessons to life! We went into the hills of Tuscany to seek out the tombs and artifacts that we have been reading about which made what we were studying feel more relevant. Having the opportunity to hike to these destinations experiencing excessive heat, thunderstorms, and confronting wildlife really allows one to understand what life for these ancient peoples must have been like to a certain degree. Then being in the presence of the tombs we had read so much about felt thrilling like we were uncovering the mystery of this ancient civilization ourselves.

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