Well, I knew that my fun was going to come to an end at some point, but unfortunately it came way too soon. Since being home everyone keeps asking me about my trip and how much I enjoyed traveling. I always tell them that I felt so blessed to see so many places in Europe and there were so many amazing cities that I’ve seen; but none of them will beat Florence. Florence is a place of timeless beauty that is home to so many welcoming locals, amazing art, great food and natural beauty.

Ponte Vecchio Bridge

Palazzo Pitti

However, I feel that the city itself isn’t what I’ve been missing the most. Sure, I’d love to go back and walk the streets of Florence again and grab a nice Kebob after a long night out. It’s the friends that I made that I miss the most. When I think back to my experiences in Florence and traveling in general, All I can think of are the amazing memories I shared with some of the most amazing people for the 6 weeks I was in Europe.

Best kebobs in Florence (Piazza Mercato Centrale)

My roommate Tanner and me in Croatia

The ability to study abroad in Florence isn’t a challenging task. All you need is a bag, some clothes and money. Once you have that, anyone can travel anywhere. SAI gives you a different experience. They bring their students together in ways that allow them to open up and become more than classmates for the summer.  I can truly say that I had the best time of my life studying abroad in Florence and SAI was a main component of that. If it was not for SAI I would not have had the amazing professors that I did and it would not have been as easy to meet so many fellow students. I recommend that anyone who even thinks about studying abroad makes the decision to do so. It could be the best decision of your life.

View of Florence from Piazza Michelangelo

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Salvatore is a student at University of Tampa studying at Florence University of the Arts in Italy during the Summer 2014 term.