Me being overjoyed at being in the Sicily countryside

Author: Virginia Hammond | Major: Architecture | Semester: Spring 2023

For my 4^th year of architecture school, in the Spring of 2023, I moved to Italy.

I chose the Rome program for multiple reasons. I was interested in the historic architecture and art culture, as the architecture’s history is unlike anything I’ve experienced before. I’ve also always wanted to go to Italy. My distant relatives are from Sicily, so I have some Italian heritage and I wanted to experience the country. I’ve only really experienced relatively new architecture, so coming to Rome and experiencing ancient architecture that still exists has been fascinating. Living in Rome taught me a lot about history and the importance of it. I enjoyed living in a place that feels important. You are constantly surrounded by buildings and structures that have been around for ages, even back to ancient times. It gives you a new respect for design history.

My studio projects every year prior have been primarily about new construction. This semester, we studied older areas and did an adaptive reuse project. It was interesting to design architecture in a very different way, respecting the older buildings more intentionally. This semester’s design work has expanded my perspective on how to build and respond to the existing surrounding context.

I also really enjoyed the opportunity to take electives on various topics. I took Fashion & Architecture, a class about abstract clothing concept design and how it relates to architectural design. I also took To Rome with Love, a class where you learn to speak Italian and also learn how to immerse yourself in the culture more. My favorite element of the latter class was that we attended a cooking class where we learned to make lemon ricotta ravioli carbonara from scratch.

Outside of the classroom, I did a lot of traveling. The opportunity to travel to many different places was my favorite aspect of studying abroad. We had a lot of free time over weekends, and had no class on most Fridays, which made traveling very accessible. My top three favorite places I went were:

1. Barcelona, Spain
2. Palermo, Sicily, Italy
3. Budva, Montenegro

These were my top three favorite places I went to, but for vastly different reasons. I had very different experiences in all three but loved them all immensely. In Barcelona, I loved visiting the unique architecture designed by Antoni Gaudi, especially the Sagrada Familia Basilica, which was fascinating. My friends and I also attended multiple thrifting and art markets. I thrifted some cool finds at outdoor secondhand markets, and we also went to a market festival that happens on the first weekend of every month. You pay 5€ to enter, and the festival was partially inside old warehouses and partially outside. It had artist vendors, clothing vendors, food trucks, and live music. That market was one of my favorite things I went to while abroad. I bought an art print and a shirt from a local artist that we talked to for a while and ate some incredible empanadas.

Sicily comes in second for my favorite trips, which came as a surprise for me. Since my family has distant connections to Sicily, I knew I had to visit- but I hadn’t done a lot of prior research into the region. The weather was lovely during the four days we stayed, and I was blown away by how beautiful it was. I went to Sicily with a school group, so the tours and transportation were planned for us. We went on multiple hikes, one being through the hills with some ancient Greek ruins, and another along the cliff side next to the ocean. I enjoy hiking, so I loved being able to take in Sicily’s natural beauty while also making pit stops at some beautiful old churches and castles. And of course, the food was also amazing. I had the best cannoli I have ever had while in Sicily. It was made by a nun in a church. You could choose your filling and toppings, and they would fill it right in front of you.

Budva, Montenegro was another unexpectedly wonderful trip. Montenegro wasn’t a country that was originally on my “need to visit” list prior to coming to Italy. It was planned a bit impromptu. My friends and I had been planning to go to some sort of beach during Easter weekend, but many looked quite expensive. We started looking for cheaper beach trips and stumbled across Montenegro. It was cheap to fly there from Rome, and lodging wasn’t too expensive either since it was off season for the region. Once we landed, I was very glad we had chosen it. The mountains and the beach are stunning. We stayed in in the “old town” part of Budva, which is small, quaint, and right next to the beach. We spent the weekend lounging at the beach, exploring the town, greeting the multitude of friendly cats that live in the village, and eating delicious seafood. Budva has a big tourist scene and gets extremely busy during the summer, but being there in the off season was wonderfully peaceful. We were still able to do everything we wanted to do, but we weren’t fighting through throngs of tourists to do so. It was a very relaxing weekend.

Overall, I had an amazing semester living abroad. I would definitely recommend studying abroad in Rome to other students. I had an incredible time and hope to come back one day. My best advice to anyone traveling abroad is to try to immerse yourself in the culture. Try to learn the language a bit, go to places locals would go, make friends with locals. It broadens your experience if you are open to new experiences and cultures you’re unfamiliar with. And of course, travel if you can!