In the heart of culture: My Italian Getaway

After my university studies, I decided to go on a backpack trip. The destination wasn't a question, I am going to discover Italy. I have bought an Inter-rail pass and after two days of planning I got on a train to Trieste.

Bologna, 2019

Since I'm a kid, I am wondering about living in Italy and having the taste of the Italian life. The food, the romance, the orange neighborhoods, antiquities and the beautiful language. But I knew that I have to be mature enough for this experience, I knew that I wouldn't understand what I am seeing and what I am hearing until I don't have enough life experience and knowledge about the rest of the world. Last year I decided that I am ready for such an experience. But was I right?

Orange, the color of passion

I think that I have seen every big Italian movies until the age of thirteen and I remember falling in love with the building. Cinema Paradiso, Life is Beautiful, Dolce Vita, those antique and orange buildings with their brown flavor had a very strong influence on me. But why is that? At the end of the story we only talk about buildings and colors, there are orange buildings in Budapest too, the city I grew up. In fact, I was trying to find a reasonable answer for this question for years even though I haven't even put my feet to an Italian city. And that's what my mistake was. Sometimes you have to be somewhere to fully feel the vibes and emotions that the place is providing. Italy falls into that category. Especially the city Bologna, which is probably the most orange city I have visited during my little getaway. Bologna is known for its narrow charismatic streets, gorgeous little libraries full of university students and the huge central piazza with lively music and all kind of entertainments during summer.

Bologna, 2019

La Dolce vita, or not?

"The golden life" states the movie directed by Federico Fellini in 1960. When you leave the busy central and escape tourists from all over the world and street sellers trying to sell you basically anything, that's when you will fully experience the Italian way of life. I agree, it has a tremendously good feeling to sit down next to a basilica on the piazza with a few friends and grab a "Hugo" or an "Aperol Spritz", but this is not what you need. What you really need is to get to the outskirt, and discover some so called "treasure places". But what are those treasure places? Treasure places are little restaurants, bars, pubs or anything else that has chairs and table that are somehow unique and have something about them which makes you go there every single day during you visit. I agree, treasure places vary between people and tastes, but what you have to understand is that what you see from the piazza (with your overpriced wine and pizza) is very different from what you see from a little pub somewhere hidden in the city. My most interesting visit happened in Firenze, that's where I have found my treasure place. Walking home from the piazza della Repubblica, I and two comrades of mine have decided we should grab something to drink after a long day of visits and hundreds of kilometers of walk. Turning down to via Guiseppe Verdi and then taking a narrow right , we continued walking until we have noticed a little street to the left with around fifty people sitting outside. We chose to have a look. As soon as we got close to the bar and saw the prices, we knew where we are: "Locale". Two floors, very little space, and a lot of people. A very medium but cold white wine was at a cost of 1 euro and the beer has cost us 2 euros. Italians talking loudly inside, having fights about politics, films and art, but the real excitement was to sit outside, and join some very interesting conversation concerning the era of Italian film and how today's politics are influencing the industry.

But is Italy only about fun? I don't think so.

Firenze, 2019

The Vespa, the coffee and a good conversation

Have you ever fantasized about riding a motorcycle, stopping in front of a coffee shop and enjoying a good espresso accompanied with a good friend? Well I had. This is something very typical in Italy, and especially on the weekends. It obviously depends where you are, southern and northern Italian culture is very different. For example, an Italian would talk and act way differently in a city in Sicily than someone from Milan. But even someone from Geneva would differ from a venitian. The food, self-expression and even their accent is different. But, it is true than none of the Italians would skip a coffee and a conversation next to a Vespa.

But what have I learnt during my travels? I have started my journey in Budapest, got on a train to Ljubljana and from there I got on a bus to Trieste. From Trieste I went all the way to Venice, then Bologna, then Arezzo and finally Firenze. Seeing so many cities I have realized that it is true, the Italian way of life is wonderful, the orange building are truly magnificent especially when you see it from a small bar with a glass of wine. I have discovered that Italians are extremely friendly and they are very much used to tourists, they know how to deal with us. I have also learned that it doesn't worth drinking coffee anywhere else than there, and that you have to appreciate a place here Hugo is made with the perfect amount of sugar. I understood the way Italians talk, I got to know how to communicate in an Italian way and I finally understood all those movies with which I spent my childhood. But the main thing I discovered is that I wasn't mature enough for Italy, it wasn't the right time. I couldn't fully appreciate the experience everything, I was too young to do so. I hope I will have the possibility to try again in the future.

Ciao a tutti,

Dominik