Florence, Italy - Study Abroad Experience

February 8th, 2019 "Bagno Vignoni and Montalcino are beautiful, you're going to love it" is one of the first things I heard when traveling to Bagno Vignoni and Montalcino. I had absolutely no idea what either of those places were. I usually read up about where I'm going and what there is to do. On our way to Bagno Vignoni from my window on the bus Bagno Vignoni is a small village outside of Florence about 2 hours out. What makes this place so special are the original sources of water that come out of a subterranean aquifer from a volcano, so the entire underground is super warm. Some of those thermal waters were used as a sort of spa by people of important stature such as: Pope Pius II, Saint Catherine of Siena, Lorenzo the Magnificent, and many others. One of the baths in Bagno Vignoni  We first stopped to get a cappuccino and a small pastry all together as a breakfast. Then we were told about the baths and how they were used back in the day. In th...

Monday February 4th, 2019: Today is my fourth day in Italy, and I figured I'd find something to do, as orientation is still going on. I think to myself, there has to be shows going on, I'm in Italy. I start to search on Google "events tonight Florence." I get a couple link searches, but some look sketchy. I then click on this website called "GoGoFirenze.it" When the website loaded, it seemed like some sort of blog that updated daily their content. I start to search and read something along the lines of "teatro" or "musica." I eventually get to something that read "recital con Mark Padmore - tenore." I click on the post and it said that today, Monday, was the last day he would sing. I thought to myself, a concert on a Monday at 9pm? It's a little strange, but it's worth checking out. I tried to locate the website, but it would not let me click the link to the website where I could purchase the ticket. It did say the...

I cannot begin this post without giving the back story, so here it is: In December of 2018, I was honored to meet the American soprano Angel Joy Blue. I was on my way to New York to see her in "La Boheme." There were already two things I was excited for: New York and an opera at the Metropolitan Opera House. I started to watch the opera on way to New York, just so I can become familiar with it. I had explained to some of my friends that I was on my way to New York to see this opera and that I was very excited to hear Angel Joy Blue live. One of those friends told me that I should use the power of social media to try to meet her. I thought, "why should I even bother? Opera singers are way too busy for them to meet their fans." I gave it a little more thought, and I said "you know what? the worst that could happen is that she can say no, and it won't kill me." So, I used my Twitter to message her privately and ask her if she would be okay with me meeti...

Ciao World! My name is Orlando Montalvo Avalo. I am a current Junior at Rhode Island College studying Music as a Performance Major. My hope and dream is to someday be in all the major operatic stages. I am so lucky and blessed to be studying abroad in Florence, Italy: a city full of music, dance, arts, theater, with a little bit of everybody in the world. The sight of Italy from the sky - absolutely stunning.  I was so fortunate to have been able to study in France 3 summers ago in Angers, France where I was able to perform an entire opera in French, meeting people from all over the world. People who I am still friends with, even though they live all over the world.  This experience in France sparked an interest in me studying for a longer period of time in a country where opera flourishes out of, and what better place than Italy: the birth place of opera. Getting to Florence was the most adventurous travel I have ever been in. I departed from Boston to go to the Por...