Report of the study trip to Rome and Florence

Dear reader,

After a much too long silence of two years, the ESV was finally able to make itself heard abroad again through the famous ESV study trip. Last May 1, after a lot of preparatory work by the determined study trip committee, it was finally time to leave from beautiful Nijmegen to even more beautiful Italy for our 7-day trip to Rome & Florence. Normally, the purpose of this trip is to visit companies that tell us something about the Italian economy and way of working. As a disclaimer, we as a study trip committee would like to announce in advance that, to our regret, despite endless email, app and telephone traffic, it was not possible to visit a company this year. This thanks to the uncertain situation regarding corona and its consequences. However, we have certainly not been idle. I would like to inform you about our study trip.

During the outward journey via Schiphol, it quickly became clear that this group of 30 students got along very well. Upon arrival at our beautiful Palladini hostel, we were warmly welcomed with a welcome drink from the two accompanying teachers on this trip: Robbert Rademakers and Charan van Krevel. The atmosphere was immediately good. This atmosphere was continued well during dinner and the subsequent 'introductory drink'.

The following day, Monday, was ushered in with a visit to The Bank of Italy's Money Museum. This was a very interesting visit for us as economists, because in the well-guarded vault we got a broad overview of the role that money has played over the last 5000 years. To get to know the city immediately, we then cycled through the city in two groups of 16 in three hours - after all, we remain Dutch - past all the highlights under the guidance of good tour guides who had fun facts ready for us. A large part of the group then had the excellent plan to 'have a drink' in the Monti district, a tip from the tour guide. This culminated in a cozy dinner with fantastic red wine. In the evening, the study tour committee organized a Great Britain-style pub crawl with accompanying pub quiz, during which we were able to visit several beautifully decorated pubs. I also take this opportunity to announce which team won the pub quiz, because this is the team led by captain Gergo. Congratulations!

On Tuesday, to get the full-tourist experience, we drove around on partial scooters along the Campo di Fiori and the Colosseum (which, by the way, is not the real name of this mighty structure, which is Amphitheatrum Flavium). Near the Amphitheater Flavium we gave the presentations of our prewritten papers in a park with a beautiful view. The content of these presentations, in this case about the difference between the relatively richer North versus the relatively poorer South Italy, was not equally well received by everyone. To everyone's surprise and amusement, Mr. Van Gilst's presentation was a kick in the shins for an interested (probably) southern Italian. Full of passion and conviction, Mr. interrupted the presentation, which then became involved in a heated discussion at the cutting edge. It seems that the dear sir still hasn't gotten over it. Finally, we visited the beautiful Roman Forum where, to our great regret, the ESV flag we brought with us was confiscated during a group photo. Apparently not everyone is as proud of our ESV as we are!

In the evening we had dinner together in the wonderful restaurant Vos. Here it was time for the announcement of the best paper by Robbert and Charan. The 2 winning groups whose subjects differ in the Italian economy based on clusters in the country and the economic crises that have taken place in Italy since the introduction of the euro have won a cocktail rooftop bar evening together with the two teachers!

That evening, in the best Irish Pub in the world (2017-2018), we showed 'The Scholars Lounge' as Dutch people who are not able to sing at all during a karaoke, but who know best how to organize a party . Enjoyed and partied with a capital G.

On Wednesday morning, the miracle of miracles came true for all of us, the real sight of the pope of the Roman Catholic Church: Pope Francis. We experienced this during our trip to Vatican City. During his weekly speech, we listened carefully to his text with accompanying articulation. A very special moment. During the free time that followed, various roads were followed, most of them eventually back to Rome. I myself listened with a group of people to 2 fantastic street artists who effortlessly brought classics such as Hotel California and Sultans of Swing to a beautiful performance on their guitars. Goosebumps moments anyway.

As far as Rome is concerned, the cliché is true for me personally: this is surely the most historic and most beautiful city in the world. The first part of our study trip was completely successful while enjoying a beautiful 22 degrees and full sun in combination with ESVoldoende drinks throughout the day.

Thursday morning, May 5, the trip to the 2nd destination of the trip was planned: Florence. In the high-speed train we exchanged Rome for Florence and fun card games were played according to good ESV use. In Florence the weather had turned slightly with increasing clouds, but this did not spoil the fun. After lunch was enjoyed in various groups, Mr. Peeters gave us a very nice and interesting tour along the Duomo and the Ponte Vecchio. Fortunately, everyone still has their wallet! When night fell everyone went his or her own way, if that was still possible at this point.

The next day was dedicated to visiting the phenomenally beautiful Uffizi museum. Everyone went through this in different groups to enjoy the beautiful works of art present. Still a great piece of culture. The afternoon was all about the Crazy 88. There was an incredibly hard battle to collect the points by performing fun and original assignments where many put their pride aside for a while. It was extremely funny to see all these entries and battles. However, the entire Crazy 88 was won by the group that was willing to get an ESV tattoo. I'm not going to say which group won, because there is a chance that my mother is also reading this.

On Saturday, the next imposing museum was on the schedule: the Palazzio Vecchio! After admiring this gem, the highlight was on the schedule; the wine tasting along the vineyards of Tuscany. This trip is difficult to describe with text and by showing photos because in my opinion it is a moment that you have to experience yourself. All I can say is that it's a beautiful area and the wine is fantastic. Finally, I would like to show you the group photo we took there, if you look at those smiles you actually know enough.

Finally, I would like to invite everyone to take a little look at the did-you-knows page that you can find via your member account. In addition to all the famous facts from the last study trip, it also contains many other current affairs, gossip and juicy facts. Furthermore, I think it would be nice if all members of our beautiful association add all their knew-you-dates related to the ESV and its members in the future!

In conclusion, I think I can say that everyone looks back with great satisfaction and a good feeling on this journey, which hopefully heralded the beginning of the end of the corona crisis and the beginning of friendships and an even more beautiful Economic Student Association Nijmegen. On to the next study trip!

I would like to thank my committee for their great effort. In particular, I would like to thank our chairperson of the study trip committee Mrs. Deddens for all the hours she put in behind the scenes to bring this trip to a fantastic conclusion. In addition, on behalf of the committee, I would like to thank the XXXIIIrd board of the ESV for their excellent support, our teachers for their guidance and sociability and our travel companions for their inexhaustible enthusiasm and convivial input!

Phillip Alexander de Haan