How is it the second week of October? How are midterms a week away?
My roommates and I can hardly believe that we are already in October! It’s been a while since I’ve posted, but the last week of September and first week of October were crazy.
We talked a lot last week and this weekend about how fast time has gone by, but also how we have been thinking about fall things we love and miss at home. Although it’s almost Halloween and fall is underway, here people don’t celebrate autumn the way we do in New England. I’ve realized that fall in New England is an incredibly unique thing that I’m lucky to experience.
Anyways, although we have thought about apple crisp and pumpkins, we’ve had no problem distracting ourselves with gelato and weekend trips. We spent last weekend in Venice and Verona! Our school group offered an overnight trip to Venice, so we all trudged to the bus at 6:00 Saturday morning. We rode for four hours (with the intention of doing homework) on two large busses until we reached the ferry to Venice.
After spending the afternoon in Venice, we left for Verona, where we spent the night! Although Venice was beautiful and unique, I absolutely loved Verona. By far, I preferred Verona, which is surprising for me, as much as I love the coast! However, Venice was incredibly crowded and touristy. We were frequently divebombed by pigeons and quickly realized that the streets were difficult to navigate due to the amount of people.
Verona, though, was a dream. We explored expansive castles (where we saw a bride!!), walked by the river, crossed a bridge built in 100 B.C. and enjoyed piadinas for lunch. We also had the chance to see the balcony where the Capulet family, which Shakespeare wrote about in Romeo and Juliet, lived. That was incredibly packed, which wasn’t fun, but it was a really cool experience. From there, we continued on to Valpolicella, or the valley of many cellars, where we tasted wine and were shown a functional vineyard and wine cellar. The vineyard was gorgeous and the family running the vineyard was a pleasure to talk to.
From the vineyard we headed back to Florence, arriving home around 9pm. We all set our bags down, took a deep breath and transitioned from travelers back to students, knowing Monday morning would come quickly. This week is our last week of classes before midterms and Fall Break!!
Wish us luck!
A Gray Takes Europe 
Thinking if you Abby.
Don’t worry about missing Fall stuff, the BH Fair was a bit of a bust this year and we have not even been apple picking yet. The foliage is pretty nice now in late October and the days are considerably shorter. It has been warm for October.
Keep checking out southern Europe!
Big HUG to you 🙂
LikeLike