A group of 7 of us students decided to go to the lake our third weekend in Italy. Lake Trasimeno is in the province of Perugia and it is only a 25-minute train ride from Castiglion Fiorentino. It was 7 euros round trip. We arrived at the Passignano Sul Trasimeno train station a little before 10 am on September 12th. We really didn’t have any other plans besides going to the lake. As soon as we got off the train we walked in the direction of the water. A friendly dog greeted us as we made our way down the street. We were all feeling a little hungry so we stopped at a coffee kiosk near the lake. I got a cappuccino and a pistachio croissant or cornetto<\/em>. After our Italian-style breakfast, we began to search for the free beach. During our search, we ran into the same dog. With no owner in sight, he confidently continued to stroll alongside our group. We didn’t really know where we were going and the dog sure seemed like he knew what he was doing. So what did we do? We followed him… obviously. He did have a collar, which is the only reason we knew his name was Balo. Balo led us all the way to the free beach! He would even look back at us to make sure we were still following. It seemed like everyone knew who he was. We’re guessing Balo loved the water and he led us there to play with him. Balo played in the water and even played catch (with sticks and rocks because we didn’t have a ball). He was the best tour guide. He even relaxed on the beach with us for a couple of hours. It was a beautiful and sunny day. We said our goodbyes to Balo, thanked him for his hospitality, and made our way to find lunch. I had pizza and zuppa inglese gelato. We also did some exploring around town before we had to head back to Castiglion Fiorentino. It’s days like this that I’ll never forget. I always thought these silly types of things only happened in movies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

–Ruth Noemi Zuniga <3<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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