My time in Italy is really flying by. I feel like I've only just started getting over the jet lag, and I still only know like 5 words in Italian, but I'm only here for 2 more days. I got this handy app on my phone that gives you English to Italian phrases by category without having to connect to WiFi, but it unfortunately has not improved my ability to communicate in Italian. I took to the streets this morning, feeling great, new app in hand, and attempted to order a cappuccino in Italian using the phrase "Vorrei un cappuccino por favore" (which means "I would like a cappuccino please"). The barista responded with, "okay, one cappuccino is that all?", in English...so yeah apparently I'm that bad at Italian... He killed my new-found Italian-speaking confidence ,so I guess it's time to go back to saying "no Italiano" to every local I interact with.
Anyway, my family and I have done a lot of exploring in Lucca, Italy. Lucca is located in central Italy, near Tuscany, and is a relatively small city surrounded by a giant ancient wall. Our apartment is located inside the wall, so everything around us has a very rich history. Callie and I were not super pumped about going to see an opera performance with our parents, but it turned out to be pretty cool (and only an hour long, definitely a plus). Puccini, who is a famous opera composer, was born in Lucca, so they have a performance every night in one of the churches. Lucca is also known for its shopping district. There are designer purse stores, boutiques, and shoe stores galore. Not gonna lie, these stores are definitely feeding my shopping addiction, and I've already blown a lot of my last paycheck.
Being in Italy is definitely a bigger cultural shift than I was expecting coming from the States. In Lucca, very few people speak English, which has been a struggle. There is no air-conditioning in most of the restaurants and apartments, despite it being almost 90 degrees here in the summer. The environment is a lot bigger here than it is in America, and there are recycling bins everywhere. Italy takes it's recycling very seriously; you have to separate your trash into 5 different categories, label each bag, and take them to the street on a certain day of the week. It's a very complex system. Every afternoon, there is a "siesta" period from 2-4pm, in which all the stores close, and people "rest". And of course there is the whole pay for the bathroom situation also, but apparently that's common in Europe. Overall, none of the differences are that big of a deal, I just thought they were interesting.
We rented some bikes for our trip, so maybe we have a chance at blending in with the locals a little bit. On top of the wall that surrounds Lucca, there is a large pathway and a park. The pathway is 2 miles all the way around, and we've been taking our bikes up there to explore and bike around. The view is fantastic, and the park on the wall is very popular with the locals. I'm gonna post a couple of pictures below, but I'm sure none of them do the historic architecture justice.
-Madeline
Anyway, my family and I have done a lot of exploring in Lucca, Italy. Lucca is located in central Italy, near Tuscany, and is a relatively small city surrounded by a giant ancient wall. Our apartment is located inside the wall, so everything around us has a very rich history. Callie and I were not super pumped about going to see an opera performance with our parents, but it turned out to be pretty cool (and only an hour long, definitely a plus). Puccini, who is a famous opera composer, was born in Lucca, so they have a performance every night in one of the churches. Lucca is also known for its shopping district. There are designer purse stores, boutiques, and shoe stores galore. Not gonna lie, these stores are definitely feeding my shopping addiction, and I've already blown a lot of my last paycheck.
Being in Italy is definitely a bigger cultural shift than I was expecting coming from the States. In Lucca, very few people speak English, which has been a struggle. There is no air-conditioning in most of the restaurants and apartments, despite it being almost 90 degrees here in the summer. The environment is a lot bigger here than it is in America, and there are recycling bins everywhere. Italy takes it's recycling very seriously; you have to separate your trash into 5 different categories, label each bag, and take them to the street on a certain day of the week. It's a very complex system. Every afternoon, there is a "siesta" period from 2-4pm, in which all the stores close, and people "rest". And of course there is the whole pay for the bathroom situation also, but apparently that's common in Europe. Overall, none of the differences are that big of a deal, I just thought they were interesting.
We rented some bikes for our trip, so maybe we have a chance at blending in with the locals a little bit. On top of the wall that surrounds Lucca, there is a large pathway and a park. The pathway is 2 miles all the way around, and we've been taking our bikes up there to explore and bike around. The view is fantastic, and the park on the wall is very popular with the locals. I'm gonna post a couple of pictures below, but I'm sure none of them do the historic architecture justice.
-Madeline