Our trip started with walking to the train station at 5am as it was snowing over the sheets of ice. We boarded the train without too much delay but we had a five minute layover in Florence. Needless to say, 17 ‘americanos’ were sprinting off the train to catch the next one only to find out the train had already left haha.  The train to Ravenna was only 2 cars long and started off full of school children on their way to school. It was way over capacity and we stood for the first portion. We arrived in Ravenna and went to see different points of interest including San Vitale. San Vitale will most likely be my favorite experience of the trip, at least so far it is. It was breathtaking and fully engulfs you in mosaics and the surrounding architectural details. There was so much to take in. Ravenna is known for its mosaics and we saw a lot of them everywhere we went. All of the buildings had a lot of unique character to them than what we have witnessed so far. It was a very inspirational and motivating experience. After a full afternoon we took an earlier train to Bologna because of the snow coming down (especially in Bologna). We soon saw just how much snow was in Bologna. I have never seen so much snow in my life and it was still coming down! Once we found our hostel we were pleasantly surprised with how nice it was considering the price. We were definitely spoiled for our first hostel experience. They even had a breakfast for us in the morning with toast, salami, cheese, pastries, cappuccino and cookies that tasted like trefoil Girl Scout cookies. That night, we ate at Ristorante la Brace. They really enjoyed having us and provided us with many complimentary dishes and tiramisu for dessert. The waiter insisted on giving all of the girls names and decided mine should be ‘Barbara/barbie’ haha…After dinner, we went to an Irish pub down the street which was interesting and fun.  There were a lot of college age students. It was refreshing to be in a more diverse environment where we do not stand out as much. Saturday, we toured the city and saw the University of Bologna campus, the oldest university in Europe. Also, we saw an Italian wedding procession coming out of a church which was exciting. All of the guests were very formally dressed.  Next, I had the most delicious Panini at lunch. It had warm ham, tomato and mozzarella on focaccia bread. I could eat that sandwich everyday! At dinner, I ordered lasagna which was good but not as good as the lasagna we had at the study center. It was topped with a ton of ground beef and little sauce inside, too much ground beef for me in every bite.  On Sunday, we went to the train station early to avoid delayed or cancelled trains due to snow. A nice lady who works for the trains was able to upgrade our tickets to a faster speed train so that we could make it back. Our original train route was cancelled. This train had ‘harry potter’ like compartments in each car. It was so nice to be able to put our backpacks up and relax. We were greeted by paradise in Castiglion Fiorentino where the snow had melted and the sun was out! It felt great to walk around without looking at where you are stepping, best feeling ever! We even went to the Laundromat to wash our clothes. After the owner even gave us a ride back to the study center! All in all, the trip was well worth braving the massive amounts of snow and bitter winds.  I felt the most welcomed in Bologna than anywhere else so far. Here are a few pics from the trip, more to come!

inside San Vitale

outside San Vitale

Basilica di S. Apollinare Nuovo

our room at Il Costello

the wedding procession we saw(groom wearing gray top hat)