La Dolce Vita: My Italy Experience

La Dolce Vita, Firenze, Roma, Bel Paese; these are just some of the words that come to my mind when I think of Italy. Italy is truly a remarkable country filled with pleasant views, people, culture, and elegant food. Come along and learn about my experience traveling to Italy during my sophomore year at the University of Utah! 

Never in a million years did I ever think I would be traveling out of the country, let alone to Italy? I was able to travel to Italy through my amazing scholarship; First Ascent Scholars. In preparation for our trip to Italy, we took a class all about Italian history, culture, food, customs, and norms. You may be thinking this class was boring and filled with busy work but it was the complete opposite! Being a history nerd, I loved learning about five major time periods in Italian history. The book we read for the class is called, Sprezzatura: 50 Ways Italian Genius Shaped the World (I would highly recommend reading this book if you are wanting to learn about Italian history, as most of the content in this book is still relevant even in today's society). My favorite part of this class was learning about the Rebirth & Baroque period (also known as the Renaissance). This was the time period in which Leonardo Da Vinci and the Medici family would gain some traction for their work in terms of societal structures (Medici Bank, schools churches) and art (The Last Supper, Mona Lisa). A quote from Sprezzatura that stood out to me was “Tell me if anything was ever done”, famously said by Da Vinci. This stood out to me because I think it's an accomplishment to say those words, knowing he had such a big influence on many decisions in his lifetime. Da Vinci was a man of simplicity and comfort but he still found a way to capture the audience's eyes with the slightest touch.  

Now this is where we get into the sweet stuff, first with the plane ride. In all of my twenty years of being on Earth, I had never been on a plane, let alone stepped inside the airport. My scholarship cohort got to the airport around 11 a.m. for our 2 p.m. flight departure. There were so many people running around, on their cell phones, or eating food. It was interesting to think about how everyone in the airport at that specific time had their own lives that needed tending to. Someone could've been going on vacation (like me), traveling for a business trip, or traveling for an unfortunate event. Most of the time I was a deer in headlights because I had no clue where to go, who to talk to, where to put my stuff, and don’t get me started about getting my belongings through TSA. Of course, everyone has the usual fear of the plane crashing but my fear was more about the length of the ride. The ride from Salt Lake City International Airport to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport was about 10 hours and from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport to Leonardo Da Vinci Airport in Rome was about an hour and a half. 

After getting a mediocre grilled cheese sandwich from Panera, it was finally time to board the plane. I was so excited, yet so nervous, and was even more anxious to get on the plane and have to wait for everyone to put their bags in the overhead bin. I finally got to my seat and I was so happy because I not only got the aisle seat, but I had a lot of legroom and was close to the bathroom. The flight crew then does its protocol of going through the steps of an emergency situation and I paid so much attention because I wanted to be prepared in case anything happened to us. We finally get past the protocol stage and the lights come on to fasten your seatbelts and my heart starts pounding. I had known about this trip for almost a year prior and prepared by studying the history of Italy and watching youtube videos about planes but nothing was prepared for takeoff as we launched into the air. The fact that I was sitting next to three strangers didn't make me feel any better about takeoff; the plane started going up into the air and it felt like the wind was sucked right out of me. My ears start popping and I am hunched over in my seat with my eyes closed. Terrified. Shocked. Excited. Nervous. Anxious. My face said it all. 

The plane antics finally settled down and I stumbled upon the Delta screen; it had hundreds of movies, tv shows, and music to choose from. I had to figure out how I was going to entertain myself for the next 10 hours. The first thing I decided to do was listen to music from my phone for the first 4 hours of the flight. I listened to a vast range of my playlists since I didn’t have service in the air. I would lightly drift in and out of sleep to use the bathroom, change the song or check where we were in the world. After I was done listening to music, I swiped through all of the movies Delta had and stumbled upon one of my favorite movies of all time, Set It Off. I have seen Set It Off over a million times but it still intrigues and entertains me every time I watch it. 

Getting off the plane was not only relieving but it was also gratifying because I was finally standing in Italy. I was in a totally different part of the world, somewhere I only imagined going. We arrived in Rome around 2:30 p.m to a partly cloudy sky but most of the sun was peeking through the clouds. We walked outside of the airport and the air hit us; it smelt like cigarettes (because of the airport) but it also smelt like leaves and flowers. The air was cold, (it was only about 42 degrees Fahrenheit) and you could tell it had just stopped raining. We then walk over to the parking garage led by our greeter where we all get into black commuter vans and we drive to the hotel, Hotel Ripa Roma. We start driving on the highway/freeway and you can see all the geographical makeup of the surrounding era, it was green and flat and there were many rivers. Our greeter that was driving the van was driving fast and it was a little alarming but I didn't worry as much because there weren’t many cars around. Then I started to get worried. We start inching closer and closer to more people, more cars, and more traffic and our driver is not slowing down, he's upping the speed. I start looking around at my friends, peers, and girlfriend and we all have the same look of fear on our faces, we're tightening our seatbelts and only hoping to make it to the hotel as soon as possible. We get to Trastevere, which is the general area where our hotel is and our driver is swerving in and out of lanes, accelerating and decelerating at alarming rates, driving on the train tracks, and riding dangerously close to other cars, I thought we were going to get into an accident. Luckily, we didn’t. 

While I could talk about each day I had in Italy, the words wouldn't describe how grateful I was to be in Italy. While my scholarship continues to support me with all of my academic and career goals, it has also allowed me to see beautiful countries with rich histories. I will forever hold the lessons, lectures and experience of going to Italy close to me, as not many people get to fly across the globe.

The Pantheon: Although I didn’t know the entire backstory of the Pantheon, I was still amazed by its unique architecture. Going to the Pantheon from the north end of the building, it looks like an old brown cylinder. Looking at the brick, you think about all of the history it has seen, it's rugged, eroded, and has a nice copper glow to it. As you continue to head toward the front of the building, it seems like the building gets wider and wider. As you are now fully in front of the building, you can see just how wide the building is. If you thought you had see the full beauty of the Pantheon, just wait until you get inside and look up!

St. Peter's Basilica: This building is an absolute beauty. From the interior to the exterior, the building is simply magical to look at. When we first arrived at the basilica, I was amazed at the amount of detail that was carved and painted on and inside the building. The amount of space that is unfilled was in my opinion my favorite part of the interior of the building. The ceilings are tall and the amount of colors, designs, paintings, and lights are mesmerizing. Along with paintings and statues inside, there are also tombs of past popes that have served in Vatican City. Seeing the tombs of former popes was gratifying but also scary because the past popes' bodies were mummified. All in all, this was a great experience and should be at the top of your list if you are ever near Vatican City.

The Colosseum: As someone who loves learning and looking at the history of buildings, the Colosseum was definitely my favorite landmark throughout the whole trip. At first glance, I noticed the color of the Colosseum- a faded reddish orange. Once you get closer to the Colosseum, you notice the erosion and faded look the building has. As you make your way inside, you can start to see the extent of the details and features the building has, from the many rooms, all the way down to the many rows of seats that were once inhabited by people. Looking at pictures of what the Colosseum used to look like from 80 AD to now, it is simply astounding that the building is still standing to this day.