Well ladies and gentlemen, it's safe to say that internet access is not very reliable in foreign countries. That being said, I have more things to share and show you than I can even being to comprehend. I don't even know where to begin! First I will say that it was the most amazing experience of my life thus far. Italy is amazing. Period...it's as simple as that. Although I only spent 10 short days there, I have completely fallen in love with the country and everything about it. The mentality, the people, the culture, the beauty, the history, and most importantly, the food.
So I'm going to run you through each day with pictures and captions to try and give you a little sense of how amazing this trip was. Try not to drool while looking at the food :)
~ Day 1 ~
Lots of traveling and arrival to our first destination, Cuneo!
 |
| Philadelphia International Airport |
 |
| Flying into London! |
 |
| We made it!! |
 |
| Food at a rest stop...gourmet |
 |
Streets of Cuneo
|
 |
| We made it to Cuneo! |
 |
| View outside my hotel window |
 |
| Dinner Refreshers |
 |
| Dinner Menu |
~ Day 2 ~
Today we traveled to a region called Bra where the Slow Foods Movement was created. Not only did we get to see where it all started, but we enjoyed a complimentary wine tasting in the wine cellar of the school! We traveled through the basement of a beautiful building as we tasted the different red wines authentic to different regions around Italy. After leaving we Bra, we traveled to the world famous city of Torino! Never would I have ever thought that I would be walking through a city that had hosted the Olympics! The architecture and culture of this city is definitely unique to other cities of Italy.
 |
| Slow Food School w/ our tour guide Alex! |
 |
| Wine on Wine on Wine |
 |
| Beautiful school... |
 |
| Swiss Alps...I only enhanced this picture! |
 |
| Trip of a lifetime with only the best... |
 |
| Hello Torino!! |
 |
| One of the many domes of a beautiful church |
 |
| Tiramisu Gelato from the one and only Pepino! |
 |
The famous Turinese drink Bicerin.
Expresso, hot, bitter chocolate and whipped cream. |
 |
| Entrepreneur Hall |
 |
| Fried Mozzarella Balls |
 |
| 2nd of 5... |
 |
| 1 of 5 pizza's we got this night. |
~ Day 3 ~
One of the best days of the trip was this day. Today we traveled to Piedmont where we visited a family owned cheese factory that also had a restaurant. Not only was the process of making the cheese fascinating, but the 4 HOUR lunch that we had in their restaurant will be something I never forget. I cannot tell you how amazing everything single dish we were served was. Not to mention the dishes never stopped coming! I have never eaten that much food, in one sitting, in my entire life...and I do not regret a single bit of it. The hosts were so energetic, everyone was having such a great time, and the food was to die for. I felt like I needed to run a marathon afterwards, but it was worth every calorie.
 |
The assortments of cheese
this factory can make |
 |
| Babies!! |
 |
| Appetizer 1 |
 |
| Course 1 |
 |
| Fresh bread and breadsticks |
 |
| We found the only snow bank on the property! |
~ Day 4 ~
Day 4 was mostly a travel day from Cuneo to Florence, with a stop in Parma on the way. In Parma we stopped at a family owned ham factory. Although I couldn't eat meat the rest of the trip, it was really awesome to see how ham is aged and "processed." HOWEVER, the road into Tuscany and Florence was jaw dropping. It was beautiful to say the least. Now, let me tell you about my hotel in Florence. It was much more modern than the hotel we stayed at in Cuneo, but that wasn't the best part. My roommates and I were assigned room 218 by our professors. When we walked up to the desk and asked for 218, they handed us a weird key that said "Academia" and said "this room is next to 217." We kind of looked at the receptionist weird thinking, well obviously it's next to 217. Anyways, we got to the second floor and it said Rooms 200-217. Eventually we go to 217 and continued walking down a hallway in the very back corner of the hotel. Above the door was a lit sign with the word "academia" in all caps. After having a little trouble getting the key to work, we were in complete awe as we walked into a presidential suite. Not only did we have an entertainment system and an amazing view over a balcony, but we had the only private patio and mini golf course of the entire hotel. It was crazy! After going crazy in our room for a couple minutes, we met the group in the lobby and took the mile walk to the center of Florence, the Duomo. I cannot put words to how big this church is, but I'm going to try and show you through pictures :)
 |
| View from the Ham Factory |
 |
| Vegetarian crew outside the factory |
 |
| Candid outside the Duomo |
 |
| Only half of The Duomo |
 |
| Streets of Florence |
 |
| Duomo Doors |
~ Day 5 ~
Day 5 was a great day. We started the day with a walking tour of Florence and we were able to see a lot of historical sights that we wouldn't have been able to see otherwise. The last destination on the tour was an authentic leather shop that we were able to take a tour of. Here I was able to get my sister a beautiful brown leather bracelet. After that, we had about 5 hours of free time to ourselves. During that time, we were lost for about 3 of those hours and toured the Duomo. That day, we walked more than I ever had in a single day. BUT, seeing the inside of the 3rd largest church in the world is definitely worth it. After finding our way back, we all took a well deserved nap and met our group for a complimentary dinner, followed by a gelato run of course. Needless to say, we all slept well that night.
 |
| One of the many palaces of Florence |
 |
The streets you see in movies
are real! |
 |
| Dome of the Duomo |
 |
| Arches of the Duomo |
 |
| Gelato Gelato Gelato |
~ Day 6 ~
One of my favorite parts about this trip were the voluntary runs we would take early in the morning. One of my roommates and I are run around the same pace, so we would go out before breakfast and run around the town to see what we could find. After taking the walking tour the day before, we had made a plan to go back to some places and take pictures this morning. After running, we met the group in the lobby and headed to the bus for our trip to San Miniato, and Pisa! San Miniato is a small, historic town on top of a hill outside of Florence. We were fortunate to have a walking tour around the town, inside of a meat factory, and some free time to ourselves. The views from this town were indescribable. Hopefully you will be able to see what I'm saying through the pictures. After San Miniato, we traveled to the world famous Pisa, home of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. I'm not going to lie, I went full out tourist and took a picture of me trying to push it back up, but so did everyone else!!! Anyways, buildings and things like that really don't seem real until it is legitimately standing in front of you. I wish I could put words to the experience of seeing these things in person.
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
~ Day 7 ~
First day in Rome! Who would have thought I could ever say that...when in Rome! Anyways, the first day in Rome was quite adventurous. We started with an AMAZING bike tour that was by far my most favorite thing of the whole trip. I literally rode a bike past the Colosseum...who actually does that?! Our tour guides were awesome and took us to places with the most amazing views that not just anyone would be able to find. Although we almost got hit by a couple cars, more than once, it was the coolest experience ever. It was like I was riding a bike through a movie scene! Not to mention I had THE best pizza ever on this tour. It was to die for...literally would die for it.
 |
| World's BEST pizza |
 |
| Told you I rode right past it... |
 |
| Roman Ruins |
 |
| Newly Weds! |
 |
| Casual view of Rome. No big deal. |
 |
| One of the many domes |
 |
| The girls :) |
~ Day 8 ~
Well everyone, today was the last touring day! And of course we went out with a bang...at the Vatican! I had no idea what I was in for when I was walking through the wall that surrounds the precious city. It was almost overwhelming! Not only was it beautiful, but it was so interesting! Again, we had a great tour guide that knew almost everything and anything. I don't even know how to explain it! Seeing the Vatican, Trevi Fountain, and Spanish Steps all in one day is unexplainable. THEN to top it off, we traveled outside of Rome to participate in a cooking competition and have our last dinner. On our way to the restaurant, we stop to take pictures of this beautiful lake where the Pope has a lake house! Beautiful is an understatement and I have a picture below! The cooking competition was a lot of fun though too. We were split into teams and given ingredients and recipes for 3 different types of pastas and sauces. My groups' Fettuccine won obviously!
 |
| There it is! |
 |
| St. Pauls Cathedral |
 |
| The words wrapped around the ceiling are 6 ft tall |
 |
| Trevi Fountain! (under construction) |
 |
| Busy Spanish Steps |
 |
| Beautiful lake |
 |
| Plating and Presentation by Nicole Alexis :) |
~ Last Day ~
So as we would be leaving the hotel at 8:45 am for our flight, the running group got up nice and early to get a run in before a long day of traveling. We started running around 7:15, got lost, and got back to the hotel at 8:45. That's right, we got LOST in Rome. We ran off the only map that we had and were unable to get in contact with anyone because no one had a cellular plan to call or get directions. Talk about a last adventure...and scare. We ran over 6 miles that morning. I don't think I have ever showered and packed so fast in my entire life. I honestly do not know how we did it. Luckily, that was the last big event of the trip and we were able to have a safe and easy trip back to the states. Let's just say that movies were my savior on those long flights.
~ Thank You ~
I would not have been given this amazing experience if it weren't for my extraordinary parents. They are not only my mentors, inspiration, guidance, and counselors, but they are my very best friends. I couldn't ask for a better support system, and for them to allow me to go on this trip is something I will never be able to thank them enough for. That being said, I tried my best to come up with a way to show them my appreciation. Idea credits go out to the one and only pinterest and my sister for finding it! Before leaving for Italy, I made individual signs that I would take pictures with in certain places along my journey. Not only did these signs create great memories, but they also symbolize how much my parents mean to me no matter how far away I am. Here's how it turned out!
