Aprile in Italia (and wrapping up the quick final week and a half of May)
So being in Sorrento, you must know the biggest city near us is Napoli (Naples). I can speak for the majority of us study abroad students down in Sorrento by telling you that most of us knew very little about Napoli, but all I had been told is “don’t wear your gold!” Of course everyone in Sorrento raves about the Napoli calcio team (soccer) and the pizza (“nothing compares”). Despite these, just from the area I had seen outside the airport, it was never a place I aspired to visit much. But when we were taken on a field trip over there, boy oh boy was I wrong about this place all along…
We took the train to Napoli and met up with our tour guide, also the History of the Mafia course teacher, Alberto. Born and raised there, this man has some serious pride for the city and was ecstatic to have the opportunity to show us around. We ate street pizza (literally an entire pizza folded into quarters and you carry it in a paper towel and eat while you walk), sfogliatelle pastries, and walked through many streets to look at a bunch of small shops including a spontaneous pitstop into a small limoncello factory. In the end, we visited Castel Sant’Elmo which had the best, most gorgeous views of the entire city.
Another fun adventure in April was the final of my little trips through Europe: I went with two other study abroad students to Dublin! We went to see the Jameson Distillery (by far my favorite part of Dublin and I highly recommend it!), the Guinness Storehouse, and even went on a musical pub crawl.
And to wrap up the time, I celebrated my 22nd birthday in April by enjoying a delicious meal made by my wonderful host family. After my birthday were only the last few weeks which were all about finals: tests, projects, presentations, and wrapping up internships. Overall, the last 2 months went the fastest as we all got so comfortable in Sorrento at that point. Leaving, I felt like I was leaving my 2nd home.
– Olivia, Columbia College Chicago
