Tour Visits the Real Mick and Mack

Some “foreign” countries look a lot like home. That's what students and patrons touring the Tuscany and Umbria regions of Italy discovered in September when they visited the Loggia dei Lanzi in Florence and found the original Mick and Mac, McMicken's most recognizable symbols.

Some of the other famous sights they saw were Michelangelo's “David,” the leaning bell tower of Pisa, a Roman amphitheatre still in use, and the burial place of St Francis, patron saint of Italy.

All of this might sound a bit “rich” for the typical college student's budget, but UC students are able to defray partial costs through travel grants from the Institute for Global Studies and Affairs. In return for the support, a recipient has simply to agree to complete and submit a project.

To prepare for the project and the experiences they would encounter, students first visited the Renaissance collection at the Cincinnati Art Museum and took either the Italian Culture (571) or Andiamo in Italia (572) course. Tina Eckert, adjunct associate professor of Italian, and Mike Port, professor emeritus of communication, team taught the Italian Culture course and directed the tour.

Most of the travelers will tell you that the best part of the trip was gaining in-depth understanding of the customs, culture, history, art, and architecture of a place they will never forget.

That's why Eckert is certain the 2005 June tour will be another resounding success. She has plans to visit Venice, the lake region of Italy and Milan, where students will see Da Vinci's “The Last Supper” and tour the opera house La Scala. She also hopes to include Verona.

Wherever they go, 2005 travelers are likely to return as excited as about their adventure as sophomore Samantha Bohnert: “I'll never forget that what I imagined Italy to be in my head was actually what I saw with my own eyes when I arrived in that spectacular country. It was all I imagined and more.”