The cobblestone streets of Florence, Italy, are renowned for their larger-than-life architecture, one-of-a-kind art, sweet desserts, and sunset views over the Arno river. On a month-long trip abroad, juniors Madeline Bolger and Natalie Miller learned how crucial another facet of Florence was to the country’s economy — food.

Traveling to Florence this past summer, they both left the familiarity of home to experience the culture of one of Europe’s oldest cities. Bolger, a media and journalism major at Bloomsburg, studied in a “Culture and Cuisine” course where she learned how to make pasta from scratch and tour the markets of Florence for the best produce.