Hello! I’m Holly Alexander, and I am a freshman studying Recreation Management. After school, I plan on traveling and spending lots of time outdoors, hopefully as an instructor for an Outdoor Recreation non-profit or government institution. I’ve been to Europe only once before, in Germany. It was a monumental experience that taught me just how simultaneously draining and rewarding travel can be, and I’ve been craving that experience since then. That was almost three years ago now, so I’m very excited to be on this trip!

For our class, I researched Raphael’s Portrait of a Young Man. Through that project and our class as a whole, I’ve been thinking more and more about my own personal connection to artwork. The most exciting thing about this trip is getting to see the artwork we’ve studied so closely in person. I’m particularly excited to see the Bruges Madonna, after all the discussion of it in the book. Other than artwork, I’m very excited to be cold. It’s entirely too hot in Raleigh to be January, and I’d like for my face to hurt from the cold for a bit. I’m also excited to try a whole bunch of chocolate and waffles, and to spend entirely too much money on souvenirs and coffee. I can’t wait to get traveling!