Freddie

Ciao!

I am already tearing up writing this. Studying abroad is an amazing experience. God has blessed me and allowed me to study abroad once again. Yes, this is my second time abroad and it was even more amazing than the last. Honestly, Florence will forever remain in my heart. From getting lost on our orientation tour to my final gelato, I will never forget my experience here. Incidentally, this is a major part of this experience. Even though it may seem like I was on vacation, I learned plenty. In addition, since I was able to personally experience it, I believe it will be extremely difficult to forget what I learned. Everyone should study abroad at least once in his or her life; you will not regret it because you grow in many ways. Nevertheless, the following is a bit of my amazing experience:

Up in Fiesole enjoying the amazing view of Florence. Interestingly, this was an Etruscan city where they built amphitheaters and baths that we got to witnessed. In addition, they built on top of the hillside to protect themselves from enemies. However, building on a hilltop was not enough to protect them from the Romans. Although, this was an Etruscan city my favorite fact of this place came from the Renaissance. I learned that this was the place where Leonardo da Vinci would test out his inventions, like the glider.

Galileo's burial in Santa Croce. Although, we did not get the opportunity to learn about Galileo in this program, he is a figure I admire deeply.

Nevertheless, two figures we did learn about Michelangelo and Machiavelli, are also buried here. Best part is that I literally lived right next to this amazing church. Maybe I am being biased, but this Church was the prettiest in Florence, especially at night.

My favorite Etruscan site was Chiusi because we got the opportunity to enter the ancient Etruscan tombs. There were a great deal of bugs and spiders but it was an amazing experience that not many have the opportunity to do.

Here we witnessed real sarcophagi in the tombs in Chiusi. Etruscans were literally buried here. In addition, we had the chance to experience what archeologist experienced when they discovered these items and then tried to interpret them. Much of the Etruscan's history is up to debate, thus, I witnessed evidence in person and then had the opportunity to interpret it myself.

Michelangelo's David. The most amazing piece here in Florence and arguably the best piece of the Renaissance. I thought the Sistine Chapel was the best before seeing this masterpiece. Although, David's portrayal here is incorrect with how the Bible describes David, nevertheless, we see here how the Renaissance had influence from both religious and Classical thought.

This image is from the Uffizi Gallery. However, what we see in the picture is il Duomo. Il Duomo, for me, was the second best piece of art from Florence. It is amazing. Brunelleschi did the impossible here and created a master piece. The reason I picked this picture and not the million others of this architecture, is because the Duomo almost seems like an eye. In other words, il Duomo follows you almost everywhere in Florence, almost like it is watching you. I would leave a gelato shop, look up and immediately see it. Here I am in the Uffizi and even with all its amazing art, here I am distracted by the Duomo.

Here my housemates (missing Peter though) I was blessed with these guys man. Frank could be extremely rude and annoying haha but in the end he is a really nice dude that I will never forget. Thanks for all the laughs man. Jared is extremely easy going. Definitely an easy guy to make friends with and very sweet. I enjoyed my time with you man, you are awesome! Finally, Peter, who although is much older than us, is really fun to be around with. Not only that, he is extremely wise and knowledgeable and I was very happy that you were part of our apartment that we all called home for six weeks.

God blesses me everywhere. How did I end up meeting this girl here in Florence? Well I did, and it honestly made my trip. She is an amazing human that makes me thank God for letting me have the opportunity to meet someone like her. I do not know where our relationship is going to take us, but I am sure it will all be for the best, at the end of the day let God's will be done, but I am definitely going to put my part.

My buddy Jared enjoyed the art.

Second to last day at Ponte Vecchio.

My buddy and I leaving Florence to go to Greece and Amsterdam.

Cooking class with all my peers. Everyone one of you is able to amount to great things because all of you are great people. Thank you all for everything.

Sorry Sadie and Megan this is the only picture I have of us. Thank you both for being kind and being great friends. (Hey at least the picture is small, I could of made it bigger lol)

This was only a bit of my experience here. I honestly would not trade it for any other experience I have had. It was extremely unique filled with lots of learning, drama, and walking haha. I could not find any pictures with our professor but everyone reading this should know he was awesome and one of a kind. I am happy that I had the chance to meet and spend time with him. He is what a professor should be like, because he loves to teach others in order for them to become better people in many different ways. Grazie e Arriverderci!

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