Stories about the DVC Study Abroad program in Florence during the Spring 2007 semester have been printed in several small publications, including the DVC Inquirer (the student newspaper), the CBEA newsletter, and the Contra Costa Community College District newsletter, but this past Sunday, October 21, we made the big time: the San Francisco Chronicle!
The Sunday Travel section of this newspaper has a regular column called "Just Back From." People send in pictures and text about a vacation they've just returned from. I submitted my information online in June, shortly after I returned home from Florence. You have to meet specific guidelines, one of which is that the writer has to be in the photo submitted, and the photo must clearly show the place that's being discussed. That's why I chose to submit this photo; I'm standing on the Piazzale Michelangelo, with all of Florence spread out behind me. In addition to a photo, you have to fill in predetermined sections, including "Why I went," "Don't miss," "Don't bother," "Coolest souvenir," "Worth the splurge," and more. In each section you have a limited number of words, so submission can be challenging. After all, there was so much I wanted to say about Florence!
Anyway, after I made my submission, I eagerly checked the Sunday Chronicle each week, going straight to the Travel section. And week after week, nothing appeared. After a while I figured that they weren't going to print my story. Florence, after all, is a fairly common destination, and many of the places they printed each week were much more exotic (Nepal; the Amazon; Didim, Turkey; Yunnen Province, China; Ghana; Cambodia; the Seychelles, etc.) .
And then the day it actually printed, I spent the day in San Cruz, coincidentally with two of my Florence colleagues, so I didn't read the Sunday paper as I normally do. I arrived home from Santa Cruz around 7 p.m. and immediately started checking e-mail, and here's a message I found that one of my DVC colleagues, James, had sent to the faculty listserv:
Subject: Seefer on Florence in this morning's Chronicle
"List member Carolyn Seefer (DVC/Business) is featured in the Chronicle Travel Section this morning, chatting about her time in Florence (where she was last spring with a horde of exchange students). Great stuff."
Thanks, James, for letting me know! I was so excited and couldn't wait to see it myself. So I rushed out to buy several copies (for my parents, my sister, etc.) (although it's available online, a hard copy is just so much more exciting!). I soon learned that finding a Sunday Chronicle at 8 p.m. is rather difficult, and I had to go to seven different stores before I found a few copies at a Chevron station.
So here's the link to the online article: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/10/21/TR92RQA7P.DTL
And here's the text of the article. Enjoy!
I went because: I accompanied a group of 44 Diablo Valley College students on a study abroad trip for the spring 2007 semester.
Don't miss: Climbing the Duomo, Florence's cathedral. On the way up, you're taken right inside Brunelleschi's famous dome, where you can almost touch the frescos.
Don't bother: Casa di Dante is nothing more than a fabricated tourist trap. Instead, walk down the street to Beatrice's church, Chiesa di Santa Margherita.
Coolest souvenir: Prints of vintage photographs purchased at the Museo Nazionale Alinari della Fotografia, the same Alinari whose shop E.M. Forster mentions in A Room with a View.
Worth a splurge: Lunch at La Terrazza del Principe on the gorgeous terrace looking over the Boboli Gardens. The views and food are glorious.
I wish I'd packed: Even though I did pack these, I highly recommend bringing comfortable shoes. You'll be walking on lots of cobblestone streets and sidewalks.
Other comments: Hire a driver and spend a day in the Tuscan countryside. Your driver will arrange winery tours and tastings for you so that you can just enjoy.
This article appeared on page G - 7 of the San Francisco Chronicle
