My Summer Trip To Italy

By KAYLA RING | Junior Reporter | Age 10

My trip to Italy was outstanding! Before we left for our trip, I learned some Italian.

Our first stop was the magical city of Venice. One of the reasons Venice is so different from all other cities is its unique mode of transportation. In Venice, there aren’t cars, only boats. Instead of streets, there are canals.

After arriving in a water taxi, we climbed to the top of the Campanile Bell Tower and visited St. Mark’s Basilica. At the top of the tall tower, there was a gorgeous view of the whole city of Venice. Next, we went to see St. Mark’s Basilica, which is a beautiful and humongous church. After a delicious Italian dinner, we watched the sunset at 9 p.m.!

The next day, we visited Murano Island where we saw the glass blowing factory, which makes sculptures, dishware and jewelry. We also walked to the Rialto Bridge where we took a lot of pictures!

At some of the open market stands where they sell souvenirs, I got the chance to bargain in Italian. Later, we took a relaxing gondola ride where the gondolier sang to us in Italian. The next morning we were off to Rome.

Rome made me feel like I was in a big city like New York. Our first stop was to the Colosseum, where we learned about its history. The next day, we walked to the Pantheon and saw the gorgeous open dome inside.

From there, we went to the Trevi Fountain where we threw a coin into the water. Legend has it that if you throw a coin over your shoulder into the fountain, you will return to Italy one day. Lastly, we walked to the famous Spanish Steps.

On the fifth day of our fantastic trip, we boarded a train to Florence, otherwise known in Italian as “Firenze.” By the way, we have been eating gelato every day and I have become somewhat of an expert. So I could now taste the difference between the creamy gelato in Venice, the sweet gelato in Rome and my personal favorite, the ice-cold blue vanilla gelato in Florence. Yes, I just said BLUE VANILLA!

While in Florence, we visited the Uffizzi and the Academie where we saw the famous sculpture of David. After the Uffizi, my brother and I participated in a family tradition to get our portraits drawn in front of the Uffizzi. The artist who did our portraits did an excellent job!

Another thing we loved in Florence was shopping! My mom and I must have been shopping for hours. Finally, we visited The Leaning Tower of Pisa, which is tilted at 3.99 degrees. I am so happy I got to experience the wonders of Italy.