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Fascination will imbue every fiber of a Study abroad trip to Italy. The sheer
density of cultural, historic, and aesthetic richness is practically overwhelming. Thankfully, the Italians are a pleasure loving people and finding an escape from cultural overload is always a possibility. If a trip to Italy to learn Italian wasn't pleasure enough, indulge yourself in a shopping spree in Milan. A soccer match, even for non-sports fans, is an unforgettable experience. The ebullient Italian fans keep up a constant chorus of singing, hand clapping and jumping up
and down in their seats-even when losing. Gloriously lavish in art, architecture, cuisine, and style--a cache of stored treasures is just waiting to be explored in every region of this effortlessly beguiling country.
Italy's beloved capital, Rome, the birthplace of Caesar, Brutus, Antony and the Republic, is steeped in history stretching so far backwards as to be actually founded in myth.
Remnants of the early Etruscan civilization are layered underneath Renaissance piazzas, churches and fountains funded by wealthy patrons such as the Medici and the infamously extravagant papacy. In Vatican City or Holy See one must see St. Peter's Basilica and the Sistine Chapel. From the Vatican, just across the River Tiber, stand the Forum and the Coliseum. Home to La Scala opera house and vying with Paris as the world's
fashion capitol, Milan is not only a pilgrimage point for Da Vinci's masterpiece, The Last Supper, but for opera lovers and fashionistas alike. The resplendent Milan cathedral in the Piazza del Duomo, famous for its lack of a bell tower, contains a nail reputedly used to pin Jesus to the cross.
Florence, capital of the Tuscan region, is a repository of beauty. The skyline is dominated by the Duomo - the fourth largest cathedral in the world. Florence is also home to the world-renowned Uffizi Gallery, containing Boticelli's Birth of Venus among other luminous works. In the Museum of the Opera del Duomo, Michelangelo's ineffably lovely marble masterpiece, the Pieta can be viewed. A fun counterbalance of mornings studying Italian might be
absorbing Renaissance masterworks along the 15th century shops on the Ponte Vecchio or in one of Florence's reasonably priced leather markets.
Italy's history, from the times of ancient Rome Empire to the
magnificent artistry of the Renaissance, has enriched the country with a cultural wealth that is unmatched. And yet the country retains an earthy element, grounded in the olive groves and vineyards of the countryside. From the red stone in Siena that burns like fire at sunrise to the raucous streets of Rome, Italy has an inner radiance that has drawn study abroad students for decades.
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