Last Weekend in Capri

It was the fastest month of my life.. as well as the most memorable. I will never forget the places I have seen, the lessons I have learned, or the friends I have made during my times in Italy. My lifelong goal had always been to visit Italy and I am glad to say I enjoyed every moment of my stay there. I could not thank my family enough for the opportunity to study abroad and I only hope that I can bring them with me when I return there someday.

-Drew

Capri

The last weekend the four guys went down to Capri. The train ride was long, but as I later found out, it was well worth it. Capri was by far one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen in my life. It was expensive, but once again, well worth it. It gave me a little taste of home, because a lot of people spoke English. Anyone who goes to Italy, I definitely recommend going to Capri, maybe not the last weekend, but definitely make sure you go. After Capri it was time to go home. Leaving Italy was hard but I looked forward to seeing my family, because a month is a long time to be separated from those you see everyday and I really missed them. I wasn't really looking forward to the long plane ride, but once again it was worth it because I got to see my family when I landed. I had a great time in Italy. I definitley plan on going back at some point in my life. I want to thank the Clewis' for offering us this opportunity and for teaching us while we were there. I would also like to thank our group, I had a great time, and you will be part of memories I will never forget.

- Frank

Last weekend

We went to Rimini for a girls weekend.  It was nice not to be sightseeing the whole day and just relax.  The beach at Rimini was similar to the Jersey shore, except all the guys wear speedos and people sell you random things on the beach.  Tons of people come up asking if you want a henna tattoo, or clothes, or a massage (some of us did give into the massage which was well worth the 5 euros).  The shopping was great and we had a great view of the beach from our hotel.  At night the city came to life and tons of people were out and about.  I think there were more people from other countries on holiday than there were Italians there.  There were a lot of Germans and Eastern Europeans there which was cool to see some other nationalities around the town.  We left Sunday morning and the very last train we took from Parma to Brescia was the smallest train I have ever seen.  It was only two cars and no air conditioning.  What a fun ride!  That night we had an aperitif with some officials from Brescia.  The food was amazing and we got some cool shirts.  Then we all went out to our favorite gelaterias and got our last gelato from Italy.  I wanted to cry the entire time I was packing my bag.  Brescia became my home over the past month.  I met so many people and I can order hot chocolate, pasta, and gelato, so I would say I could survive a lifetime in Italy.  I am going to miss the people I met and the sights I've seen greatly.  I can only hope I'll be able to go back sometime soon!  We had a spectacular group from GMC go and I already miss them.  I am glad that there are back in the States also so we can reminisce together about our experience.  I am so happy I went on this trip and would not change a single thing about it.  It is the single best thing I have ever done in my life so far.  Arrivederci Brescia!

 on the deck of our hotel

The last train we took in Italy...

Our sweet t-shirts! 

Last bike ride through the "European Market Square" as I liked to call it the entire trip

My FAVORITE Gelateria.  

Arrivederci Italia!

End of an "Era"

The last 2 weeks in Italy were packed!  First we did day trips to Venice, Verona, and the Alps.  Each place had amazing and unique sights to see.  While in Venice we rode a Gondola, and walked up and down 19 bridges that entire day.  It was a beautiful city to see.

                                                     The beautiful Venice view

                                                                 On the Gondola

                                                              Italian Pride :)
Next came Verona, the home of Romeo and Juliet.  As a big fan of Shakespeare, it was really cool walking through the Arena where they still hold plays and shows.  Even seeing the Juliet statue made Verona even more memorizing.

                                                                       The Arena

                                                Famous quote from Romeo and Juliet :)
 Sunday we decide to venture to the Alps!  The Alps were absolutely amazing and the best part about that trip was my family being there with us. I was really lucky because my mom, sister, and niece came over to visit me and they joined us in the Alps.  We took a ski lift thing up to the top village of the mountain.  We walked around and hiked up to see churches and even pyramids.  It was amazing! I was amazed by all the green scenery up there.  I honestly have never seen that much green grass ever! It was absolutely beautiful.

                                               Lunch surprise :)

A little touch of HOME

                                          Italy Family in the Alps
 The final week the girls decided to go for a relaxing weekend in Rimini!  It was perfect!  we wanted a beach and we got it!  We laid on the beach, soaked up the sun and had a fantastic final weekend.  The beach was
 beautiful and the weather was perfect!  Too many speedos for our liking though haha!

This trip was one for the books.  It was honestly a trip of a lifetime. It sounds very redundant but that is the only way I can describe this experience.  Being in Italy for a month was amazing, unforgettable, completely unreal!  I will miss Italy so much and I know in the future I WILL be back....no doubt!  This opportunity was unbelievable and over and above what I expected.  Thanks to the Group <3, Sabina, the Clewis', and Maria Vittoria for a fantastic Study abroad program and many unforgettable memories!  I will be back to Italy one day soon :)  I have definitely fallen in LOVE with that country.....Italia <3
 Ciao,
Justine

Our Last Stop

We started off by getting on the train at 7:05 in the morning, this would be the longest and furthest we had traveled I was not sure if the trip would be worth while since we felt as if half of our day was spent on a train. The anticipation when we were getting close grew and was almost too hard to handle. We got out at the last stop at Napoli Centrale, the city was big however luckily our boat ride to the Island was not far away. The ride was about 45 minutes and the second the boat started moving I felt as if we were already there. We got off the boat and it was all history from that point. We landed on the island, our last stop, Capri.

The view from the Hotel room

                                                                The dock

                                                                 Lew at the dock

                                                                        the tour

                                                                Drew and Frank

                                                                       The Green Grotto

                                                                       Around the Island

On the Tour

Drew

Lew in the blue grotto

                                                                           Me

The Garden below our hotel

On the way to our hotel

                                                                             The blue grotto
-Brian

Capri

For our last weekend in Italy, while the girls took a trip to Rimini, the guys took a trip to Capri. On Fri. morning we took a long train down to Napoli. This is the farthest down south we had been all month. From Napoli we took a really nice ferry ride to Capri and made it there around 12pm. The island was absolutely beautiful. Its a huge mountain with cliffs on the side and a huge narrowed valley in the center where the hotels, homes, and city square is. Dozens of boats, little harbors, and grottos (little natural caves on the sides of cliffs) surround the island. Capri is a big vacation spot for Italians and other people around the world so it was a different environment from anywhere else wed been to during our trip. The seafood was excellent and we got to take a tour of the grottos. It was amazing, especially getting to go into one of the bigger ones. We also went to the beach on Saturday after the touring. On Sunday we set out early to catch a ferry to go to Pompeii. The ferry dropped us off in Sorrento and from there we took a trip to Pompeii. Needless to say, we had traveled quite a bit and by that time all we really wanted to do was get back to Brescia and pack for the long trip home. The whole experience is one that I will never forget. Ill never forget the great people we were with, the friends we made there and the times we had.
-Lew

Final Weekend Abroad!

For our last weekend abroad in Italy, all of the girls decided we would have our first layed back, relaxed weekend by a beach.  We traveled to Rimini, which was a medium sized city on the coast of the Adraitic Sea.  This trip was perfect because although we were still fortunate to see beautiful sights, we were also able to relax and layout on the beach.  When we arrived the first thing we noticed out of our balcony was the beach! So of course that was the first thing we had to do.  Since we can't seem to get away from the people who try to sell everyone useless stuff on the beach, we decided that for our last weekend we would take advantage of the asian ladies who walked around offering back massages!  After being relaxed from the massages, five of us girls rented a pedal boat and were able to pedal out and jump off the boat to swim around.  This was the ideal trip that we have all be looking for to give us a little taste of the Jersey Shore! :)

Our view from the balcony

On the pedal boat

Weak Sarah

Me, Justine & Erin jumping from the boat

Last gelato in Brescia :( !

Ciao!

Natalia