When I first began my blog I was adamant
that I would not be one of those people who kept it up for the first few months
and then gave up, letting the blog fizzle out like I’d seen so many do. But I
did, and I think it’s because I started feeling too self-conscious, wondering
what people were making of my year abroad experience – should I be having more
fun? Should I not be sat on my bed on a Friday night watching the Sound of
Music? Does anyone really care about my ‘adventures’ around the city and around
Italy, which suddenly seemed so small and insignificant when people were
horseback riding in South America or battling sub-zero temperatures in Russia.
But really, the year abroad is whatever you want it to be, and I wanted to
document my experience for myself and for my friends, so I’m bringing the blog
back – for better or for worse.
So now to summarise the last 3 months in not
too many words. Since my last post, I took a short trip back to England (for the first
time in 3 months!) which was glorious in every possible way, though made it quite hard
when it was time to head back to Italy again. Luckily two of my best friends
came along with me; I got to show them around the city, sample even more
amazing Bolognese food and visit Venice which is undeniably beautiful, despite the
consistent drizzle we endured all day.
Once they’d gone it was back to reality yet again, including a few weekend daytrips with Jess to Mantova, Turin, Ferrara and Verona,
as well as one too many “accidental” visits to the Bologna Cioccoshow – imagine
all the chocolate in all of Italy right on your doorstep for 5 whole days…
December was dominated by the appearance of
fairylights all over the city, trying to keep on top of my Year Abroad project
(UCL requirements) and preparations for my first exam – which was perhaps the
most bizarre exam experience of my life, but that’s another story
(exams in Italy are so strange they warrant their own post). On our last day in
Italy of 2013, my roommate Josie and I hiked up to Santuario di San Luca for
sunrise, cooked an Italian-style fry-up at home and then ended the day in a
wonderful Trattoria before wandering home with dripping ice cream covering our happy
faces at the thought of flying home for Christmas the next day.
