Reference no: EM132304821

Stephanie had a fantastic experience in Italy last summer. She chose to study abroad at the beginning of her Spring term. Now that she was back from her summer semester in Florence, Italy, she can't stop telling people about her adventures overseas. She began her summer in a lovely old hotel just off the historic Piazza Della Signoria in the heart of old Florence. The cobblestone streets and narrow passages between buildings seemed to have hinted at the tumultuous events of hundreds of years of history. Stephanie's favorite pastime after classes had ended for the day was to explore the city. A frequent first stop was at the gelateria near her school. She never tasted before ice cream as silky smooth as she did at that small shop in Italy. Traveling along the narrow streets, ice cream in hand, Stephanie finds soon her way to La Standa. Once a modern department store, the now defunct escalators inside the large rectangular building provided stairway access to the upper market stalls full with fresh produce. The old fashioned market provided lots of practice with her Italian as few vendors were speaking English. Lunch in hand, Stephanie would then find a bench in one of the city's many gardens where she could sit and eat. Memories like this are why many students like Stephanie regard study abroad as one of the best parts of her college experience.