Numinous Lands

Hello everyone! My name is Kaitlin, and I am a college student who will be studying abroad in Florence Italy this spring semester. This blog will be dedicated to my travels and experiences while in Europe.

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1,500 year old Byzantine mosaics in Ravenna. Hands down one of the most amazing experiences I've had here.

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Its getting to the bitter end, not but a fortnight remains. Its interesting how I am already beginning to look back on my experience here as though it has already long since past. Yet I am still here, and I am constantly reminding myself that I still have time left but it feels like I am grasping at every minute to just linger a little longer.

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Cinque Terre day two, hiked from Corniglia to Vernazza, then took the train to Riomaggiore and Manarola.

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First time to the Cinque Terre region of Italy, our first day of hiking from Vernazza to Monterosso.

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Study Abroad. A Summery.

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Rome. The monument to Victor Emmanuel.

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The beautiful city of Lucca. We spent the day wandering its streets and hiking around its medieval walls.

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The bell tower to whom bells I awake to every morning. I pass beneath it every day walking to school, and again in the evening, which is the view seen here. When standing at this spot when the bells are ringing in the hour, one is completely filled with the powerful yet soothing music of the Campanile.

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Che Piccolo!

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Some sites from around Rome.

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The ruins of the Roman Forum.

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It has been quite a roller coaster of experiences and emotions these last few weeks. It may be because of all the traveling, but things have certainly been exciting.

Venice was amazing, and as strange as it sounds it felt like being in Disneyland. People in masks and costumes, buildings seeming to float on turquoise water, and everything looked so beautiful it didn’t seem real, like someone built it purposely to look ethereal and exciting just for the viewer. I always knew what Venice was but I never imagined it to be so beautiful.

Rome especially was interesting. Venice was pleasant to walk around and just sort of sit back and experience, but experiencing Rome involved a lot. So much was happening all at once in Rome and it took everything I had to keep up. Catching metros, keeping track of museum reservations and tour times. For the first time since arriving I felt like a tourist; having a map in one hand and a guide book in the other. I don’t feel right in saying that all I did in Rome was “knock things off the bucket list”, but I did see and wander through a lot of places I had always dreamed of. Seeing real Berninis in the Borghese, climbing to the top of St Peter’s dome, and tearing up in the Sistine Chapel are memories I will carry with me for life.

Back in Florence, I find myself getting to know, or at least my local neighborhoods, pretty comfortably. There is now a cafe were the people know exactly what to make when I walk in. It makes me feel like I am beginning to belong.

I have made some great friends that share my interest and love for art and architecture and we spent this last weekend in Rome doing nothing but tracking down certain places and things. I am even getting my long time friend who is also in the program to develop an interest in these things, or so I think. She may be writing a blog about how she hates palling around with an art history nerd, but it makes me happy to see her

There is so much I have done but I am still craving more. The halfway mark is upon me and there is still so much left to do. Spring break is here, and hopeful with it will come more time to explore.

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The hall of maps in the Vatican museum.

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The Vatican was simply the most stunning thing I have seen here in Italy yet. The size of it alone was absolutely astounding. The interior decoration and attention to detail was almost too overwhelming. I believe that this level of beauty and devotion could be appreciated by anyone, whether or not you are religious or simply an admirer for the arts and human accomplishment.

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The Grotto in the Boboli Gardens at the Pitti Palace.

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A piece of an old coat of arms on the side of a building by school fell just as some friends and I were walking by. It was a massive chunk and shattered all over the street. We went into an osteria near by and as we ate we watched as it turned into a huge scene. The police and fire department arrived to shut the corner down, and an ambulance came and took to fallen pieces away. Soon after a news crew arrived to interview the local shop owners and started recording the event. May our thoughts and prayers go out to the fallen chunks of stone.