This is a little introduction to this particular site. I had the chance to tag along with a friend of mine, and his mother while they went to Italy for 2 months so his mom could take art classes.

I had never been out of the country before, save briefly stepping into Canada. I jumped on the chance to go, and found myself immersed in a culture unlike anything I had ever experienced before in the United States.

As far as i'm concerned, there are 2 different ways to travel abroad. The first is to go like a tourist, staying briefly in as many places as possible, trying to get a glimpse of as many famous sights as you can. The other way is to go somewhere and live there for a while, until you know the streets as well as your home town, and have met new friends that you get to know personally.

On my trip, it was a bit of both worlds, as I was there for just a shade under 2 months, living in an apartment in Florence Italy, and taking "road trips" (perhaps more aptly called "train trips") to various other Italian cities to do the tourist tour of the more popular attractions.

Both aspects have their good points, as tourism allows you to get a glimpse of many different aspects of a foreign culture, and actually living there gives you a chance to actually meet and get to know people living in a foreign culture.

This page will hopefully give you a little taste of both aspects of Italy, not only the beautiful scenery and amazing art, but also a little insight on how traveling to a different country, namely Italy, can change you as a person.