#avasillars

Ciao! I must admit this past week has not been terribly eventful here in Sorrento compared to some other weeks, but it has been a nice break from all the hecticness. That said, there were still many fun things that happened this past week, so lets get into them!

Pizza Making

One thing that I did get to do was pizza making class provided by Sant’Anna! It was so much fun and I highly recommend if you get the chance to do it. It was at O' Masto Sorrento which had such a charming and welcoming atmosphere. We were shown the area where they grow all their fresh produce for the pizzas, and then we got started on working our dough into pizza shapes. Once they were large enough, we put sauce and mozzarella on it, and then we got to use the giant looking spatula to put them into the oven. After they were done cooking, we got to put our desired toppings on and eat our hard earned creations! It was so good, I couldn't believe I actually made it myself.

The before and after of our pizzas!

Sant’Anna Provided Resources

To tell you a bit more about some of the perks at studying abroad at Sant’Anna, I figured I could talk a bit about some of the services and things they provide to all students! For starters, they have an on-campus doctor that visits a few times every week, and you can schedule a quick, easy appointment free of charge. This definitely comes in handy if you do not want to deal with trying to find a local doctor's office to visit. Plus, if they think you need any medication to help with treatment, they can write you a prescription and then you simply take it to any local pharmacy and they can fill it for you. Another service they offer is mental health counseling. Similarly, to the doctor's appointment, you can easily make an appointment through the Sant’Anna app which is really convenient. The app also holds your class schedule, event sign ups, and several other very helpful resources. These include links to public transportation, local businesses, and places where you can receive a discount as a student which is really nice. All of these resources are in an effort to make your transition into living abroad that much easier, and all of the Sant'Anna staff is more than willing to help you with any issue or question you might have!

One of many pharmacies–look for the green cross (left), and the Sant'Anna app (right)

Croatia

Now that I’ve imparted my weekly study abroad wisdom, I am going to tell you about my trip to Croatia! We left on Wednesday evening because I once again had online classes on Thursday. We flew into Split which was only an hour flight which is crazy, and made our way to the hostel from the airport. On Friday, we explored all around the city, we saw the Kliss Fortress, Diocletian's Palace, and hiked to the viewpoint in the Marjan Forest Park.

View from the Kliss Fortress (left) and outside of the Diocletian's Palace (right)

Perspective from the viewpoint in the Marjan Forest Park!

On Saturday morning, we woke up early to take a Flixbus to Dubrovnik. If you couldn't tell by now, in both Split and Dubrovnik the views were just absolutely breathtaking. Being right on the water and looking out on all of these old towns was such a gorgeous sight, and such a nice change of pace from the rest of my trips I have been taking. We started by taking the cable car up the side of the mountain to get a view of the old city. After we came back down, we saw the Jesuit Stairs, Church of St. Ignatius, and went inside the Lovrijenac Fortress to name a few places.

The Jesuit Stairs–game of thrones reference (left) and Church of St. Ignatius (right)

View from the Lovrijenac Fortress!

Overall, I really enjoyed my time in Croatia–it was such a unique place to visit, and I loved all the food I had. Also for any Game of Thrones fans, many of the scenes were filmed there (I have not watched it just as a preface).

Well, that's all I have for this week! I cannot believe there is only 1 more week left in this program, it feels like it all went by so quickly. Alas, I am excited to update you on all the final week’s happenings, and I cannot believe our time together has almost come to an end! 

Arrivederci,

Ava Sillars

Data Science Engineering

Welcome back! This past week has honestly felt like a blur since most of it was spent outside of Sorrento, but it was definitely a worthwhile trip. 

Sustainability

Since I don’t have much to report other than more about physics and my weekend trip, I figured this would be a good time to talk about some of the sustainability practices I have noticed while living abroad. One of the first things you notice being in almost any European country is how they sort their trash. Many places have separate bins for paper, plastic, metal, glass, food waste, and regular trash which I found really interesting. Especially compared to the US where it is impressive if you even offer a recycling bin next to a trash can. They also often have really big waste bins in the street instead of a bunch of trash cans around in cities which I think has definitely contributed to having less litter on the ground since they don’t overfill and then end up on the ground.

Sant'Anna's waste system (left) and the card holders in the rooms (right)

More specifically at Sant’Anna, in all of the dorm rooms you have to insert your key card into a slot in the wall in order for electricity to work in your room. This means none of the lights or outlets have electricity running when you are not in the room which I found to be a cool feature (even if it gets annoying sometimes). They also emphasize turning off your AC when you are not physically in the rooms because it helps with energy conservation. This also made me realize that Europe is way more sustainable than the US overall. Not having AC standardized saves energy, emphasizing public transport means less individual cars on the road, they have better waste management, and they even prioritize small things like connecting the tops on plastic water bottles so they do not fall off and find their way into surrounding ecosystems.

Wrapping up Physics

Now, moving onto some of the happenings from physics last week, we had our final presentation for all of our labs on Monday, and then we had our second midterm on Wednesday. As for all of our labs, it's kind of similar to the labs at UM, just less intense I would say. Each week your chosen group of 4 people had an arduino kit to work with. Usually one person connects the kit to their laptop to collect the data, and then copies it to a spreadsheet in order to make a few stats calculations and graphs. Afterwards you write your takeaways from the lab, and you get to leave when you are finished. For our final presentation, we consolidated all of our data and reflections (from all 4 labs) into a slideshow and presented it to our professor and the rest of the class. I will say there is no need to worry about it, it is not stressful at all.

For our second midterm, it was the exact same format as the first one. The exam had all multiple choice questions, but there was a space to show your work so you can still get partial credit if you do not get the correct answer which is nice. We also were provided a formula sheet which had all the equations you needed to complete all the problems. Now I will say I believe our professor was new, so just a fair warning I have heard from past students they had to memorize the formulas, but either way the exams really are not that bad. These last two weeks we only have class on Thursday which is nice. We have one remaining lecture, and then a final on our last day of class.

Lake Como and Milan

Now, onto the fun parts! On Wednesday evening I flew to Milan and then spent all of Thursday exploring. I went to see Lake Como in the morning which was really pretty. We took a train from Milan which took about an hour, and when we got there we took a cable car so we could see the lake from higher up. The views were gorgeous, and we relaxed at a cafe for a bit before heading back into the city.

View from the cable car (left) and down by the docks (right)

Afterwards we went to the Duomo, Sforzesco Castle, and the Arch of Peace (Arco della Pace). We just saw the outsides of them, but they all had really intricate details which were cool to look at. Afterwards we got food at Osteria De Fortunata which to be honest I think is overhyped by TikTok, but it was still good. Once we finnished dinner, we got ready for the Lorde concert which was at the Parco della Musica. The concert was so so so much fun–definitely another one of my favorite memories so far from getting to study abroad. And it was one of my biggest goals to accomplish while being here since the beginning!

Arch of Peace (left) and the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele (right), a really pretty mall

Duomo di Milano (left) and the 3 different pastas we tried for dinner (right)!

When Lorde played Ribs as the last song!!! (one of the best moments of my life)

Frankfurt, Germany

The next morning we flew out to Frankfurt, Germany to visit some family I have there, and let me tell you it was so nice to be able to turn my brain off and have someone else guide the plans. We walked around the city, went to the top of the Main Tower, and visited Heidelberg Castle which was definitely my favorite. It overlooked the Neckar River so the views once again were genuinely gorgeous.

View from the Main Tower (left) and the overlook onto Necktar River (right)

The Heidelberg Castle!

Other than that, it was pretty chill just spending time with family, and then we left Sunday evening. We unfortunately did not get back to Sant’Anna until almost 7am on Monday since we flew back into Rome, bussed to Naples, and then finally caught the train back to Sorrento (since it was much cheaper than flying back to Naples). Hence why this blog is coming to you a bit late–my sincerest apologies!

That is all of the updates I have for you guys this week, but I cannot wait to update you all after this upcoming week! I will be heading to Croatia for my last weekend trip of this summer abroad, and then I head home the following Saturday which is crazy to think about. This second session has absolutely flown by, so I will definitely be making the most of my remaining time here. Ciao for now!

Ava Sillars

Data Science Engineering

Hola! I am in a Spanish speaking mood today since I just got back from Barcelona, Spain (also yay Spain just won the world cup)! But before I get into talking about that, I wanted to talk about several of the events that Sant'Anna has hosted this past week! 

Physics Field Trip

First off I would be remiss if I did not mention our physics field trip to the CIRA - Italian Aerospace Research Centre. Now a brief side note, most of the other classes offered at Sant’Anna include a few field trips throughout the duration of the class but this is the only one for physics. It took about 2 hours to get there by bus, and we got to tour around different areas of the center. Interestingly, some of them were even done in collaboration with NASA. For each facility, different supervising engineers spoke to us about the work that is conducted there. My favorite part was going inside the icing wind tunnel that they use to test aircraft parts–and thankfully for us it was not running when we were touring it. Afterwards we had lunch in their cafeteria area, which they did unfortunately make us pay for, but then we headed back to Sorrento afterwards.

Inside the icing wind tunnel (left) and the plasma wind tunnel (right)

Sant’Anna Events

Besides the physics field trip, Sant’Anna is always hosting different events each week which is nice, especially during the week when you are done with your classes for the day. Now I fully admit I did not go to very many my first session, but one of the great things about being here for both is that you get a chance to do them all again. This week alone I went to a tiramisu class, mocktail making, and pickup soccer.

Like the CIS cooking class, we all got to make our own Tiramisu, but we used a different recipe this time which was fun to try. For the mocktail making they provided a bunch of beverages and fruits that you could combine to make your own unique drink. Some people even challenged each other to make a drink with balsamic vinegar and I will admit they weren’t terrible. Finally for soccer, they usually host it every week, but this was only the second chance I have had to go. It is hosted at a small field behind a nearby church, and it is another great way to get to know Sant’Anna students who go to other schools and/or live elsewhere from you! It is not serious at all, so do not worry about that if you have little to no experience–everyone is just there to have fun!!!

Tiramisu making! This is mine before I put the cacao powder on top

**I unfortunately was slacking and forgot to take photos of the other activities but I can attest that both were very fun :)

Barcelona

Now, onto this weekend’s adventures! Barcelona was such a beautiful city to visit, I loved all the architecture and sightseeing it had to offer. The city is so full of life and color, it was so energizing to be surrounded by that type of environment. The city also surprisingly felt not too far off from the US. They have real side walks (something you come to appreciate after a summer in Italy), things are open a lot later, and they have a lot of US brands/stores. Even their police and ambulance sirens sound like the ones in the US.

Picasso Museum Exhibits (left and middle) and a street off the Passeig de Gràcia (right)

Casa Milá (left) and Casa Batlló (middle and right) which felt almost like a fun house

In terms of tourist attractions, we packed in a lot of things for our two days to explore the city. The first day we visited the Picasso museum, the Palau de la Música Catalana, Passeig de Gràcia, La Pedrera - Casa Milà, and took a night tour of the Casa Batlló who was designed primarily by the famous architect, Antoni Gaudí. Again all the architecture was so unique and mesmerizing to look at.

The second day we visited the Basilica of the Sagrada Familia which was genuinely jaw dropping, Recinte Modernista de Sant Pau which used to be a hospital, Park Güell which is full of colorful mosaic architecture, and the Montjuïc Hill and Fountain.

Basilica of the Sagrada Familia (left) and Recinte Modernista de Sant Pau (right)

Park Güell (left) and Montjuïc Hill (right) where the Summer 1992 Olympics were held!

The Montjuïc Fountain holds a water and lights show in the evening with music!

In case you were curious, we also visited both the McDonalds and Taco Bell, and then for our second night we ate out and got probably the best tapas I have ever had. So all in all I had such a great time in Barcelona and this definitely made me want to return for a longer stay at some point in the future.

Fanciest fast food restaurants I have ever stepped foot in (left and middle), and tapas (right) where you order several small plates to share, like appetizers as your meal

Once again I hope you enjoyed getting all the updates from this past week, and look forward to getting to tell you of all my adventures next week! We tragically have our second physics midterm which I am hoping won’t be too bad on Wed. Afterwards, I am heading to Milan to see Lorde on Thurs night and then visit some of my family in Frankfurt, Germany Fri-Sun. So there are many adventures ahead, and only three weeks left of the entire program–scary! Alas, see you all next week :)

Ava Sillars

Data Science Engineering

Salve! This week has been full of fun adventures so I will just jump right into them! 

CIS Cooking Class

First off, CIS hosted a cooking class at the Nonna Flora Cooking School right here in Sorrento which was so much fun, and actually turned out to be some of the best food I’ve had so far while being here. We started off by learning how to make tiramisu using their family recipe which does not include eggs like a traditional recipe calls for. After we assembled them we set them in the fridge to chill and started on making homemade pasta. We all made our own dough and kneaded the dough until it was smooth, and then had some aperitivos (mini appetizers) while we waited for our dough to rest. Afterwards we got to shape our dough and then they cooked all of our pasta together and made this amazing eggplant and cheese sauce which was genuinely to die for. Finally we got to taste the tiramisu we made, which was so good I might even try to make it again once I return home!

The tiramisu and pasta we made!

Bagni Regina Giovanna 

Another activity I embarked on was hiking to the Bagni Regina Giovanna which is about 45 minutes away from Sant’Anna to go cliff jumping. It genuinely felt like a hidden cove–it was so beautiful and had such a gorgeous view of the water and coast line. There is not really a sandy beach area, but there are a lot of flat rocky areas where you can set your things while you go for a swim or just lie down and enjoy the scenery. Sant’Anna also hosts an event where they go through the hike with you to get there, but I was not able to attend due to class so a friend and I went when we had a free day. I would definitely recommend setting aside time to visit this area because it was honestly one of my favorite days spent in Sorrento. 

The cove part was so relaxing, and then we jumped from the rocks on the right which is just through the opening you can see in the first photo

Starting Session 2 and Discussing Housing

Along with the start of the second session here at Sant’Anna there have been plenty of new faces around! Getting to know them and talk about my time here so far has given me such a profound perspective on my growth since arriving here. Seeing them navigate through all the challenges I too dealt with when I first arrived like figuring out the best ways to travel or finding the best local restaurants and gelaterias has made me realize how much Sorrento truly feels like home now. 

While I am on the topic, I figured this would be a good time to talk about my housing experience. Now when you commit to studying abroad through this program, you have to pick from 3 different housing options. First, there are the dorms directly in Sant’Anna which is what I chose, second there is the Villa, and lastly there are the shared apartments.

Since I have only experienced the dorms, I will talk about that first. There are singles, doubles, and triples here and I believe you can select a preference when you make your housing decision online. My room is a double, but all the rooms are essentially set up the same. My roommate and I both have our own beds, desks, and closets, and then we share a mini fridge and an attached bathroom. Our room also overlooks the gardens with a nice patio, but the rooms on the other side overlook the water. Included in the dorms are several common areas both inside and out, as well as a shared kitchen space. There are also washers and dryers that cost 4-5 euro each per load which can get kind of pricey, but you can also hang dry your clothes which is extremely common here. All in all I have loved living in the dorms since they provide everything you really need and it's such a great way to meet other people, especially those who attend other universities.

The room and amazing balcony view!

As for the Villa, it is about a 15-20 minute walk from Sant’Anna (and I will warn it is not the most fun walk in the beating hot sun but it's not that bad). It is owned by a couple who takes care of everything there which is nice, and I have heard nothing but good things about them. It has its own pool and they provide dinner a few times every week which is nice. You are given a certain number of dinners you can “opt in for” which roughly accounts for 3 dinners per week and you are provided breakfast every morning. For other meals/nights you have to eat out because they do not have a communal kitchen so keep that in mind when budgeting since eating out frequently can be costly. Room setups also vary they all seem nice and I haven't heard any complaints about it.

Then for the apartments, it really is a mixed bag. Most of them have 4 people living in each one. Many have shared bedrooms and common areas, but I have also heard that some of them vary on bathroom arrangements (ensuite or shared). Additionally, they are scattered all around Sorrento so the commute to Sant’Anna is different for each one, but they are all still walkable so don't worry about that. Some of them are located above local businesses and many are next to other units with actual locals who live there full time. All the apartments I have heard of have a full kitchen and access to a washer, although most do not have dryers.

Although I do not know a ton about the villa and apartment living options, I hope this gives you a better idea of what each one is like, especially since they all have different costs (for the housing itself, and things like groceries or laundry).

Venice

Now, onto this weekend's travels! This past Friday I flew from Naples to Venice to meet a friend of mine from UM who is studying abroad in Rome which was exciting! Now I will say compared to a lot of the other big cities in Italy, this trip felt a lot more relaxed. There isn’t a ton of things to see when it comes to monuments or tourist attractions, it is more so just the city itself. That is not to say there isn’t a main piazza because there is, but I think my favorite part was just walking around with no specific destination. Getting to see all of the random streets and bridges over the water was such a fun experience. Everywhere you looked was so picturesque, and there are so many hidden gems to find when it comes to bakeries, restaurants, small shops, and more.

The Rialto Bridge and Cafe Florian

St. Mark's Square and Basilica and Doge's Palace

I also went on a gondola ride which I will admit is pretty expensive, but if you get a group of people together to split it is not nearly as bad. They usually can hold up to 5 people, and the price is capped by the city at 90 euros per boat as a flat fee. Getting to see the city from the water was really enjoyable, and it's so iconic that you almost have to ride a gondola at least once if you are going to visit Venice.

Gondola ride! -featuring our amazing gondolier

Now I went for 2 days so the first was just walking around and taking in the city, but the second day I took a boat tour to Murano, Burano, and Torcello which was only 25 euro and it lasted about 5 hours. Murano is known for glass blowing so as soon as we got off the boat we got to a glass blowing demonstration which was such a cool thing to witness, and then we walked around for a little bit. There is not a ton to do there, but I definitely enjoyed my visit. Torcello was the most naturey which was a nice change of pace from all the busy cities. There was a church which you could go in for 5 euros, but most people (including myself) took this time to get a bite to eat and breathe in the fresh air. Finally for Burano, they are known for lace, and primarily their beautifully colored buildings. This was definitely my favorite island and it had the most things to do. There was a decent sized downtown with lots of shops and restaurants, but it was also just fun to walk around and look at all the colors you were surrounded by.

Glass blowing demonstration at Murano (left), Torcello (middle), and all the colors of Burano (right)!

Other than that, I will advise you to bring bug spray because all the water is a lovely breeding ground for mosquitoes, and equip yourself with the knowledge that during high tide some of the streets become slightly flooded and it will smell as though you are right next to a sewer if you get my drift. Also make sure you pay the tourist fee (5-10 euros) to get into the city or fill out the exemption form if you are staying overnight in the city.

I hope you enjoyed learning of this past week's adventures, and I look forward to even more updates next week! We are going on our first physics field trip, attending more Sant’Anna events, and then heading to Barcelona, Spain over the weekend which I am beyond excited for–so see you next week!

Ava Sillars

Data Science Engineering

We are officially halfway through!

I cannot believe this point is already here, it feels like just a couple days ago I was navigating my way around the grocery stores and figuring out my schedule. Alas, I suppose the countdown begins for when I return home. Now I am definitely looking forward to seeing all my friends and family again, but I will also undoubtedly miss waking up everyday here in the heart of Sorrento.

Like I said before, the halfway point means the Summer 1 session ending, and the Summer 2 session beginning. All of us staying here for the 10 weeks had to tearfully say goodbye to all the friends we made who were only here for the first session, but we also get to meet all the new students in the coming days/weeks.

We of course all had to get I heart Sorrento shirts for our last night together

Practical Work Experience (PWE)

Additionally, I had my final presentation for my work experience where we present all the work we have done through our Wix E-Portfolio website. For those of you doing the work experience, every week you write a weekly reflection on the tasks you completed and any thoughts you have regarding them. You also get to include photos and videos of the work you are doing, so make sure to get lots of pictures! By the end of the internship, you have to complete several other tabs including an about me page, an international internship tab, and a final reflection. I will say waiting until the last day to complete all of those is not the recommended course of action since there is a lot to cover, but you will get to go over all of it with one of the work experience staff and they can give you further feedback on it which is very helpful. For our presentation we spoke about our experiences working for our respective companies, and many of the employers also came to listen in which was nice of them to do.

Getting to do this work experience was such an amazing experience and I highly recommend it if you are considering it. It most likely will not be anything like what you are expecting, especially when it comes to working a typical job in the US, but that's the beauty of it. Getting to experience the Italian work culture and fully immerse yourself with the locals is something that you cannot do anywhere else. You also are encouraged to get your employers information for future recommendation purposes, and they are all more than happy to help you in your future career!

The group of interns I was with and our amazing supervisor Domenico! (aka Mimí)

Along with the work experience, you will be receiving a microcredential though CIS so there is separate work for that. There are weekly modules for you to get through, thus I once again recommend pacing yourself and not saving it all for the last minute. All of the work you have to get done during the last week piles up quickly, especially if you have any exams in the other classes you are taking. Hypothetically speaking from personal experience, it's not the end of the world if you wait but once again I do not recommend it.

Capri

Back to our regularly scheduled programming of more travels, this weekend I visited the Island Capri! In order to get there, you have to take a ferry which is a lot simpler than it may seem. The port is really close to Sant’Anna which is nice, you just have to walk down a lot of stairs to get to it. I would recommend waiting to buy tickets until the day of when you get there because they are usually cheaper than buying online, and many companies don’t offer refunds if the trip gets cancelled due to weather. A round trip from Sorrento is generally anywhere between 30-45 euro depending on the company and times you select.

As soon as we arrived to Capri, we went to the famous Blue Grotto where the water almost looks magical because of how the sun reflects off the white sand at the bottom. You can either access the grotto by boat or foot/bus, and the entrance is 18 euro for the grotto itself. I will warm you, it is a lot of waiting around. My friends and I took a boat to get there since I heard from other people that if you take the bus it charges you for every stop the bus passes so it can get pretty pricey for just a round trip. Once you get there, you have to wait for your boats to turn, and then you get into smaller rowboats that you have to lie completely down in because of how small the entrance is (you also access the grotto by rowboat if you traveled there by foot/bus).  It was really pretty and the workers sang songs while we were inside which was quite entertaining, but if your heart is not set on going, I think the amount of time it took and the cost may be enough of a deterrent (we spent around 45 euro each for the boat, grotto admission, and tip). 

The view of Capri from our boat to the blue grotto and inside the grotto!

After the grotto we went to a chair lift which overlooked the coastline which was really pretty, and had a nice breeze. At the top there is a restaurant and a bar, as well as one or two small shops. We took a short bus ride to get there, and then we just walked around the shops by the chair lift and closer to the ferry port until it was time to depart back to Sorrento.

The chair lift and the view from the top–it was so pretty! You can also see the siren rocks from Homer’s Odyssey in the far left just off the coast.

Overall it was a fun trip, but it does just feel very similar to all of the other southern towns in Italy, including Sorrento. I will say though there are a handful of museums, gardens, and beaches there which we didn’t explore, but once again you can find all of those in any other coastal town of Italy.

Rome

For my second day trip of the weekend, I went to Rome! Now I will say many people choose to spend a night or the whole weekend in Rome, but the hostels were much pricer than I felt comfortable spending (around 50 euro per night) so I decided to just take a day trip there instead. I took the train early in the morning to get to Naples, and then I took a bus (about 14 euro round trip) from there to Rome which took about 3 hours. I got to spend about 6 hours in Rome which I do acknowledge is about the same amount of time spent traveling, but I definitely think it was worth it. 

We went on the first Sunday of the month, which is a day that many government owned sites have free admissions so we got to go into the Colosseum for free. Afterwards we saw most of the iconic places in Rome including the Trevi Fountain, the Roman Forum, the Pantheon, and the Spanish Steps. We walked around to each spot, took pictures, and then moved onto the next.

The Colosseum!

After our sightseeing we did some shopping, and then got some food before we left. There are a lot of luxury stores in Rome, but there are also several other stores that you can walk around. Overall I think it is definitely worth visiting, and is doable in a day if you plan it out right. However, if you want to take your time while you are there, staying at least a night would definitely be worth it depending on your own priorities and budget. We might go back for another day to visit the Vatican City, but tbd on that front.

A cathedral (left) and the Spanish Steps (right)

There was a guy playing violin on the streets and it felt so cinematic

The Trevi Fountain (left) and the Pantheon (right)

Next week I will hopefully get to update you guys on the start of my new class, and I will be traveling to Venice over the weekend to meet one of my friends from UM who is also studying abroad in Italy! And of course, I will be sure you let you guys know how it goes. Ciao for now, and see you next week!

Ava Sillars

Data Science Engineering

Welcome back!

This past week has been quite a busy and stressful week, but also one of the most fun so I cannot complain too much. I suppose since the whole point of being here in Sorrento is the study portion of study abroad, I should probably mention what it is like to take classes here at Sant’Anna! Currently I am only taking physics since I also have my work experience, but I will soon be taking another course once the summer 2 session begins. 

Classes

Physics is 3 days a week, and it lasts for 3 very long hours. Most of the classes here run for 3 hours so it can be quite brutal when you have days with back to back scheduling, but most professors give you a 10 minute break which is nice. I will say it was quite a stark transition from classes at umich since most classes only last for 50 or 80 minutes, but it just takes some getting used to. Most classes also have a midterm and a final. However, for all the classes I have heard about, their exams have not been too hard, and most people just take the night before to study for them. Physics differs slightly from the rest of the classes since it spans both summer sessions, so there are 2 midterms and 1 final. The exams kind of remind me of taking tests in high school, if that gives you somewhat of a gauge in terms of difficulty. The physics professor is very kind and understanding, and he is always open to answering any questions you may have. The main difficulty I have had during class is that it is often difficult to decode what he is writing on the board because some of the symbols are written very differently than we are used to. For instance, when it comes to writing numbers, they switch the use of the comma and decimal (eg. 1,000.56 is 1.000,56 in Italy). Other than that, the class is not terribly difficult, and is much slower paced than your average college course which seems to be a common theme throughout all of the courses offered at Sant'Anna.

The physics classroom!

Traveling Advice

Since I do not have classes on Friday, which is common for most students, I have been booking trips that begin either Thursday evening or early Friday morning. As such, immediately following physics class this past Thursday, a couple of friends and I quickly made it to the Sorrento train station to begin our adventure to London. The train takes about 90 minutes to get all the way to Naples, and then we took a quick bus ride to the airport from there. It was pretty easy to navigate so things were looking good until I got a notification that our flights were delayed. This being my first flight/out of country trip, I learned A LOT of things. 

One, it's not worth booking through third party sites if you can avoid it. For one, the site I used to book a hostel only charged me for 1 person, so I had to pay on the spot even though I reserved 2 beds online. With my flights, even though they were delayed, the airline did not offer me a new one since I did not book directly with them. Additionally, you have to pay for your own new flight if you miss a connecting flight (speaking from personal *painful* experience). 

That brings me to my second point: if you book a flight with a layover, I would allot at least 3 hours because most flights close the gates over an hour before you depart. They also do not announce the terminal you are leaving from until it is time to actually board, and you only get about 20 minutes before last call. 

Third, make sure you check-in through the airline in advance otherwise you likely will have to pay a check-in fee at the airport which can be around 50 euro extra per person. This generally involves inputing your personal information and passport details, as well as skipping past all the upgrades they offer. Personally, I have been only bringing a personal item since it costs extra to bring a carry-on. It has worked thus far, you just have to be mindfully conservative when packing.

My last points for now are regarding hostels. Just know they likely will charge you to rent towels and/or lockers, and you may need to bring your own lock in order to actually lock it. Also since air conditioning is not standard across Europe, oftentimes the rooms can reach temperatures even hotter than it is outside so pack breathable clothing.

London

Moving on from traveling insights, London was such a fun trip, I would highly recommend it if you are considering it. The main deterrent is that it is very expensive, especially since the USD to the British pound conversion is quite significant (currently 1 pound = 1.33 USD). However, there is so much to do and see in London for little to no cost that it is definitely doable on a budget. For transportation I primarily walked and used the tube which was pretty easy to navigate with just the use of google/apple maps. I personally prefer apple maps, but my roommate used google maps and they both have been working so far. I spent Friday sightseeing which included Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, the Kew Gardens, and many other iconic landmarks.

Westminster Abbey (left) and the Big Ben–you can also see the London Eye! (right)

Kew Gardens, which for any Bridgerton fans is where Queen Charlotte is set!

Chinatown (left) and Buckingham Palace (right)

On Saturday we went to see the crown jewels in the London Tower which was a bit expensive, but it was definitely a cool experience and very interesting to learn about if you have any fascination with that type of stuff. The only sad thing is you are not allowed to take any photos of the jewels, but you can of all of the other parts. You also can see the tower bridge right on your way in/out from the London Tower! Afterwards we did some shopping shopping in Soho, and then I went to see Harry Styles in the evening! Now I will admit I am definitely not his biggest fan, but I am an avid concert goer so getting to see a concert at Wembley Stadium was such a fun experience. I even went by myself since no one else I had traveled with wanted to go, and honestly I had the most fun at the concert. Everyone I talked to was so kind, and made the entire concert even more enjoyable.

Outside of the Royal Jewels and the Tower Bridge (which is much cooler than the London Bridge)

Harry Styles!!!

This has made me want to take a solo trip at some point so I will follow-up with you guys if I do! Overall, despite the many hiccups along the way (including getting stuck in Palma, Spain for almost 10 hours during our layover) I thoroughly enjoyed my trip and learned a lot about how to successfully approach traveling, so hopefully you don’t have the same things happen to you! 

Next week is the last week of the Summer 1 session which is both surreal and bittersweet. All the session 1 students will be leaving, but we also get to meet all the new session 2 students which is exciting. Further indicating the halfway point, my work experience is coming to a close and my second class is about to begin. I assure you that I will continue to update through the transition period, and am looking forward to my second half of Italy!

Ciao for now,

Ava Sillars

Data Science Engineering

We’ve made it through week 3! 

I am almost a third of the way through my time here in Sorrento which is absolutely crazy to think about. Now that I have had a decent amount of time to adapt to everyday life here, here are some of my favorite things about studying abroad here. 

First, the scenery. The views all around Sorrento are all painstakingly beautiful, and even now I still cannot get over how picturesque everything is. Plus, being surrounded by water always makes the sunsets jaw-dropping.

Second, the people. Everyone here is so kind, and I have not met anyone here that would not stop and take the second to have a conversation, or give some friendly advice (other than the drivers–I will admit they can be kind of scary especially whey honk incessantly as they're going around all the curves of the hills and mountains around). Additionally, since it is more of a touristy area, a majority of the locals speak a decent amount of English so the language barrier has not been nearly as bad as I had been expecting.

Third, the weather. We have had so many nice sunny days, but also some nice cooler days with a bit of cloudiness or sprinklings of rain. The weather has been hovering around the high seventies, which has been perfect. I am especially grateful since many of the surrounding tourist cities have begun to reach the mid nineties. Although, I will say I am not looking forward to the scolding hot days once we get into July/August.

Now I could go on and on about how great Sorrento is and give you a never ending list if you couldn’t tell already, but here are a couple more, speed run style. The location being so close to Naples (for traveling purposes). The location of Sant’Anna is right on the water and within walking distance of almost everything you could possibly need. The cost of living is definitely not cheap, but also not outrageous like some other cities within Italy. And I have always felt very safe walking around whether its with a group of people or by myself, unlike some other cities (*cough cough Naples cough*).

More CIS Events

Beyond all of the things I have come to love about Sorrento, this past week has been pretty eventful! CIS offered both a Lemon Garden tour with a light lunch afterwards (I will never miss out on free food–and neither should you), and a sunset kayak experience. The lemon garden was fun to walk around especially since it feels so transformative. It is essentially in the heart of the city, and yet it's a whole 2 acre garden just full of lemon trees. It also is a great place for photos so if you’re someone who enjoys getting cute pictures I would definitely recommend it.

Lemons galore!

Now, I also did the kayak tour the same day as the lemon garden since I didn’t have any classes, but CIS does offer multiple dates for almost all of their events to account for scheduling conflicts. From the balcony of Sant’Anna, you can see where we took off in the kayaks, so it was really close which is nice. Pro tip: do NOT go in a single kayak if you have never gone kayaking before because you could tip over (not my own personal experience but still)! Anyways, most of us had double kayaks so it wasn’t too much of an issue. We kayaked around the coast and made it to a private beach which I wish we could have spent more time at, but we had to get back before the sun completely set. On the way back, the sunset was incredible to watch, especially being right on the water.

The beach felt like a hidden cove and the sunset from the water was unreal

Florence and Pisa

Besides the actual studying part of study abroad, I also visited Florence and Pisa this weekend! This was my first actual weekend trip and I absolutely loved it. My friend and I took an overnight bus on Thursday evening after classes and arrived in Florence around 5am. Now, anyone who knows me will tell you that I am absolutely not a morning person, but this was definitely worth it. We got to see all the main tourist attractions before there were any people around, and before all the street vendors set up in front of them. There are so many piazzas (town squares) within walking distance, as well as many shops and restaurants. Florence is especially known for its leather so there are whole markets that take up an entire block where you can find any leather goods you could possibly want. Beyond the shopping (which we did a lot of), we also crossed the bridge over the river and hiked up a small mountain overlooking the city–the views once again were astounding. The skyline was so intricate with all of the churches and towers that you can see. 

The view from the top!

The famous David statue by Michelangelo which is in the Galleria dell'Accademia

The Duomo Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore

After we spent most of the day in Florence, we took a train over to Pisa which only took about an hour, and went to see the learning tower of Pisa. It was in fact leaning! Other than the square with a couple other buildings right next to it, there isn’t much else to do there so after we got dinner, we headed back to the hostel we booked (which was also much cheaper than staying in Florence), and then left the next morning to come back to Sorrento!

This was definitely my favorite weekend trip so far, and it wasn’t terribly expensive for travel and accommodation so I would highly recommend it!

Next week I must admit I will have to lock in since we have our first physics exam (scary), and we go to the bay one more time for my work experience. Although after the school week is over, I will be going to London to see Harry Styles, so I cannot wait to update next week,

Arrivederci!

Ava Sillars

Data Science Engineering

Benvenuto!

The highlights of this past week are plentiful so I am very excited to update you guys on what I have been up to! First off, I got to visit the Ieranto Bay for the first time this past Tuesday. I will say it was quite a trek both there and back. Along with the 3 other interns, we had to take a bus by ourselves to Nerano, and then had a 45 minute hike. The views were to die for, but on the hike back we felt like we were dying (not actually but close to it). When we arrived we helped with setup and monitoring and then had a break, but afterwards is when the real work for our project began.

Views from the hike !

We got to choose which things to display for the day :)

Over the course of this 5 week work experience we will be creating an algarium, a collection of preserved algae. We put on wetsuits, flippers, and snorkeling goggles and went to work. First our supervisor showed us different areas of the bay where we could find various species of algae, and then let us collect as much as we could in pairs on our own. We collected the algae mainly off rocks by the shore, but there was also some diving involved in the process. I also had to take notes on this waterproof paper, which let me tell you was quite a struggle with all the sharp rocks and waves surrounding me. Once we collected what we hoped was a sufficient amount of algae types, we quickly dried off and changed so we could make it back to the bus stop in time for the bus. Again, the hike back was much more difficult since the hike is entirely flat or down hill on the way there, so after a full day's worth of work in the hot sun, it was quite treacherous. We did fortunately make it back in time (even with having to switch buses since we got on the wrong one the first time), and then we had to attend a 1 hour LEaD class that all the work experience/interns have to take. The following day we researched, sorted, and started the preservation process for all the algae we collected. Hopefully I will have further updates on the algarium next week!

The Ieranto bay & me sorting, identifying, and labeling all the algae we collected

Pompei and Train Transportation

Besides the mass amounts of time spent working with algae, I also furthered my travels around Italy over the weekends! Last Sunday, a group of friends and I traveled to Pompei where we visited the ancient city Pompeii (yes it is spelled differently–don’t ask me why). Pro tip: many government owned historical sites in Europe have free entry on the first Sunday of every month, so thankfully we did not have to pay for a ticket to visit. 

We took the train directly from Sorrento to Pompei, which, once you get the hang of it, it is not nearly as bad as you would think. You can buy round trip tickets at the main station in Sorrento, and then you walk upstairs to the main platform where they have a screen so you can see which platform you need to get on the train from. Then you can get on as soon as the doors open, and then you just have to monitor when you have to get off since they do not announce which stop you are at, but there are usually also signs you can see out the window. The train stops at several cities until it finally stops at Naples, which I would highly recommend especially if you are trying to travel to other places in Italy. Pro tip: it is almost always cheaper to travel somewhere out of Naples instead of Sorrento.

The Pompei train station and pictures from Pompeii!!

Once we made it inside Pompeii, it was very interesting to walk around and sightsee, however, I will say much of it looks the same once you’ve been there a while and it is very tiring to walk around due to the direct sun and how large of an area it is. Afterwards we went to a restaurant for food, and then went to a nearby mall which felt exactly like a mall in the US–it even had McDonalds and Starbucks.

The mall had so many stores, many that are in the US but also several that are not

Taking the Ferry to Ischia

After a full week of classes and working with algae, just yesterday I visited the island Ischia. My friends and I took a train to Naples and then walked for about 20 minutes to the port where the ferry leaves from. Again, there are direct ferries that leave from Sorrento, but it was less than half the price to leave from Naples, and the train is only about 3-4 euro round trip. We bought the ferry tickets when we got there instead of buying them online which is also much cheaper, and then grabbed some food from a nearby grocery store before the ferry departed.

The docks near where we got off the ferry in Ischia

When we arrived in Ischia, we bought tickets for the bus (3-4 euro round trip) to visit the Aragonese Castle. It did have a 15 euro fee, but I would say it was definitely worth it and I honestly enjoyed touring the castle over Pompeii. Both the castle and the views were gorgeous, especially since we were so high up.

Walkway to the castle, and the view from the top which was genuinely breathtaking

When we finished touring we ended up taking a taxi directly to the Negombo Springs since we were running late which was 10 euro a person (much more expensive than the bus but also more luxurious/comfortable) and began touring all the hot springs in the park. The thermal pools are one of the biggest attractions on Ischia so it made more sense to go since we spent a majority of our day there, but I don’t think it is a must do. If you want to relax by the pool or beach and take fun photos, go for it. Just know the price ranges from 35-40 euro a person which is even more in USD since the euro is more powerful.

Hot springs! There were about 20 different hot springs/pools you could visit in total

We took the bus back, which also is not extremely difficult once you try it for the first time. You can either buy tickets at a booth (which is about 50 cents cheaper)  or directly on the bus. Pro tip: for both the bus and train tickets, make sure you get them validated. For the bus they have little machines when you get on where you insert your ticket and then it stamps it and gives it back to you. For the train you insert your ticket at an entrance booth, or tap in and out with the same credit/debit card. If you do not get your tickets validated and they ask to see your ticket, you will get fined on the spot.

After the long day, we made it back to the port for the ferry, and then speedily walked back to the bus station so we did not miss the train (usually the last one runs around 10pm). I will say these day trips have some of my favorite parts of getting to study abroad since there are so many fun places to visit that are very accessible, especially if you do not plan on traveling outside of Italy. Anyways, I look forward to updating you guys with all of my adventures next week!

Ciao!

Ava Sillars

Data Science Engineering