By MITCH RHYNER

BOLOGNA — Following a brutal two weeks of finals and the end of our first semester of graduate school, we had nine class-free days to travel in late January. We asked students: what were considerations in your planning, and what was the best part of your trip?

Andrew Gatti – Hungary.  “I wanted to go back to a place where I lived previously and see friends and former co-workers. I also wanted to visit a part of the country that I hadn’t seen before. The best part was going back to my old office and surprising my colleagues. Their reaction went from confusion, to shock, to happiness. They didn’t expect to see me in Budapest again.”

Serena Quiroga – Portugal.  “Language. I wanted to speak as much Portuguese possible. I also wanted to visit somewhere that wouldn’t be too crowded. And, I was craving delicious meat and seafood. The best part of the trip was riding a bike 10km to a fishing village, then becoming friends with a barbecuing street vendor who let me barbecue with him. Yum.”

Vivek Sharma – Morocco. “I wanted to do something out of the ordinary – something other than visiting a city — that would be challenging and new. It was my first time visiting an Islamic country.  Camping out in the Western Sahara desert was great. We spent time with local Berbers and rode camels to and from the campsite.”