Amy, ‘11

Classes started Monday, so it definitely was a busy but exciting week. I’m taking four classes this semester, which are held Monday to Thursday. All four days I have my Italian language course, and then I’m also taking a fresco painting class, an art history course focusing on Leonardo da Vinci, and a course on the Roman Empire. In all of my classes we’re taking trips to different cities in Italy. For both my fresco painting and Roman Empire classes, we’re taking trips to Rome, and for the da Vinci class we’re going on a weekend trip to Florence and Milan. I’m really excited about all of my classes, and am amazed that I get to be taking all of them in Italy of all places.

In my free time I’ve been settling into my house, getting more familiar with Perugia, and meeting new people. On Monday, to celebrate the start of classes, some friends and I went out for dinner at a local restaurant, Pizzeria Mediterranea. Until today, it was the best pizza I had ever eaten. And for dessert we all split a nutella pizza, which consisted of warm nutella spread on their pizza crust. It was delicious. Also, Tuesday night the Umbra Institute sponsored a free gelato night at a gelateria nearby, so I got coffee flavored gelato.

Right now, I’m on my way home from the Umbra Institute’s weekend trip to the Amalfi Coast. We left early Friday morning and arrived in Pompeii for a tour of the ancient city. As a classical civilization major interested in archaeology, I had so much fun being at a famous site that I had studied so many times in class. From there, we went to the small town of Sorrento, where our hotel was for the weekend. On Saturday, we went to Capri for the day. It was so beautiful! I went on a boat tour around the island and also on a lift up to its highest point, so I got to see Capri from all different angles. Unfortunately, since the waves were big that day, we didn’t get to see Capri’s famous lagoon, the Blue Grotto, which you can only get to by boat, through a small cave. Today, we went to Naples, where pizza was invented. We got a bus tour of the city and then had the afternoon free to explore. In the book Eat, Pray, Love, which I’m reading right now, I read that the best pizza in Naples was at a small restaurant named Pizzeria da Michele. So, a few of us decided to find this place and eat there since it is possibly the best pizza in the world (and we also thought maybe we would run into Julia Roberts, who’s currently there because they’re turning Eat, Pray, Love into a movie). Unfortunately, after a 45 minute walk, we found the restaurant and it was closed. Luckily, the pizza is amazing anywhere in Naples, so we ate at another pizzeria nearby and it was some of the best pizza I’ve ever had! It was such a great weekend in general, and I’m so glad I got to go. The weather was sunny and warm and beautiful, which was really nice because it’s been cold and rainy in Perugia lately.

Here are some pictures from the weekend!

Me with fellow spiders Leah and Katie at Pompeii (Mt. Vesuvius is in the background!)

The view from the top of the lift, Capri

Me and my roommate, Katie, in Naples