Greetings from the sunny shores of St. Petersburg, Fla. My name is Natalie Avon and I’m a sophomore in the Ernie Pyle Scholars program.
We were lucky enough to take our media trip this year in southern Florida over Spring Break, and we have been taking full advantage of the area. On Monday, we started our day with a walking tour of St. Petersburg. Although not the typical destination for spring-breakers, it is still beautiful and warm (especially compared to temperamental Bloomington weather). Donning shorts and skirts instead of the normal coats and scarves, we walked along the sidewalks near the bay, stopping to admire the picturesque sailboats lining the shore.
We concluded our tour of the city at the Salvador Dali museum, which is more affectionately known by the locals as "Daliwood." We took a guided tour and then were left to explore the crazy genius that was Dali. Though I already knew about his painting and drawing skills, I learned that Dali was also an accomplished filmmaker. In awe, I watched a short animated film that Dali produced for Walt Disney; it was obviously crafted by Dali’s hand and mind. It never aired, however, because Disney didn’t think the world was ready for such art. Go figure.
After an expensive stop at the gift shop, we returned to our hotel and changed into beach clothes. It took a little over an hour to get to Pass-A-Grille beach on a city bus. It was quite an adventure navigating to and from a beach that nobody had ever been to on a bus system that nobody had ever ridden. Then again, we’re Ernie Pyle Scholars for a reason.
We spent a few hours relaxing, playing soccer and picking up shells strewn on the sand. Two of our number found sand dollars, but all of us found a relaxing afternoon and a fair amount of sun.
The Scholars split up for dinner. One group went for Thai, another for tapas (appetizers) and the last to an oyster bar – but all had ice cream for dessert. St. Petersburg happens to have a Ben and Jerry’s conveniently close to our hotel. We might all be addicted by the end of the week.
e-mail this pageback to Florida: Learning about convergence
We were lucky enough to take our media trip this year in southern Florida over Spring Break, and we have been taking full advantage of the area. On Monday, we started our day with a walking tour of St. Petersburg. Although not the typical destination for spring-breakers, it is still beautiful and warm (especially compared to temperamental Bloomington weather). Donning shorts and skirts instead of the normal coats and scarves, we walked along the sidewalks near the bay, stopping to admire the picturesque sailboats lining the shore.
We concluded our tour of the city at the Salvador Dali museum, which is more affectionately known by the locals as "Daliwood." We took a guided tour and then were left to explore the crazy genius that was Dali. Though I already knew about his painting and drawing skills, I learned that Dali was also an accomplished filmmaker. In awe, I watched a short animated film that Dali produced for Walt Disney; it was obviously crafted by Dali’s hand and mind. It never aired, however, because Disney didn’t think the world was ready for such art. Go figure.
After an expensive stop at the gift shop, we returned to our hotel and changed into beach clothes. It took a little over an hour to get to Pass-A-Grille beach on a city bus. It was quite an adventure navigating to and from a beach that nobody had ever been to on a bus system that nobody had ever ridden. Then again, we’re Ernie Pyle Scholars for a reason.
We spent a few hours relaxing, playing soccer and picking up shells strewn on the sand. Two of our number found sand dollars, but all of us found a relaxing afternoon and a fair amount of sun.
The Scholars split up for dinner. One group went for Thai, another for tapas (appetizers) and the last to an oyster bar – but all had ice cream for dessert. St. Petersburg happens to have a Ben and Jerry’s conveniently close to our hotel. We might all be addicted by the end of the week.
e-mail this pageback to Florida: Learning about convergence
