Italy is wasted on the ill-informed
So my wife and I decided to take a trip to Italy. We wanted to have a more relaxing trip rather than the standard American dash through fourteen cities in fourteen days. We picked Verona, Venice, Milan, Pisa, and Florence as our cities. Everything was going great. And then we got there.
First, let me explain that this was my first "Ignorant American" trip. We didn't speak the language at all. There is only so much that my high school Latin was going to help us out in any regard. So leaving the plane and having to try and figure out what direction north is (we got in at night) or what bus will take us to the hotel while wearing a fifty pound backpack tends to make me a bit grumpy. I'm not a control freak, but I like having a clue. My wife wanted to have some flexibility in our itinerary in case we fell in love with a place or decided that we wanted to linger somewhere. It was probably a good idea, but it added to my grumpiness. Every city we arrived in was a most hated place until I found my bearings. Being able to understand the language would have helped to a large degree.
Second, we didn't realize it when we planned the trip but evidently February is the rainy season in Northern Italy. Put a baseball cap on my head and I could care less about weather. But put an umbrella in a short person's hand and surround me with so-armed short people and it is a recipe for disaster.
And lastly, my wife and I are somewhat cultured people. We listen to classical music. We go to plays on occasion, but nothing could have prepared me for the cultural onslaught that was our trip. We saw cathedral after church after museum after cathedral. It was all very fascinating, but after a time it all blended together. There were some highlights - The Uffizi, The Last Supper, The Duomo, The Leaning Tower - but some places just turned into a search for something tall to climb so that we could look out over the countryside. I'm sure that in that blur were some significant historical treasures that got lumped into the Another Historical Treasure category.
But the food was excellent. I'll have to go back some day.
First, let me explain that this was my first "Ignorant American" trip. We didn't speak the language at all. There is only so much that my high school Latin was going to help us out in any regard. So leaving the plane and having to try and figure out what direction north is (we got in at night) or what bus will take us to the hotel while wearing a fifty pound backpack tends to make me a bit grumpy. I'm not a control freak, but I like having a clue. My wife wanted to have some flexibility in our itinerary in case we fell in love with a place or decided that we wanted to linger somewhere. It was probably a good idea, but it added to my grumpiness. Every city we arrived in was a most hated place until I found my bearings. Being able to understand the language would have helped to a large degree.
Second, we didn't realize it when we planned the trip but evidently February is the rainy season in Northern Italy. Put a baseball cap on my head and I could care less about weather. But put an umbrella in a short person's hand and surround me with so-armed short people and it is a recipe for disaster.
And lastly, my wife and I are somewhat cultured people. We listen to classical music. We go to plays on occasion, but nothing could have prepared me for the cultural onslaught that was our trip. We saw cathedral after church after museum after cathedral. It was all very fascinating, but after a time it all blended together. There were some highlights - The Uffizi, The Last Supper, The Duomo, The Leaning Tower - but some places just turned into a search for something tall to climb so that we could look out over the countryside. I'm sure that in that blur were some significant historical treasures that got lumped into the Another Historical Treasure category.
But the food was excellent. I'll have to go back some day.
posted by mypetrock at 9:31 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home