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Students, area residents return from 9-day tour of Tuscany
“Exceptional.”
“Breathtaking.”
“Informative, fascinating and full of art and history.”
“The best experience of my life.”
The view from atop St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, overlooking the Vatican.
All these statements and more were uttered by students and area residents earlier this month upon their return from a nine-day tour of Siena, Italy, and the surrounding Tuscan countryside as part of the 2009 UW-Sheboygan Continuing Education Study Abroad Tour.
From January 7-16, 42 students, faculty, staff and community residents toured the Tuscan villages and major cities surrounding Siena, Italy, including Rome, Florence and Assisi and Perugia.
“The most wonderful part of this trip was the fact that we stayed in the heart of medieval Siena, and participants could step out the front door of their hotel and walk among the winding, hilly streets dating back to the 12th Century,” said Valerie Graczyk, UW-Sheboygan Continuing Education Director. “The professors who joined us this year offered exceptional lectures on art history and literature and were insightful, informative and eager to share their love for this country with us.”
Arches are the focus of much of the architecture throughout Italy, including Siena.
Trip participants left the UW-Sheboygan campus on January 7 and flew from Chicago to New York and on to Rome to begin their journey. Throughout the nine-day tour, travelers were treated to lectures from trip leaders Joe Milicia, UW-Sheboygan English professor, and Tom Uebelherr, UW-Sheboygan Art professor, who provided insight into the literature, culture and history of Italy.
Some of the highlights of the journey included:
• Mass and Papal Blessing at the Vatican in Rome
• Tours to the Roman Coliseum, Forum and Parthenon
• Walking tour of Siena, including the famous Piazza del Campo
• Tour to the domed town of Perugia
• Tour to Assisi, home of St. Francis and St. Claire
• Day tour in Florence with guided tour of the Florence Cathedral and bridge
• Optional side tours to Tuscan hill towns of Arezzo, Cortona and Pisa, and much more.
For 18-year-old traveler and UW-Sheboygan freshman Stephanie Freis of Kiel, it was the tour’s side trips to the Tuscan villages that made her first travel abroad experience memorable.
“Hands down, the highlight of the trip for me was going to San Gimignano. The city was very small and walled with hardly any tourists,” Freis said. “The town had a fantastic view of the countryside, and because the day was free and unplanned, it offered tons of fun surprises. This town made me think that if I lived in Italy, this is where I’d live – in the breathtaking countryside.”
Not all trip participants were new to overseas travel. Trip participant Mary Ann Bernauer and her husband, Larry, have participated in three additional UW-Sheboygan study abroad tours, including Belgium in 2005, Canterbury, England, in 2006, and Basel, Switzerland, in 2007.
For Bernauer, a retired nurse from Plymouth, the Siena tour offered the opportunity to visit world-renowned and historical locations – and escape Wisconsin’s cold winter weather – at least for a few days.
“Our personal favorite on this trip was the Vatican, the Papal blessing, Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica and climbing to the top of the basilica’s dome,” Bernauer said. “Here we experienced fantastic views of Rome on a sunny, 55-degree day. It doesn’t get any better than that! Siena was lovely, historic and had so much to see and do. And well, the Tuscan countryside – it was all good!”
Trip participants enjoyed a Papal blessing in the Vatican courtyard and mass at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.
Many of the UW-Sheboygan and other area college students who took advantage of the study abroad tour found it to be not only exciting and memorable, but educational and literally life-changing.
“The main thing that I learned from this trip is how much easier it is to appreciate something when you know the history behind it,” said Freis, who plans to transfer to UW-Green Bay from UW-Sheboygan in 2010 to study Business Administration. “Visiting another country and living in their culture is a life-changing experience. What makes the UW-Sheboygan program different from others is that the trips are for shorter periods of time, making the experience more affordable and less stressful than spending an entire semester abroad. If a person enjoys traveling, taking part in the study abroad program at UW-Sheboygan is one of the best decisions they could make for themselves.”
The balconies of Siena, Italy.
UW-Sheboygan has already made plans for its 2010 Study Abroad tour to Scotland and Wales for March 19-28, 2010. Although these tours are normally offered during the month of January, the Scotland/Wales tour is being offered in March since the weather in the country will be warmer by this time, and, therefore, more enjoyable for travelers. Some of the highlights of the 2010 tour will include Bath, Cardiff, Chester and many of the ancient Celtic ruins and historic Tudor dynasty castles and abbeys. UW-Sheboygan Religion and Philosophy instructor Richard Edwards will lead the tour with UW-Sheboygan English Professor Joe Milicia.
For more information on upcoming travel opportunities, call the UW-Sheboygan Continuing Education Office at (920) 459-6617 or e-mail jane.donlon@uwc.edu.