Brianna Pesce

My time in Italy is something I will never forget. I know that I definitely want to go back to do Grad school there, or at least to visit more with my family. I was so happy that I got to spend 3 weekend in Firenze really getting to know my cousins. It was a special time and it made me realize that no matter where you go, family is family. The people who care about you and who you care about will always want to spend time with you and will be excited to have you visit.
The Welcome Home Party/Mom’s Surprise Birthday Party was great. It was wonderful to see all my family and friends in one place the day after I got back. It was also great to see how happy my Mom was with her surprise earrings and to have her be surprised by some of the people that showed up at the party.
The IES program provided me with an amazing experience that I will never forget. I got to see places I’ve never been to before and meet wonderful people. I wish I could go back already!

So I thought that after a month I should post some pictures of some things around Milano that I see on a regular basis. The Cimiterio Monumentale was amazing and free! I did the normal tour of the famous grave sites but some of the other tombs I saw were absolutely stunning. I’m definitely addicted to coffee after being here. It’s very much a social thing to go meet someone for coffee and then go somewhere else. The Duomo is just as gorgeous if not more gorgeous at night then it is during the day and definitely worth the visit.

My day trip to Interlaken was amazing. I’m so glad I got the Eurail pass. It only cost me 20 euro round trip to go to Spiez, the train to Interlaken from Spiez was free and the train from Interlaken to Grindelwald was discounted. The gondola that I took up was also discounted 25%.
It was amazing. There’s nothing like this in the US. I’ve been to the Grand Canyon but the sheer beauty of the Alps is totally different from the Grand Canyon. It was cool to be walking around in 50 degree weather but to be feet from snow.
The peacefulness was also wonderful. All I could hear was the rain falling on my umbrella, the cow bells jingling and the running water. I’m glad I didn’t try and do to much while I was there. I have more places (like First and Jungfrau) to go to!

We spent a Friday at Lago Maggiore wandering around Isola Madre (home to the Borromeo family), eating amazing fish on Isola dei Pescatori (the only island with a village on it) and seeing Isola Bella (famed for the gardens and also another Borromeo family home) from the boat. It was a little rainy, but gorgeous none-the-less and totally worth the trip.

It was so hard to choose which pictures to put in this blog. I took almost 300 pictures from this amazing weekend. From the moment I stepped foot in the Stazione Centrale in Firenze I felt at home.
It was wonderful being able to experience the city and to have such good tour guides. Finally being able to meet family that knows who you are, but whom you’ve never met yourself, was amazing. They are so welcoming and loving. I got to see so much more of the city than if I had traveled there with other people. Dinner at my cousins apartment in a villa from the 15th century outside of the city was an amazing way to start my weekend. I could definitely get used to the Italian way of eating: aperitivo, primo piatto and secundo piatto (and homemade tirami su!). I also would never have seen the lovely town of Fiesole if it wasn’t for my family. They really gave me the real Firenze experience.
Through much discussion with my cousin, who went to university in Boston too, I realized how wonderful Boston is for an American city. I also realized that I would love to live in Firenze someday. Not just as something that I would like to dream about, but that after I graduate I would like to make it a reality.
Firenze is the Italian Boston. I feel so comfortable with the pace and I have absolutely fallen in love with Firenze and the architecture. I love being able to live on a river and to see that river every day. I also like the fact that you can walk from one side of Firenze to the other in a few hours, just like Boston. The pace is slower than in Milano, and there is no metro system, just a bus system. Also, only commercial vehicles and mopeds/motorcycles are allowed in the city center.
Some of the things I’ve listed are very concrete things that I’ve fallen in love with. However, there are feelings that I can’t describe that make Firenze feel like a potential home for me. It’s hard to put into words how content and happy I feel when I wander the winding and tiny streets of Firenze.
I can’t wait to go back and see the family again another weekend. I had the hardest time leaving and saying goodbye. It was more of a “goodnight” instead of a “goodbye”, because I know I’ll be back again soon in a few weeks, but also I’ll be back in my future, hopefully for good.

My first week in Italy was magical. The countryside is beautiful. The countryside in the US does not even compare.

I had not seen my friend since she was the exchange student my junior year of HS. The trip to Germany was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. It opened my eyes to a whole new culture and a way of life. The food was delicious and the beer and wine was unlike anything I’d ever had before. The landscape and architecture was breathtaking. I made many new friends and got to experience many new things. I would do it all over again. But the best surprise of the whole trip was having a clear sky during the plane ride and being able to see the Alps. I was left without words and so glad, not only that I’d seen my friend, but at the view. Everyone should go to Germany before Italy just to fly between the two and see the Alps from the plane.

It’s hard to put everything that I’m going to miss into a photo album. But these pictures sum up the things that are most important to me and their presence will be much missed while I’m gone. But it will make seeing them again that much sweeter.