Italia!

Tomorrow I leave for Italy. We fly into Florence and I’m very excited to see the birthplace of the Renaissance. After a couple of days in the city, we head out to some small towns in Tuscany for a few days. We then will head south to Rome, where I’ve already bought my tickets for the Vatican, Colosseum, Forum and Palatine Hill. We’re staying in a hotel that overlooks the Pantheon. From Rome, we head to Positano, on the Amalfi Coast for a few days of fun in the sun. Our last night/day will be in Pompeii, which I’m sure will spark the historian and musician in me. Why music? Check out Pink Floyd’s “Live at Pompeii.”

Throughout our travels, I’ll try to update on what I see, hear, smell and taste. My senses will be in overdrive. I’ll also be paying attention to Italy’s internal issues, as it seems they’re heading down a similar path as another ancient civilization, Greece. Interestingly, my last trip to Europe was the troubled Hellenistic nation.

Florence and Rome have been two cities that I’ve wanted to visit for a long time; probably since freshman year of college when I decided I wanted to minor in History. Ancient Rome and Renaissance Florence are silently pervasive in our society – from politics to art to architecture to science, hundreds of years and thousands of miles away, we’re still influenced by the systems they created. And this is even before mentioning the Church. 

Tomorrow we fly and I’m sure I’ll be in awe throughout our visit of the Italian countryside; maybe even a bit anxious. While I won’t be completely disconnected (bringing my iPad – they have wifi!) my impulse to share every detail on Tumblr, Twitter or Google+ will be diminished – out of necessesity and out of respect. Though I do plan on spending some time and writing. Part of this vacation is to help clear my mind, collect my thoughts and get ready to make big (professional) moves in the coming weeks and months.

To Italia!