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There is something about Florence. I can’t really put my finger on it, but something about this city makes me feel as if I’ve found what I had been looking for. 

The decision to travel abroad for a year was an exciting and life-changing one, as this was the first time truly being on my own. During my time here, I found this difficult at times, being away from all the things that make me feel at home— my family, cats and dogs, and familiar surroundings.

If a city is the mother, then street art is her child, and like all children, they speak the truth.
In my travels of Europe, it has become one of my favorite pastimes to find and photograph street art. I’m drawn to the medium because of the authenticity in its message.

The days are slow and languid, yet progressing quickly. Parents and siblings have since gone from visiting the place we called home for the last 4 months. The holiday aftereffects left the nearly empty campus in a melancholic mood. The weather unusually began to contrast greatly from the typical cold and overcast days that we had begrudgingly become accustomed to in the previous months. Almost as if spring had introduced itself in the bleak and wintry month of January. As if the sunny days were a promise of the bright ones to come in the new year that had commenced.

In a world that moves at the speed of roughly 940 Megabits per second, it would be easy to overlook a small, medieval town tucked into the rolling hills of Italy’s Umbria region.Tucked under the tired arms of a fading castle, Assisi, Italy, continues to thrive as a historical and religious outpost for pilgrims of the arts, history and Catholicism.

Traveling to Modena, we had the chance to visit the Ferrari Museum. With a guided tour, we were able to browse the infamous car models that have been used over the years.
After our Ferrari experience, we drove down to a Balsamic Vinegar Factory in Modena. We were able to go up to a room full of barrels and see the process of turning the vineyard grapes into balsamic vinegar.