I started preparing for my Europe trip months in advance. I bought supplies, did several practice packs, spent hours researching, and most importantly, I started re-reading Harry Potter. It sounds dramatic and overly sentimental to say that Harry Potter played…
Archives for October 2023
Rome, Italy, and the Risk of Returning to a Place You Love After a Decade Away
When I was growing up in rural Mississippi, one of my most desperate wishes was to travel. For as long as I can remember, visiting Rome was the ultimate dream. I was obsessed with it. In my previous post about…
A Return to Florence, a Mishap in San Gimignano, and the Magic of Orvieto
I’d been to Florence twice before, but this trip felt like the first time that I really experienced it. My previous visits were both a decade ago when I was chaperoning high school students on weekend trips. I escorted a…
Gluttony, the Oldest University in Europe, and Finally Making it to Bologna, Italy, After 12 Years of Trying
There was a brief time when I thought I might study abroad in Bologna, Italy. My university held a summer program in Bologna each summer, and for a while, it seemed crucial that I find a way to do it….
