Women’s basketball student-athlete Kate Childs is spending May in Italy as part of a University-sponsored trip to Europe. She will be providing regular updates on the group’s adventure. After a month in Italy, Kate has returned to the United States and is finally back home in Oregon.

Below are her first-hand accounts of the trip (FINAL UPDATE 1 PM, MONDAY, JUNE 11):
 
My last week in Florence was great. I visited the museum of mathematics which was cool! All of the exhibits were interactive so it was super interesting, and I learned a ton. Our group made friends with the woman, Afsaneh, who worked at our favorite gelato place. On our last full day in Florence we met her for coffee at her favorite cafe. She told us what it was like to grow up in her home country of Iran, what it is like living in Italy, and what her experiences were visiting America and living in California for about a year.



She said all of the people in America are polite, and she thought Costco was a store for monsters! It was interesting and inspiring to hear her story. I hope to keep in touch with her now that I am back in the US.

We spent our last weekend in Rome. The city is huge and makes Florence seem like a small town. While we were in Rome, we saw all the hot spots, including the Coliseum, Trevi Fountain, the Roman Forum, the Pantheon, the Vatican, St. Peter's Basilica and the Spanish Steps.



It was a whirlwind trip, but I enjoyed hearing about the history of Rome. I think my favorite part of Rome was seeing the Sistine Chapel inside the Vatican. It is crazy to think that something like that is still used today.


 
It is nice to be home with my family. I haven't been home since before Christmas. The trip was absolutely incredible, and I would love to travel more to other countries. I like seeing how other cultures live every day, and hearing their perceptions about Americans is truly eye opening.

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UPDATED WEDNESDAY, MAY 30:

Since my last update, we went to Venice and on a Tuscan wine tour. Venice was amazing. The entire town is on water - it was so cool. We toured the Doge's Palace, saw the Rialto Bridge and rode on a gondola.



The wine tour was fun too. We tried different wines and cheeses and went to three different wineries. It was beautiful being out in the countryside, and I enjoyed learning about how the grapes are grown and the wine is made.


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UPDATE FROM MONDAY, MAY 21

Last Sunday our group was supposed to take a train to Cinque Terre near the coast and hike between islands. Apparently it is beautiful there, but we never got to see it because there was a train strike! We were on the train for about two hours and two stops before we were going to get off the train, it stopped and would not go any further. Apparently this type of thing is quite common in Italy. So we ended up passing the time in a random city and catching another train back to Florence. It was kind of a bummer we didn't get to Cinque Terre but it was a real Italian experience to be affected by a train strike.


 
Here is a picture of me and Tomi Benney, who is a junior on Maryille's soccer team, after they told us about the strike and we had to get off the train:
 
This photo is a replica of the statue of David outside the Palazzo Della Signoria, outside the civic government of Florence. That is the spot the original statue was unveiled in 1504 and sat for a few centuries until 1873 when it was moved inside the Gallerie dell' Accademia in Florence where it can be viewed.


It was later replaced with a replica in its original place. We are in front of the replica with Corey Hermann, who plays on the Saints baseball team. We saw the real one the first week we were here but unfortunately you cannot take pictures.
 
Here is an ancient theatre that people refer to as the Roman Theatre in Fiesole.


 
Lastly, I am sitting down inside a gellateria, a gelato store. It is similar to walking inside an ice cream store or something similar in the US. This is an image of a cow which is on the wall across from the flavors.



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UPDATE FROM MONDAY, MAY 14
We have had an amazing first couple of days in Florence! I am still a little jet lagged, but there is so much to see here I don't want to spend any time sleeping. 
 
My roommate, Casey Neuner, and I went on an adventure over the Ponte Vecchio bridge to see the Santo Spirito Chieza (a church). The bridge is the oldest in Florence, with the original structure dating back to 59 BC. Now it is lined with jewelry shops and is a big tourist attraction. The church was deceiving because the outside was simple and plain, but the inside was incredible. Gianlorenzo Bernini called it the most beautiful church in the world. There were several different altars with art surrounding them lining the walls. The sculptures and designs were so detailed and delicate it is hard to imagine someone made that with their bare hands. I can't wait to visit more churches and museums.


 
Thursday, we went to the Accademia and I saw the statue of David! It was incredible, blew all my expectations out of the water, and it was taller than I thought.  It is about 14-feet tall, so more than twice a normal man’s height.


 
We climbed inside to the top of the Duomo, which is the main cathedral of Florence. It was a little bit scary because space was pretty tight in there, but once we got to the top the view of all of Florence was beautiful.


 
Saturday, we traveled to Siena and took a tour of the city and then had lots of free time to shop. I had a really nice day and, on our way back, we stopped at a fancy restaurant and had a four-course dinner. They were playing music on a piano, an accordion, and a woman singing opera every now and then. In between courses everyone would get up and dance. It turned into quite the party, I had so much fun!