Sam Smith - 6

The aqueduct in Lucca, Italy almost made me become an Italian.

I was with my family visiting Lucca, a medieval village with a moat, one summer. We rented bikes and went all around town looking at different art displays and catching some soccer games in the bars. The last day we were there I decided to explore a little further out into the country, so I took a bridge over the moat and happened upon an enormous aqueduct. I knew that I had to explore it and see where it ended in the mountains, but I also knew that my train left in two hours. So I biked as fast as I could back to my family, told them my mission, and without giving them enough time to dissent hopped back on the bike. I pedaled so quickly that the support beams began blurring together into a solid wall. Eventually, I did make it to the end and clambered up to the top and stood where I could see miles of fields rolling toward Lucca with mountains to my back. In that moment I wanted to miss the train, but with no employment history and English as my only language I figured that I better not and made it back just in time for departure.