Io Sono Qui.
Thursday, September 2nd, 2010By Kate Winderman

A gorgeous view from San Marino
Even after being here for a few days, it still didn’t hit me that I was actually here. We had so many school-related activities scheduled; meetings, classes, papers to fill out, etc. that it didn’t truly register that I was actually in Rome.
But when we got onto the metro, a violinist was playing a traditional song to which everyone else was singing. There, I felt it! And spit out onto La Piazza di Spagna, home of the Spanish Steps, I felt it! When we meandered through the city at night with a bottle of wine and 5 plastic cups towads the Trevi Fountain, I felt it! And when I made a wish there, as all visitors must do, I felt it! I like it here.
The school took us on a few trips this past weekend, ones that I definitely would not have visited otherwise. We saw Assisi, Ravenna and San Marino, all beautiful little cities in Italy. We stayed at a Holiday Inn, which was something none of us had been used to considering it had air conditioning, decent water pressure, and television. It didn’t seem possible, but each of the cities seemed to be more quaint than the last. Winding streets that could only fit pedestrians and cyclists, hills to make your calves burn and many, many churches. After careful consideration, I decided my favorite place that we visited out of the three locations was San Marino, winning by the breathtaking views from old castles. At first, I was hesitant to go on a trip with 175 American tourists to such small towns, but after considering the places we saw, the people I probably would not have met, and the Italian that I got to practice, it was absolutely worth it.







