Author: Zeacus Brown | Major: Landscape | Semester: Summer 2024.

A view from the top of Monte Crocione

As a photographer, I am constantly looking for new places to photograph. When I heard about studying abroad in Italy: ten weeks in the middle of Summer in one of the most beautiful countries in the world, saying no was not an option.
This journey was a series of firsts for me. From my first plane ride to my first time outside the United States, I was stepping into the unknown. However, the support of the faculty from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville and the Rome Center made the transition seamless. From takeoff in Fayetteville to touchdown in Rome, their presence made me feel confident and in control.
The first week in Rome was a challenge. Our professor was not able to arrive in Rome at the same time as the rest of the class due to troubles at the airport. They would not be arriving for a few days. So here we are, a group of students in another country without a professor; how much trouble do you think we could get ourselves into? Not much, it seems. The second day, I got sick and emptied the contents of my stomach onto the streets of Rome. The rest of the time before our professor arrived, one of the architecture professors gave us a wonderful tour of Rome.
The next few weeks passed as a blur as we got used to our neighborhood and learned about the research we would be doing. As part of our acclimatization to the city, we were given assignments to sketch transects throughout the city. This included lots of walking; we would walk from one monument to the next, sketching how these places are connected and how people interact with these places. This exercise helped us understand the city and the people who make up the city. We were introduced to our main project in the third week: Villa Ada and the SITES
guidelines. Villa Ada is the second-largest public park in Rome. We visited the park and became acclimated to its surrounding neighborhoods, layout, and feel. The EU had given Italy a large sum of money to put towards public parks, and Villa Ada needed attention as it was a very underutilized park. After talking with designers and workers from the city, we were tasked with creating designs that focused on the entrances to the park.
After a brief introduction to Villa Ada, the next two weeks were spent traveling. We spent a full week in the Tuscany region. We started in Pienza and Orvieto, then visited Florence, Siena, and San Gimignano. We ended our trip by staying the night in a beautiful villa in the Tuscany countryside. As we traveled through these towns, we learned about the urban form of these places: how, why, and where they were built. In Florence, we visited Villa Medici. This villa was stunning. Set on the side of a hill overlooking Florence, this villa is a prime example of an Italian villa.
The travel week ended on a Friday, and we were allowed to stay or travel back to Rome. Naturally, I went as far from Rome as I could: Lake Como. Set in the Southern region of the Alps, Lake Como is well-known for its villa featured in Star Wars. As I walked along the shoreline, I looked up at the mountains surrounding the lake. I thought to myself: I wonder if I could climb that. So, I did. 5 hours, 5 miles, and 5,000 feet of elevation gain later, I was at the top of Monte Crocione. As I crested the mountain’s final ridge and looked past the mountain towards the Swiss Alps, I was filled with dread. There, coming towards me, was a storm filled with rain. The photographer in me was stunned, awed, and in love with the view; however, my survival instincts wanted me to run for my life. After filling my camera with hundreds of photos, I took some advice and scrambled back down the mountainside. However, the rain eventually caught up with me, and I was soaked with a mile left on the trail. I took this hike as a learning experience; the next week, I went on more hikes.
I didn’t learn much from the past hike. This week was our summer break, and I went to the Dolomites. On my first hike there, I took a route to Tre Cime di Lavaredo, a 17-mile hike with 4,500 feet of elevation gain. After 11 hours of hiking, I was forced to camp in the woods. These skies were the darkest skies I have seen in my life. Millions of stars showed through the night sky as I stared at them—one of the best experiences in the world. I visited other sites, such as Seceda and Seiser Alm, for the rest of my summer break.

Finally, the last four weeks of my study abroad were spent researching, designing, and presenting our projects of Villa Ada. I cannot express how grateful I am for this opportunity to travel to Italy and study in such a beautiful country. The faculty of the Rome Center are wonderful, and I am thankful for everything they have done to facilitate our learning. After taking thousands of photos of Italy, I know these memories will last me a lifetime. Ciao.