For foreign travelers and tourists, smaller European cities and towns—like many of those in Italy’s Umbria region—can seem mystifying and mundane all at once. As I explored the Umbrian town of Spoleto, I found myself walking from ancient stone walls to local cellphone stores, from cobblestone piazzas to moving sidewalks and escalators. There is a […]
Spoleto, a town within the Umbrian region of Italy, is a city of stone, sanctity, and centuries of lore, but most importantly, growth. Previously a medieval territory and later absorbed by the Roman Empire, every local person, sight, and uneven brick underscores its ancient sense of history. I don’t have the roots here that the […]
“Twelve kilometers equals seven miles. Seven miles is just three and a half miles twice,” I attempted to tell myself anything and everything I could, using deception as a method to reassure myself that this was an achievable task. I truly had no gauge or idea of the distance I’d be pedaling, but I continued […]
Gaggling my way up the Leonardo Express coach—the thirty-one-minute route direct from the Fiumicino airport to Rome Termini—with all my luggage, tagged orange “HEAVY,” to the front carriages, led by the conductor’s promise of free seating further up, I was dripping sweat, beginning to lose hope. Apologetically to my fellow passengers, I reached one of […]
The white porcelain mug that sits before me removes my thoughts from anything that may have been a worry days ago. Cars move by, almost in slow motion, past my quaint table as it remains unscathed. As do I, of course. Nothing is truly as anxiety-inducing (travel), as you always believe it to be. I’ve […]
You step off the bus, legs trembling and mind a blur from lack of sleep. The only thing keeping you going is adrenaline and excitement. You have arrived in Spoleto, Umbria in the heart of Italy. You find yourself to be much smaller than you ever have been, as if nuzzled between eggs in a […]
Having made it through customs (which wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be!) I walked through the Rome airport at 6:45 am, bleary eyed and disoriented, toward the baggage claim that was already packed with travelers. I was arriving a day after my classmates and professors. After grappling with the panic of trying to […]
The small, quaint town of Spoleto sits in the middle of Italy, land locked and full of history. It lies in the Umbrian countryside, 2 hours east of Rome and 2 and a half hours south of Florence, I quickly became aware of the intimacy of the city. Intimate in the ways that the true […]
Spoleto, a town within the Umbrian region of Italy, is a city of stone, sanctity, and centuries of lore. It was a medieval territory later absorbed by the Roman Empire, and every local person, sight, and uneven brick in the sidewalk underlines its ancient sense of history. I don’t have the roots here that the […]
The bus ride had felt like a fever dream. Surrounding me were the faces of fellow students that I would be with for the next three and a half weeks. We were all clearly exhausted from our travels, but the anticipation for our stay was keeping us all going. I looked out the window of […]
