In August of 2010, I was fortunate enough to take my "trip of a lifetime" to Italy. My father's parents were immigrants from Sicily. They settled in a tiny town in Pennsylvania, and they both died when my father was young. I have never even seen a photograph of my Italian grandparents.
I have always wondered why I like the things I like, why I am passionate but cynical, and why, for some reason, I simply can not talk without the use of my hands. It was during this trip that I was able to figure out what makes me, well, me!
We stayed in Italy for three weeks, and had a whirlwind itinerary. We knew only a handful of words and phrases, and knew something about Italian customs, so, armed with a Blackberry, a phrase book and several guide books, we decided to be intrepid explorers and take nothing but public transportation as we criss-crossed the country. The Italians were pleased that we knew a few words of Italian, and we asked them how to say almost everything in Italian for us. They have a beautiful language and they love to share it. We went into several stores in the small village of Santa Agata and were actually able to make successful purchases-all without the use of English...
We landed in Rome and immediately hopped aboard a train heading south to Pompeii. We spent a couple of days wandering around the ancient archaeological dig, Pompeii, as well as the "modern" city of Pompeii. We made a very quick trip into Naples to see some of the artifacts taken out of the ancient city of Pompeii, then boarded another train for a stay along the Amalfi Coast. We landed in the town of Sorrento, up in the foothills. Sorrento is famous for its beautiful lemons, and it's limoncello, which is incredibly refreshing after a long, hot day of sightseeing! We spent our entire time on the Amalfi Coast either on a scooter or a boat. We discovered Ravello, a tiny town in the mountains, renowned for its colorful pottery, quite by accident one day. We got on our scooter and decided to just roam around the winding roads when we found ourselves parking the scooter and walking up a steep walkway to the most beautiful spot imaginable. It was a secluded place and not over-run by tourists, and it was relatively cool because of its elevation. We were in Italia during a scorching heat wave.There we found gated vineyards with views of the ocean, and vineyards that were terraced all the way up the sides of the mountains. We had a very simple lunch in the courtyard and watched a little Italian girl chase the pigeons. We were thoroughly enchanted with our accidental "discovery" of Ravello. The scooter ride back to Sorrento during the Italian "rush hour" was so interesting that we just tell people "we lived to tell this tale!" During our stay on the coast, we saw the Island of Capri with its Blue Grotto as well as the hilly and captivating town of Amalfi itself. In all of our travels over Italy, Amalfi had, by far, the hilliest, steepest streets.
Of course, no trip to Italy would be complete without seeing Venice. I know that Venice is tourist-ridden and very expensive, but it was so beautiful to see, with its many bridges and many candy store windows. Some of the best food we would eat would be in Venice. The rides on the vaporetto are second to none. Getting from point A to point B via water taxi is beyond compare!
While we were in Bologna, we discovered the enchanting ritual of Aperitivo each evening an hour or two before dinner. The Italians don't really settle into dinner until 9:00 pm or even later. So, commencing at 6:00 pm, certain small restaurants and bars serve an Aperitivo selection of cheeses, olives, salamis, prosciutto, etc. Some are very elaborate and some are very simple. Imagine sitting in a piazza in Italy, drinking a cold glass of Prosecco (Italian sparkling wine)and nibbling on these offerings. Go on, imagine it! Your own little slice of Italian heaven every night, just before dinner.
We could not leave Italia without a visit to Sicily, where my grandparents are from. The Sicilians are an interesting bunch. Sicily is an island at the southern tip of Italy, strategically placed so that many empires have conquered and ruled it. The people are open, friendly, expressive, but cynical and superstitious-almost to a fault. It doesn't seem to matter what they are talking about, it appears that they are yelling and fighting. In Sicilian culture, he who speaks the loudest gets heard! Everyone's hands are going a mile a minute, and even haggling over the price of fish can seem like a battle is brewing. Sicilians like to complain as they go about their work. They like to work, they just feel compelled to complain about said work! My husband and I witnessed this phenomenon while walking on a beach one day. We saw a crew of four men with a back hoe and it appeared that they were trying to get an empty barrel off the beach. There was so much yelling and hand waving and head shaking that we thought surely the barrel was too heavy to lift or that it had some toxic substance in it that needed special attention. We stood there, speculating aloud to each other about the commotion, when a woman from Northern Italy came up to us and said very derisively, "No, it is not a problem. They are just complaining to each other that they have to work today. This is what Sicilians do." Her manner of speech was so matter-of-fact that we nearly died laughing. Ah, Sicily. What a passion for life you have!
One side note here, as a pedestrian in Italy, you take your life into your own hands each time you cross a street. I likened our pedestrian crossings to the poor little guy in "Frogger." We had to dodge traffic just to stay alive! We also noticed in Italy, when the traffic-going gets tough, then the truly motivated drive their cars up onto the sidewalks and around the traffic congestion. I also have a suspicion that there has never been an Italian born who didn't love honking the car horn. Italians honk even when there is no reason to honk. Apparently, if you are sitting in a car, behind the wheel, then this is all the occasion you need in order to lay on the horn!
This trip of a lifetime ended in Rome. Although we saw many cities, this article would go on for days if I tried to fit everything in. During our last couple of days in Rome, we made sure to throw many coins into the Fontana di Trevi (Trevi Fountain.) Legend has it that if you throw a coin into the fountain, you will ensure your return to Italia. Although this three-week vacation gave me a good insight into my Italian heritage, I think I will need to go back again and again before I can truly understand all things Italian. It's a good thing we had plenty of coins when we were standing at the Trevi!
Diane Ducca is an internet marketing mentor, successful business owner, and articles writer and researcher. She has written many articles on Affiliate Marketing, MLM, women-owned businesses, "mompreneurs," and product reviews. She has been lucky enough to work from home and enjoys every minute of it!
