Hi everybody!
My name is Amy Worob and after this year’s seniors graduate I'm going to be a junior! I'm a creative writing major with minors in anthropology and medieval and renaissance studies. And, I'm studying abroad for 6 weeks in Florence, Italy starting in 6 days with Study Abroad Italy (SAI)!!! I'm just going to let you know how I'm preparing for my trip and whatever I think of while writing this. Hopefully my experiences and thoughts will help you on your future travels!
Well, I'm super excited! But I need to start packing! That is my goal for today, to make a list of things I need to pack and try to get everything that I already have together. Luckily, I already sort of have an idea of what I do and do not need because of my previous travels in high school to Italy, Greece, Austria, and Germany with a tour group. One tip I learned from them is that if you roll your clothes, they take up less room and don’t wrinkle as much.
So far list has: clothes, toiletries, first aid kit, shoes, sunscreen (a sunburn would be no fun!), plug adapter(s), towel(s), journal, computer, books for the plane and to read just sitting somewhere outside in Florence (like in a secret medieval renaissance garden… or just in a piazza), camera, iPod, across the body purse, a notebook and some pens for classes (can’t forget that I actually will be taking classes while there! I’m taking “The Renaissance Artist Workshop” and “The Florence Food and Culture Experience”), and extra copies of my passport.
I’m sure I’m missing somethings… hopefully I’ll think of what they are before I leave! I also need to make sure I don’t over pack, because I want room for souvenirs and shopping, and I my apartment there might have a 6 floor walk up and I am only going to take one, not that large, suitcase. I’m told that you should pack everything, and then take out half. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to take out half, but I’ll take out some. One of the things I'm going to have the hardest time deciding on, in terms of what to pack, is clothes. I don't want to look like a complete tourist while there. And I need to bring a cardigan for my shoulders and longer shorts/skirts so that I can get into the various churches while there.
Another thing I need to figure out is how to plan my weekend trips. 2 weekends are already taken care of because I’m going on 2 optional pre planned field trips with SAI to Parma, Modena, and Venice on one weekend, and Tuscan Maremma another weekend. If I could I would go to a ton of places while I was there, but I want to spend some time in the places I go and have a limited amount of time. I’m trying to plan a weekend trip to Paris, which is kind of difficult because I don’t know what I’m doing! I was looking at trains, but apparently airfare between European countries is significantly cheaper than taking a train. I also really want to go to Siena, Lucca, and maybe Verona or Ravenna, all of which I think I can get to by train from Florence. I decided that, besides Florence and Venice, I wanted to go to smaller towns and places I hadn’t been to before during my study abroad. I'll let you know how all my planning goes! And of course what I do while there!
I can’t believe I will be in Florence on the 15th! I’m starting to get really excited, but it also sort of doesn’t seem real yet! I’ll keep y’all posted on my adventures in Italy!
--Amy
My name is Amy Worob and after this year’s seniors graduate I'm going to be a junior! I'm a creative writing major with minors in anthropology and medieval and renaissance studies. And, I'm studying abroad for 6 weeks in Florence, Italy starting in 6 days with Study Abroad Italy (SAI)!!! I'm just going to let you know how I'm preparing for my trip and whatever I think of while writing this. Hopefully my experiences and thoughts will help you on your future travels!
Well, I'm super excited! But I need to start packing! That is my goal for today, to make a list of things I need to pack and try to get everything that I already have together. Luckily, I already sort of have an idea of what I do and do not need because of my previous travels in high school to Italy, Greece, Austria, and Germany with a tour group. One tip I learned from them is that if you roll your clothes, they take up less room and don’t wrinkle as much.
So far list has: clothes, toiletries, first aid kit, shoes, sunscreen (a sunburn would be no fun!), plug adapter(s), towel(s), journal, computer, books for the plane and to read just sitting somewhere outside in Florence (like in a secret medieval renaissance garden… or just in a piazza), camera, iPod, across the body purse, a notebook and some pens for classes (can’t forget that I actually will be taking classes while there! I’m taking “The Renaissance Artist Workshop” and “The Florence Food and Culture Experience”), and extra copies of my passport.
I’m sure I’m missing somethings… hopefully I’ll think of what they are before I leave! I also need to make sure I don’t over pack, because I want room for souvenirs and shopping, and I my apartment there might have a 6 floor walk up and I am only going to take one, not that large, suitcase. I’m told that you should pack everything, and then take out half. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to take out half, but I’ll take out some. One of the things I'm going to have the hardest time deciding on, in terms of what to pack, is clothes. I don't want to look like a complete tourist while there. And I need to bring a cardigan for my shoulders and longer shorts/skirts so that I can get into the various churches while there.
Another thing I need to figure out is how to plan my weekend trips. 2 weekends are already taken care of because I’m going on 2 optional pre planned field trips with SAI to Parma, Modena, and Venice on one weekend, and Tuscan Maremma another weekend. If I could I would go to a ton of places while I was there, but I want to spend some time in the places I go and have a limited amount of time. I’m trying to plan a weekend trip to Paris, which is kind of difficult because I don’t know what I’m doing! I was looking at trains, but apparently airfare between European countries is significantly cheaper than taking a train. I also really want to go to Siena, Lucca, and maybe Verona or Ravenna, all of which I think I can get to by train from Florence. I decided that, besides Florence and Venice, I wanted to go to smaller towns and places I hadn’t been to before during my study abroad. I'll let you know how all my planning goes! And of course what I do while there!
I can’t believe I will be in Florence on the 15th! I’m starting to get really excited, but it also sort of doesn’t seem real yet! I’ll keep y’all posted on my adventures in Italy!
--Amy
