Spring break abroad offers life changing experiences
Italy provides relaxation and a change of pace
By Jason Loeffler
For The Mirror Everyone looks forward to spring break. Trips to the mountains or the beach are common enough in the U.S., but, this year, my two friends and I spent our time exploring one of the most charming and beautiful places on Earth: Italia! Our adventure took us through Venice, Florence, Rome, and to a tiny beach town near Naples called Sperlonga. It was definitely the best spring break of my life. The three of us cut classes early on the Wednesday before break, in order to see everything, and our flight left early enough for us to see the sun slowly rise over the snow-capped Alps. Then we hit Venice, walking the streets for some hours, sampling the amazing Italian ice cream, called gelato; the pistachio and the frutti de bosco flavors were my favorite. To our surprise, thousands of pigeons inhabited St. Mark’s Square, so we bought a bag of birdseed from a vendor and fed them by hand. At one point, I had nine pigeons resting on my arm! The next day, we took a boat to the surrounding islands of Murano and Burano, where we got to watch the glass-blowing and lace-making demonstrations for which those islands are famous. A few days later, Florence proved to be just as amazing as Venice. The cathedrals and churches there are so decorative and elaborate – with marble floors, whitewashed columns, and golden mosaics of biblical scenes on the ceiling. We bought tickets for the famous Uffizi art museum and spent a great deal of time admiring the Italian masterpieces of painting sculpture. Botticelli’s Primavera and the Birth of Venus were sublime, and Michelangelo’s David was clearly the tourist favorite, judging by the crowds around his ankles. Rome, however, was almost too much to absorb in just a few days. We attended mass at the Vatican on Easter Sunday, which is basically like Times Square on New Year’s Eve, with so many people crowding into St. Peter’s Square. On our walks around the city we saw the |  Jason Loeffler jokes around while sticking his hand in the Mouth of Truth, which supposedly bites off the hands of liars. This was just one of many of the sights Jason and his friends saw on their trip to Italy over spring break. gigantic Trevi Fountain, the pink-and-green marbled Pantheon with the famous
oculus – or hole – in its roof, the ancient Roman Forums, where daily life took
place and where Julius Caesar was stabbed, the infamously touristy Spanish
Steps, the Colosseum, the bone-laden and frightening Crypt of the Capuchin
Monks, and, one of my favorites, the Mouth of Truth, which supposedly bites off
the hands of liars when they stick their hands in its stone-carved mouth.
Luckily, I made it out in one piece.
Our last day in Italy was probably the best; after riding a train and a bus to the coast, where absolutely no one speaks or understands a word of English, we found the resort town of Sperlonga. Our hotel was immaculate, well deserving of its four-star rating, and the view of the deserted beach was astounding. There were orange and lemon trees on our large balcony, their fruits bigger than softballs, so we took several of each, and more than a few bottles of wine, down to the beach for nearly the entire day. With the refreshing Mediterranean Sea in front of us and the warm sun up above, it was paradise. All in all, Italy was a wonderful spring break destination, and leaving it was hard to do, especially its beaches. There are so many wonderful and totally unique places to visit and things to do in Italy that this vacation was definitely the most fulfilling spring break I’ve ever taken. |
NOTE: The above selection is an original work by the author, Jason Loeffler; he retains all rights to its content.
