A Year of Discovery.

Last year was a great year; it was a year of learning and a year of discovery about the world and myself. In 2014 I started my first year of university, studying a Bachelor of Fine Art degree at Monash University. I loved it and worked really hard, forwardly getting the results I needed to be able to further my studies abroad! When I got the acceptance letter to study at Monash University’s Campus in Prato, Italy, I was excited to say the least. I had been to Italy before, but mostly with family so this time around was my first independent and solo trip abroad. I was excited as I knew I could invent a new perspective on the country for myself. So the second year of my studies commenced and the first semester went by in a breeze, and then with the second semester came Italy!

When I landed in Florence it definitely felt very real. I didn’t have a family member coming to pick me up from the airport so I had to manage a way to get a taxi, and my Italian is very poor. I remember getting in the taxi and saying ‘Prato’ to the driver. He looked at me strangely, and said “Prato?”, it really hit me then that I don’t even know where or what Prato is or what it was like, and the driver's expression towards this place made me even more confused, while also very intrigued as to what Prato would be like as a city. And as expected, my time living as a 'local' in Prato enabled me to truly gain an appreciation and understanding of the city.

Prato is a provincial city, in Tuscany and is the second largest city in that region after Florence. Known for Italy’s biggest Chinese community and also the largest industrial city for textiles. Prato has many different sides to it, my favorite side was from my apartment window, I could see the Tuscan hills that stretch for miles, and it was so beautiful waking up every morning and watching the sunrise over them. Although I was mainly studying in Prato, it was definitely not the only city the study trip was bound to, in fact the exchange trip gave me, and all the people studying with me the opportunity to travel all around Italy. From medieval parades in Prato to the Venice Biennale, to the hustle and bustle of Rome, not one day of the trip was wasted for me. I would take the train to Florence most weekends with friends, as it was so close to Prato, and visit museums and flea markets or just search around for good places to savor some nice food and wine. The trip gave me the opportunity to meet new people from all around the country and also get to know the people in my course better.

I travelled to cities like Naples, Cinque Terre, Bologna, Rome, Siena, Venice, and Milan to name a few. What I adored about Italy was how every city is different, in its own way, and how the people and their way of living change throughout each city. If there is one thing I can guarantee that I visited in every city it was their churches. Each city has a marvelous array of Duomos with amazing and intricate frescos, sculptures and paintings, and let's not forget the astonishing and memorable architecture that quintessentially reflects different time periods of Italy’s growth as a nation. Immersing myself in the country's sensuality of art, architecture, food culture, lifestyle and history, the cultural sensations of Italy were the most inspiring to my studies there.

I feel so privileged and lucky to have experienced this great country, and travelled through it with like-minded people. The ability to further my tertiary education outside Australia, experiencing an array of old to new and contemporary art and learning how to understand and interpret artwork through the centuries, and there link with lifestyle and culture of Italy and Europe was truly invaluable. Overall I would have to say that the two months I spent in Italy were incredibly inspiring for myself. Everyday held something new and unexpected and I learnt to enjoy every second of every moment I was there. I do miss Italy, but the trip has given me the light to understand that there is really nothing stopping me from going back and re-living another amazing experience there again.

- Isabella