My study-abroad trip to Italy was fantastic! In Rome, we enjoyed great sights like The Colosseum, The Roman Forum, The Pantheon, and two different kinds of catacombs. We ate delicious food – the pasta Pomodoro was my favorite – and then burned it off with our long treks through the city! I had so much fun spending time with my best friends. We had so many laughs and I even made new friends with the other students on the trip. Without such amazing friends and professors, I wouldn’t have made it through the long days and hurt feet!

I loved eating gelato, especially the Stracciatella flavor, and the gelato-making class was a lot of fun. We had really great guides from Ms. Linda in Rome, at the Vatican, the Colosseum, and the Roman Forum. Our tour guide, Andrea, was also great, and I liked getting to know him by the end of the trip. I wish we had more time to explore our day excursions like Pompeii and Pisa.

My favorite part of the trip was Florence. I honestly could have stayed there forever, I think. It is such a great city for young people, and the culture seemed better for a group like ours that was really interested in cultural engagement. The food in Florence, on the last couple of days, could have been better, but I still absolutely loved our time in the city. I loved the shopping choices for jewelry and stationery! My favorite place we stumbled upon during our free time in Florence was “Giunti Odeon Libreria e Cinema,” which was a book store, cinema, and cafe all in one. It was so beautiful. I also loved going to the Accademia Gallery and seeing Michelangelo’s David. That museum, in particular, was great because of how small it was, so we really had a lot of time to explore everything. There was a room of statutes that was beautiful to explore.

Overall, I absolutely loved our trip. We had a lot of fun, in both the free excursions and the guided ones. I really loved the group we had this year and it’s always a pleasure to travel with Professor Fratus and Rich! If any student, especially in high school, gets the opportunity to travel with SPC, I highly recommend it.
– Emily, SPC Italy (High School) Study Abroad Program, March 2024