My besties from Italy enjoying a Thanksgiving dinner we prepared.

As all study abroad blogs usually end: I can’t believe how fast this semester has flown by! I have absolutely fallen in love with Italy and the culture. But more than anything, I have fallen in love with traveling and meeting new people. Although I would never change a single aspect of my trip here, I am still excited to be able to go home to see family and friends. Because it is the end of the journey, this blog post will be dedicated to everything I will miss in Italy and everything I have missed from home.

Things I have missed from the US:

• FAMILY & FRIENDS – Of course these guys top my list of things I miss.
• MICROWAVE – Coming in at a close second to family and friends is a microwave. Not all of Italy is deprived of these magnificent inventions, but just my apartment was lacking. And when I wanted to heat up leftovers quickly, I heated up the oven. I only care about this because I am lazy.
• DRYERS – Because electricity is very expensive here, nobody owns a dryer. Therefore, what ends up happening is you put your clothes on the rack outside to dry and it takes about three days this time of year before they are dry. And that is only if you were lucky and it didn’t rain at any point over those three days. I was not usually very lucky.
• FREE WATER – You always have to pay for your water at a restaurant and there are no drinking fountains in all the buildings.
• A WARM APARTMENT – Again, electricity is expensive here so our housing company has our heat set to come on only at certain hours of the day and it will only come on during those times when it is below 50 degrees. The heaters are also so incompetent that it almost never gets up to 50 degrees before the allotted time.
• US DOLLARS – Most things here only seem a little more expensive than in the US, but then you remember that your Euro cost you about one and a half US dollars and suddenly you’re spending $3.75 just for a can of Pringles!
• DELIVERY – There are not very many companies who will bring your food to your door, and when you do find one, it arrives cold. Mine also ended up being something I had not actually ordered.

Things I will miss from Italy:

• MY ROOMMATES – I will miss these people that helped make my trip as amazing as it was. I will be seeing them again though!
• ITALIAN LANGUAGE – I will miss hearing the Italian language on the streets and being able to practice my own Italian.

A delicious, perfectly sized cappuccino that I later consumed at the bar counter

• COFFEE CULTURE – I will miss the coffee culture here where you grab a tiny espresso shot from the bar counter for a quick pick me up in the morning. I never liked drinking the large cups of coffee back home and this quick solution is perfect for my preferences!
• MY APARTMENT & TERRACE – My apartment, with its terracotta tiles and wood beam ceiling is incredibly charming. I will also miss our terrace overlooking red tiled roofs to the dome of the San Lorenzo Basilica. Gorgeous.

The exquisite collection of aperitivi dishes at Ganzo, our school’s restaurant

• AMAZING ITALIAN FOOD – The food here is absolutely amazing. It is fresh and free of preservatives or any unnecessary extras. My diet consisted of only carbs, and I loved gaining every one of those ten pounds. I will have dreams about the pasta, the pizza, the gnocchi, and the crostini among many other delicious dishes.
• APERITIVI – For an evening out, getting aperitivi gives you a full delicious dinner where you can try many different dishes along with a drink. The fact that the food comes free with your purchase of a drink makes it easy on my tight budget.

At the famous Antinori winery in the heart of Chianti

• GOOD WINE EVERYWHERE – There is amazing wine everywhere you go! Even in cheap liquor stores, you can get an amazing bottle of wine for as little as 2 euros.
• MY CHAT PALS – I will miss being able to talk to my Italian chat pals because they gave me such great insight in to Italian culture and really improved my communication in their language.
• RYAN AIR CHEAP FLIGHTS – This budget airline transported me across countries to experience incredibly diverse cultures and cities for less than it costs to travel in between states in the US.
• PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION/TRAINS – Who knew public transportation could be so well planned and helpful to everyday life? Living in a medium-sized town, I sure didn’t! The regional Italian trains also took me throughout the entire country, while I would have to drive myself anywhere in the US.
• SPARKLING WATER – I never used to like it, but since being here, my drink of choice is sparkling water. They always have it right by any bottle of natural water and they even give you an option for sparkling water at the one place in Florence that it is free.

The largest pizza I have ever eaten was this monstrosity we came across while in Naples

The cheese selection at the farm in Chianti that supplies a certain type of goat cheese for my chat pal’s restaurant

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Jessica is a student at Colorado State University studying at Florence University of the Arts during the Fall 2013 term.