Hey all! My name is Rachel Tang, I use she/her/hers pronouns, and I am a senior Social Work major minoring in Classical Studies. I had the amazing opportunity to study on the Grand Tour of Italy this summer!
Our first stop on the Grand Tour of Italy was a three-night stay in Milan, where we visited the Teatro alla Scala opera house museum, Verdi’s Macbeth opera, climbed the Duomo di Milano and saw the city from the roof, and ate lots of gelato.
After this, we took a train from Milan to Padua, a small university town. With only two nights in Padua, we took a silent nature walk, explored the town, saw Giotto’s artwork in the Scrovegni Chapel, and visited Saint Anthony’s Basilica and the Duomo di Padova. One of my favorite things that we did in Padua was touring the historical University of Padua, which was the second-ever European university, of which Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia graduated as the first-ever woman graduate of a university.
UNCG’s Green Fund grant allowed us to ride Il Burchiello, a boat that took us from Padua to Venice on a day-long ride, with multiple stops at large summer villas. During our two nights in Venice, we ate a huge seafood meal, saw Saint Mark’s marble cathedral, rode many water buses, visited glass and leather shops, saw the Jewish ghetto, and watched Wagner’s Flying Dutchman at Teatro La Fenice.
Next, we took a train from Venice to Bologna, where we spent the majority of our trip. Here, we visited the University of Bologna, Europe’s first university, explored the International Museum and Library of Music, and ate traditional Bolognese food.
In Rovereto (an Italian tourist town in the Dolomites), we visited the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Trento and Rovereto, took a bus to Riva del Garda, a lake in the mountains with rocky beaches, and a bus to Trento, where we hiked through a vineyard and up part of a mountain to Castel Beseno, a medieval fortress that we explored for many hours.
After this, we came back to Bologna and took many day trips to cities such as Rimini (beach day), Florence (half-solo day), and Ravenna (beautiful traditional tile mosaics all over the walls, ceilings, and floors).
On our last day-trip from Bologna, we were given an assignment to travel to a city (alone) that we were not already visiting on the trip. I decided to travel to Genoa, and my train left at 6 am with my return train getting back to Bologna at 9:30 pm, so I had from about 10 am to 5 pm to explore Genoa. I booked a ticket to Castello d’Albertis and the Museum of World Cultures housed inside the castle, spent the morning there, then ate lunch in the castle courtyard while admiring the beautiful view. Next, I went to the Royal Palace Museum, which had some amazing artwork and more beautiful views. My last stop was Villa del Principe, where I spent lots of time, taking my time going through the exhibits and wandering through the expansive garden.
After Bologna, we spent four nights in a multi-family home in Naples, right in the middle of Centro Storico, Naples’ historical center. We went to the Naples National Archeological Museum, saw La Boheme in Teatro San Carlo, and took day trips to Pompeii and Herculaneum.
From Naples, we went to Rome, where we spent the last seven nights of our trip. Since Rome has such a rich history, we spent these last days packing in as many historical sites as possible. To combat the extreme heat, we got up early every day and spent the morning exploring, then dispersed after lunch. During our time in Rome, we saw Palazzo Valentini, the Colosseum, Senator’s Hill, Pantheon, Michelangelo’s steps, Circus Maximus, Roman Forum, Caesar’s potential death site, Spanish steps, Trevi fountain, Aventine Hill, Roman Catacombs, St. Peter’s Basilica, Baths of Caracalla, Pope Francis’ church, Saint Cecilia’s Basilica, and a fourth-century church.
The focuses of this trip were sustainability, Slow Food dining, music history, Italian culture, and independent travel. The sustainability and Slow Food topics helped me understand more about how what we eat affects the world we live in, and how sitting down to enjoy a long meal without hurrying helps you appreciate not only your food but the culture. I enjoyed the operas we had the chance to see, and I loved that at two of the opera houses, we visited ahead of time to view the opera house museums. I also loved that while we did visit some highly-touristed areas, most of the time, our professors opted to take us to “off the beaten path” restaurants and locations. Our professors both spoke fluent Italian, so in many places we went, they would converse with the owners in their native language. Experiencing Italy as a tourist, but through the guidance of people who were already so embedded in Italian culture was such a valuable experience. 
Through the Grand Tour of Italy, our professors gave us many chances to grow as independent travelers. The most valuable experience I had on this trip was my day trip to Genoa; I was extremely nervous at the start of the day, but I had so much fun exploring on my own, and by the end of the day, I felt accomplished and satisfied. The independent travel day, combined with booking our own flights and having many free days and nights, allowed us to grow as individuals and travelers, and in our global awareness.
My advice for anyone starting to consider studying abroad is to figure out what factors are important to you at the start of your search. Once you decide on a trip, get yourself excited! Know what learning outcomes your professors have for you, or that you have for yourself, and be prepared to become a more independent and culturally aware individual.
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