On the first full day we took a walking tour with our Italian teachers to San Pietro (pictured in the distance above, and below). It is one of the oldest churches in Italy that never went through reconstruction.
Every night we had free time to get dinner and explore the town. There was actually a beer pong tournament outside this one bar that we went to but all the Italians were bouncing it like ping pong rather than shooting it which was kinda funny lol.
The next day we went to the city of Viterbo with one of our advisors, Massimo, who was actually from there. He showed us a lot of the key sights, the most interesting being the body of Santa Rosa. Apparently she was very poor and was buried in only white bed sheets when she died, but somehow her body was perfectly preserved when they dug her up seven years later. Hundreds of years later she still has skin on her bones, and has even survived a fire in the church which left her skin "roasted." I wasn't supposed to take pictures in the church but obviously I did so I have to show you!
As we were heading home from Viterbo, it started pouring rain and I legit thought I was going to die on that bus because the Italians are such crazy drivers. Once we finally got back to Tuscania (alive), the main road wasn't just flooded, but had turned into an actual river. The road was slightly inclined, so we were legitimately fighting against a current just to get back to the hotel! We were all soaked, but it was just so hilarious.
The next day we went to Lake Bolsena in the Capodimonte area. It was a great day out and we went on the boat tour of the lake, which is Italy's largest. We also got to jump off the boat with some pool noodles which was really fun! The water was kinda cold, but refreshing. There was this guy on our boat who legit looked like a meatball with legs and he photobombed the group pic below haha.
After the boat ride we had the entire afternoon to walk along the lake and explore the little town. It was really nice and the perfect day to enjoy outdoors. The "sand" was actually brown (pictured below in my selfie).
That night, some friends and I enjoyed Appertivo (appetizers that are free when you buy drinks) and bonded with the local Italian bartenders... it was a fun night :)
The next day we went on a trek through the countryside to this abandoned old cathedral that was a few miles away from our hotel. We were literally in the middle of no where, but it was really cute. Monks used to live in the Cathedral until the Nazis came and basically killed them. Now a family lives next door and helps maintain it. There were so many animals there, and we got to pet their cats and dogs! So cute :)
The picture below is to illustrate that we were literally in the middle of no where.
The next day was our last full day being in Tuscania, and we mainly had Italian class all day. In the afternoon we got to watch an Italian film called "Johnny Stecchino." It makes fun of the Sicilian mafia and was sooo hilarious. If you are ever in the mood to watch a foreign film, I would recommend it!
After a farewell dinner, some friends and I went back to this park and did some stargazing. It's amazing how clearly you can see everything, especially the Milky Way Galaxy! It was a beautiful night.
Overall, it was a great week and I learned a lot about Italian culture and improved my language skills. I really liked Tuscania, but by the last day I was ready to make my way to Florence!!
