Before I begin properly diving into this blog post series about my experiences in Rome, I would like to set a few things straight. My expectations are very high for this semester, having to live up to the likes of Eat Pray Love (Elizabeth Gilbert) and Roman Holiday (Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck, who could ask for more?).
I have therefore quite a few serious, personal goals to keep myself fully engaged and immersed with every moment. I plan to keep track of these with each blog post, including but not limited to:
- Travel Italy like a local: As a student at Cornell, I am lucky to be able to cover most of the classic tourist destinations in Italy as a part of my history classes. In my own free time then, nothing could be more fulfilling than to explore the proverbial ‘off the beaten path’.
- Discover new music! Keep my ears and eyes open for artists and musicians to fall in love with.
- A new gelato flavor everyday: Do I even have to explain myself for this one?
With a few more to come. Before I pull myself out of the excitement of contemplating an entire semester abroad and wrap my head around my current studio fix, a quick gelato update:
I have so far had black rice with rose bud, chocolate with red chilli, ginger and blood orange, each with an irresistible, healthy dose of Limone; a pure white, crystalline sorbet of the finest Italian lemons. (The deliciousness of these flavors is unsurprising as Italy is the only country with a larger number of artisanal gelato shops than mass-produced ones. Incredible.)
Look for my next blog post where I take you to Ponza, a tiny island off the coast of Anzio, (the first place I’ve been to in Italy where no one spoke English), and my thoughts on my first proper tour in Rome.
Signing off,
Ami