Today’s events included a visit to Cattolica University, the Leonardo da Vinci museum, and a night out on our own.
Personally I really enjoyed my time at Cattolica University because we were given a lecture on the sustainability of the fashion supply chain by a professor at the school. She was very knowledgeable and even was a part of the United Nations advisory board for sustainability. With such an accomplished speaker, I felt like my time was well spent learning about a relevant topic such as the supply chain of the fashion industry. After the lecture, English speaking students took us on a tour of the university and we were able to learn more about the school. The campus was full with a lot of green space and it reminded me a little bit of Pitt because a few streets were integrated within the campus similar to Oakland.
After the tour and a quick lunch, we were given a guided tour of the Leonardo da Vinci museum which contained replicas of his inventions and artwork. There was also an exhibit dedicated to Italian excellence in the fields of science. One of the sections was all about space exploration and there was a small rock from the moon that President Nixon gave the Italian government as a symbol of peace and cooperation. This was my favorite part of the tour because I had never seen a real moon rock before in person.
After the tour we took the metro back to the hotel and rested before we left for dinner on our own. My group of friends decided on a restaurant in the canal district which appropriately had many bridges over a canal which made for a great background for pictures. This spot was beautiful because the sun was setting in the distance and it made the water shimmer. Our meal at the restaurant was a nice change up because it was a buffet which consisted of pizza, tomatoes with mozzarella, and salami. I enjoyed the buffet because I was very hungry and it allowed me to eat until I was full.
Tomorrow we visit Como and go on our first tour of a silk company. I hope to learn more about the professional culture in Italy and continue to grow my appreciation for the country.