So.
I've made it back from Italy--alive and kickin'!
Chris and I had an amazing time riding the A -line metro through Rome, visiting downtown restaurants, upscale boutiques (from a distance), and getting pudgy from street pizza and spaghetti carbonara. It was dreamy. We were also lucky that Europeans all have a fondness for public displays of affection, so Chris and I could meander around shamelessly locked to each other--especially in the famously romantic villa Borghese, where we wandered through amazing art museums, outdoor monuments, and watched the ducks splash about in the big fancy pond.
I had envisioned a very touristy jaunt through the city, but it's amazing how much you can learn about a culture simply by opting for public transportation. We had to take a bus from our hostel to the metro stop in order to get to the city center, and that's where we saw "real" italy. That, and in Napoli--Craziest city of all time (and not in an entirely good way...but we certainly enjoyed our stay). Here is a link to Chris' spot on description of our
Neapolitan experience. We still enjoyed a great deal of touristy spots (Spanish steps, Colosseum, Pompeii, Pantheon, Vatican City, etc), but it still felt very cultural to me, seeing as how most of the tourists were European and I don't know much about ANY European peoples!
I loved watching the styles. I'm sure Chris got annoyed of me talking about clothes. Especially complaining about how little I fit in with my behind-the-times brown wool peacoat when EVERYONE was wearing black down jackets with furry hoods (and I mean everyone...it was almost frightening). There was no color in Europe. Only black and dark colors that look black. But, people are definitely flashier in Italy. All the jeans were gaudy as hell, and everyone's hair, and shoes, and sunglasses were just so shiny and bold. Designer wear was everywhere, but with the amount of black-market knockoffs being sold on the street, chances are most are fake. It turned out that one of the most fun places to style-watch was the McDonald's by the Spanish Steps. First off, did you guys know how unfair McDonald's is being to us? They have shrimp, parmesan spinach balls, gelato, and a full espresso bar at the Italian McDonald's. Royal treatment overseas! What is this?? That Mickey D's (which we did not eat at, thank you very much, only used the facilities) was the largest restaurant I've seen in my entire life. It was packed full of expensively dressed European families chowing down on those oh so exquisite french fries. There was mock classical statues and silver emblazoned logos. They don't mess around in Europe. Damn.
Italian people are goofy. Boisterous, loud, kind of aggressive, but very good natured. I noticed also that Italians know exactly what they want. If you go to a cafe, you do not look at all the choices and linger on the menus. You come in knowing exactly what it is you are looking for and promptly bounce. The baristas and waiters would get so irritated with Chris and I dilly-dallying over pizza choices. Most restaurants have the entire menus and prices displayed grandly outside the door to avoid such silliness and even clothing stores have enormous price tags on all the clothes sitting in the display window. Shopping can be more of a surgical strike that way, I suppose. I didn't fit in because I'm indecisive. That personality trait was almost deadly when it came to traffic. I don't even like jay-walking in Boulder--the pedestrian capital of the world. But, if I couldn't get over that and just blindly walk into traffic as if there weren't hundreds of speeding Fiats ignoring lane lines and pedestrian crossings, I would not have been able to get anywhere! Italian traffic is disgusting and hilarious. All those tiny smart cars zipping around like a derby race and old ladies and women with strollers dodging them to get to the grocery store...what a sight.
Two of my favorite things to pay attention to in other countries: the people and the architectural subtleties. I'm no expert, but Rome is quite stunning because of the spectrum of ages of all the architecture. Ancient buildings like the Pantheon to flashy new airports: they call it a time machine. But I enjoy the smaller elements of buildings and architecture. You can definitely tell what pictures I took because I couldn't stop getting excited about little things, like shutters, doors, alleyways, and the laundry hanging from balconies. When you live somewhere, those special little nuances are easy to forget on a day-to-day basis, but I have a deep appreciation for them.
One thing I certainly found interesting about Italy was how wonderful a warm-up the travel experience is for Argentina. Not only do I have a better grasp of the sing-song romance accent, but I've gotten some important experience for big city maneuvering. Also, because Chris left early and I had a few days to myself, I was able to come to terms with the skills I seriously lack as a traveler. Who knew paying attention was so important?
I got into some jams (expensive ones at that) because I was not as observant as I needed to be in order to successfully get from place to place. Turns out my intelligence when it comes to space and direction is pretty below par! That's something I need to practice, and not be so dependent on others for figuring out maps, train routes, bus systems, neighborhoods, and the path back home.
I also experienced some overwhelming loneliness when I had a big hotel room all to myself and no means of connecting with any of my loved ones. I felt pretty pathetic, knowing how lucky I was to have such a sweet set-up (thanks, Mom) and such a short stay, but still have mad anxiety. It was something I'd never experienced. That tendency of mine is something important that I need to face in order to adequately prepare myself for Buenos Aires. Upon my return the states, I promptly facebooked all the kids going from CU on my program, hoping that somebody will be going to BA early like me, so that I can explore the possibility of having a travel partner. Being the inexperienced traveler I am, I have no problem being reliant on a team effort (at least for the time being). I hope to connect myself with my one young contact down there, Natalia, a girl who studied abroad in Boulder last semester.
We've got lots of pictures that will make there way onto the blog and facebook, so be on the lookout!
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