The prospect of travelling alone both excited me and terrified me. Back home, the closest thing I’d done to a ‘solo trip’ was taking the train from Chicago to the suburbs alone. Still, it was something I’d wanted to try. When I’d decided to take a trip to Ljubljana, Slovenia, I knew I’d be going …
I’d decided I was going to study abroad during my senior year of high school when the decision was, arguably, easy. I was leaving for college the following year, so I didn’t have any ties to life at Loyola’s Chicago campus yet. Even as I applied for the John Felice Rome Center my sophomore year, …
It feels Sisyphean to try and describe 10 days worth of adventures into a single post, but I’ll try my best to share the breadth of the experience I had travelling through Greece during my fall break by describing each of the towns we visited in quick vignettes. Hopefully they carry even half of the …
Ciao, Amici (Hi, Friends)! My name is Brandon. Perhaps you know me, perhaps you don’t. I’m basically a living version of “Where’s Waldo” since I’m usually on a plane, bus, or train to somewhere around the world. This semester, I’m studying abroad at Loyola University Chicago’s John Felice Rome Center (JFRC). This is actually my third study abroad …
This weekend I went with a group of other students from the JFRC to Vincenza for a hike up the Strada Delle 52 Gallerie – a path carved into the Alps during World War 1 by Italian soldiers to serve as the front against the Austrians. The entire trip was so much fun and it …
Greetings From Bellisima Roma! It’s been nearly two weeks since I landed in Rome! I can’t believe how fast time is passing, yet at the same time, I feel like a day is worth a week here! Can you believe that I am already avoiding pasta?! The hype is real, and then you realize that …
After one long flight from Chicago to Rome, a week of jetlag, a weekend in the Italian region of Umbria, and a brief period of lost luggage, I can finally (hopefully) say that I have settled into Roma at the John Felice Rome Center (JFRC). It’s been a whirlwind of a week filled with gelato, glasses …
Arrivederci Roma! We sang that song three times at our Voice concert celebrating the end of the semester on Monday, April 23rd. There were a lot more people in the audience than I expected. (Many of us had pleaded with our friends not to come.) They came anyway, and we laughed and stammered through a …
On Saturday, April 7, I went with SLA Vanessa and some other students for a bike ride along the ancient Roman street known as the Appia Antica. Getting to the road took two buses and a train, about an hour of commuting each way, but it was well worth it. The important road …
I am freaking out! As of Friday March 30th, I have 28 days left until I go back to Chicago and only two weeks left into in my internship with The Roman Guy. There is sooooooo much I need to do before I leave.