Study Abroad / June 10

A Day of Adventure

Today was packed. Really, really, packed.

We met at the Vatican Museums with our guide and were given a tour in the gardens and the museum. It was very thorough and included extensive background information on religious and historical events. The artwork that was seen inside the building was incredible. It may be hard to see in the picture below, but there is more than paint on the ceiling- it is actually 3D with small sculptures perfectly placed to add extra beauty and technique to the already elaborate work.There were countless narrow rooms with similar incredible art that we were guided through. My favorite room inside the museum was the Sistine Chapel. It is a place held in high respect and is set apart from the others.

For our enology class we had a lecture over different wine terms such as: legs, viscosity, aroma/bouquet, old-world/new-world tastes, vintage, and maceration. I was surprised at the amount of words available to verbalize the different aspects of wine. After becoming more familiar with these, we had a wine tasting.

The wine tasting today was definitely more advanced. As we used the six S’s technique to taste the wines, we also paid attention to the appearance (clarity, color, intensity), aroma (condition, development, aroma/bouquet), and the palate (sweetness, acidity, tannin, alcohol, body, length). We took notes on each of these qualities when tasting each wine. Wine tasting is a longer process than I realized.

After class, we walked from school to the Colosseum. Along the way we passed the Piazza Venezia aka the “Wedding Cake.” It was huge!

The Colosseum was also incredible. It’s so crazy to think about all the events that had previously taken place in the areas I stood. The tour here was fascinating.

We found dinner in the historic Jewish district on our walk home. Artichokes are something they are known for so that was definitely what I ordered.