Ciao a tutti!
Something so exciting and amazing happened to me this past weekend! Through a travel scholarship funded by the art history department at Rollins, I was able to travel to Ravenna and see some of the art of my dreams. Ravenna is home to 8 UNESCO world heritage sites and is particularly famous for their basilicas and MOSAICS! A UNESCO world heritage site is a place chosen by the United Stations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) “as having cultural historical, scientific or other form of significance, and is legally protected by international treaties” (Google). These monuments are all from the Early Christian era and the mosaics depict early Christian themes and ideas, with a lot of images of Christ, his disciples, and the four evangelists.
When I visited Ravenna, I felt the happiest I have felt all semester. This became my time to shine and it truly encouraged me that all of my art history dreams for my future can come true. While in Rome I have noticed that the times I am my happiest and most excited are when I’m surrounded by art and when I’m surrounded by nature. I found both of these things in Ravenna. Not only was the art incredible, but Ravenna was a beautiful city. The city was lively and fun, with people constantly walking and talking and interacting with each other. It was small enough to get around by foot, and it wasn’t at all touristy, meaning every restaurant was incredible and a lot of people didn’t speak English. I really had to work on my Italian and pull out everything I know!
Something that was really special to me about this trip was that I went by myself. I travelled to Ravenna alone and spent three nights and four days discovering the city by myself. I have never travelled completely alone before, so this experience was new and exciting. I feel that I grew a lot as a person, and I was able to do an entire trip completely for me. Right now, I’m learning about myself every day, and something I have discovered is that I need to stop and do more things for me in my everyday life.
I fell so deeply in love with this city; it is one of my favorite cities in the world. I want to bring my family and close friends to Ravenna in the future and show them what I love so much about this place.