Meet Me In…
What do you get when you mix a forty-eight hour transport, a six hour jet lag, and a one hour time span to plan the next two weeks? Well, you get the start of my summer vacation: it continued by roaming around Italy for 16 days, with no idea what the next day would consist of. My four family members and I somehow managed to experience the wonders of Rome, Tuscany, and the Amalfi coast while never actually having a set itinerary. As they say, when in Rome, do as the Romans do.
As my family hopped around from one place to another, I could not help but admire the country more and more. There are several parts of my trip that I wish to share my profound obsession with:
The Culture
The culture of the Italians reflected my family’s mind set on this vacation—open to new adventures and taking on each day without a care in the world. As you walk up to the civilians of Cortona in Tuscany, Italy, they kiss you on both cheeks as a greeting. Responding with a chipper “Ciao!” is enough of a warm welcome for them. That’s another thing— the people everywhere around Italy are extremely giving, especially in hotels. Compared to the treatment in America, their generosity seems almost comical. My brother Carlos Alfonso even commented that “[they] would probably offer to scratch your back for you if you even mentioned a slight ich”.
The Landscape
The History
The cities in Italy date back to before Christ. Therefore, the whole country is a timeline in itself, and it feels as if every step you take is a step back into time. There are countless chapels, paintings, mosaics, statues, and structures that have conquered Father Time in order to amaze us mere mortals in modern society. Hadley Chillura exclaims, “the work they put into every little thing that was built makes me think that they were planning on living here forever.” My few favorite moments were visiting the Colosseum in Rome, and Le Chelle, a sanctuary where St. Francis of Assisi spent the majority of his time, in Cortona.
The FOOD
Dinners in Italy usually begin at around 8 or 9 o’clock in the evening. You won’t believe how difficult it is to make that wait. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.
This summer was one for the books. If I had to give one piece of advice, it would be to travel; if I had to name the best place to travel, it would be Italy.
Isabella Alfonso is an Academy Senior, a third-year journalist and Senior Staff Writer for Achona. She is in Teen Leadership Council at school, is a cheerleader...
