Gardens of Italy

Day 4 was a slower day with less steps than Day 1(still, 15,000 steps is nothing to be ashamed of). We visited 3 different gardens, with my favorite being Villa Lante. This was a traditional Italian garden owned by Cardinal Gambara, whose family is symbolized by a crawfish because the Italian word for crawfish is gambero. The main theme of the garden was to show the control and domination of nature by humans. This garden was filled with shaped hedges, fountains, and beautiful hydrangeas (an ideal wedding spot!) (Picture of the garden's outdoor dining table to the left).

On the way out of the Sacred Wood of Bamarzo, our second garden, we decided to pick up some refreshments in the gift store. I scoped out an ice-cold orange Fanta in the refrigerator and couldn’t wait to take a sip of my favorite soda! When I finally popped the can open and filled my jaws, I was shocked and very confused. The strong artificial orange flavoring was not there and neither was the color. I had just taken a gulp of carbonated orange juice L. I was finally able to stop inspecting the can and pick up my broken heart and go for another sip.

Although it was not what I hoped for, I decided that it was tasty and I could continue with the drink. This trip packs surprises around every corner, and we continue to learn that what we are used to doing back home is not the only way.

After the Sacred Woods, we headed to a local restaurant for a group lunch. They announced that we would be able to get pizza, pasta, a choice of two veggies, and a bottle of water for 5 Euro (Water is not free in Italy, so we have come to value it)! No one could pass up that deal, and many of us ended up receiving 2 pieces of pizza. This amazed me as I had just payed 12,50 for a plate of ravioli and a bottle of water the day before! The food was so yummy and I topped it off with cherry gelato for 2 Euro.  Ice cream is my favorite food in the world and gelato touches my heart just the same so I retreated to the bus a very happy girl!

The final garden we went to had sculptures created by French-American artist Niki de Saint Phalle. A plethora of the art that we have seen this week, including hers, has displayed women laced with curves and full breasts (pictured below). This depiction of these women stood out to me and many of the women in our program, and we appreciated it. This was huge for me because I spent my last semester studying the effects of media’s depiction of women, both on black women and white women separately, because I fit the curvy category. This study was focusing on the depiction of women as extremely skinny, and this artwork combatted the modern media’s images. These women were owning, loving, and showing their bodies, and I found that so beautiful. It will be interesting to explore this theme further through both our travels and research.

I would like to wrap this up with some advice we received from our awesome tour guide Umberto: "It might be the end of the world today, so enjoy this!"

I couldn’t agree more.

This post was written by Jalynn Evans, a junior in the Honors College majoring in Public Health. She is interested in pursuing a career in healthcare administration.