The Arkansas Traveler: April 2014

It’s been said that all good things must come to an end. It hard to believe that three months have already pasted, it seems like just yesterday that I arrived at the villa for the first time. Well that’s enough of dwelling on the fact that time never ceases. Anyway, dear readers it is time for me to bring you up to speed on what I've been up to since my last post.

On the 20^th of March the entire HUF group went on a day trip to the several cities including San Gimignano and Siena. While Siena was very beautiful I much rather preferred the city of San Gimignano. Much of this medieval city is exactly like it was during the Time of Machiavelli (the famous author of The Prince). This ancient walled city is amazing I would recommend this to anyone who wanted to get off the beaten path and get a taste of authentic Italian life.

Just two days later a group of friends and I were on a train bound for Switzerland. We visited the little ski resort town of Zermatt in hopes to get an amazing view of the Matterhorn. Unfortunately for us, the weather was being uncooperative that day. A dense cloud cover prevented us from seeing twenty feet in front of us let alone the mountain. Next it was of the city of Interlaken, where we spent a day enjoying a cruise on Lake Thunersee. The view was amazing, the water was a beautiful crystal blue, and the snow covered mountains made the scene almost feel unreal.

Next it was off to Prague, I must admit this destination wasn't even on my RADAR but my friends wanted to go. I am glad I went; the city was beautiful especially at night the lights gave all the buildings a surreal glow. I wish my camera could take pictures in an environment like that unfortunately it can’t. While we were in Prague we took a bike tour of the city, we say everything from St. Charles’ Bridge to a memorial dedicated to Prague’s communist past. We ended our tour at the John Lennon wall. This graffiti covered wall is a constantly changing memorial inspired by the communistic Idealism of John Lennon. Standing there listening to someone play the song “Imagine” on guitar, I was inspired to leave my own message there.

Our last stop on our trip was the city of Salzburg, Austria. We only managed to stay the day in the city. We spent our day, on a tour of Salzburg dedicated to the musical “The Sound of Music”. Those of you who are familiar with the musical, knows that the story is set in 1930s Salzburg. Our guide took us everywhere from the former Von Trappe Estate to the church that was used as the setting of the famous wedding scene. After the tour, the group stopped at a small restaurant and had a traditional Austrian meal. That evening it was time to take a train bound for Florence.

After a few days of classes at the villa the group was off on another trip. This time we spent three days in Casentino. We visited several sites including three castles and an ancient church. It was interesting especially when we found out we were staying in one of the castles. The castle is famous for the fact that Dante stayed there as he was writing his famous Divine Comedy. It was amazing being able to have the privilege to stay in a castle. I’d like to take this moment to thank my friends for not killing me for making an copious amount of “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” references while we were stayed at the castle. I’m sorry guys I couldn't help myself.

Finally after few days just enjoying the castles, churches, and the Italian countryside it was time to face the most feared thing known to students (suspenseful music builds) finals week (da da da dunt da). I went through finals week without losing much sleep (a first for me) and I handled the test like a champ. All that’s left to do is enjoy one last week of traveling and finally boarding a big ol’ jet airliner bound for the good ol’ USA.

I’d like to thank everyone who has followed me on my adventures in the Old world, I promise I’ll post my final update as soon as I can. Until then enjoy and I’ll see y’all again soon.