Over the course of this semester, I’ve learned how to navigate Italy on my own. But over the course of a week in November, my family, friends, and I learned how to do the same as a lively group of six.
written by Savvy Sleevar for SPEL: Journalism
Everyone, Meet Europe
When your mom, grandfather, and three best friends visit you in Florence at the tail end of your semester abroad, your resumè expands in an instant. You become a tour guide, a concierge, an amateur Italian historian, a (mediocre) translator, and a transportation liaison all at once.
Navigating Italy for the first time as an American college student is pretty daunting, but when I hosted six guests in my new home away from home for American Thanksgiving, I knew I had to bring my A-game — whatever that looked like.
Over the course of a week, we checked off the boxes on one of the most extensive travel itineraries that I’ve ever seen. I’m talking Rome, Florence, Pisa, Venice, and Athens, all in a matter of days. (Sleep-deprived is an understatement.)
Jam-packed with chaos, mistakes, unforgettable views, and incredible company, I can’t say we enjoyed every second of it, but I know we wouldn’t trade our European adventure for anything.
A few highlights:
1. Tried Florentine steak with Chianti Classico at dinner with my family. Fell in love. My grandpa was particularly amused by the wine’s signature rooster label, pointing it out on future bottles of the stuff.
2. Spent Thanksgiving in Athens with my friends. Got lost downtown. Saw the sea. Made a valiant attempt at using the tram. 10/10 experience.
3. Went to see the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City. All that neck craning was so worth it.
4. Woke up at 3:30 a.m. to fly from Venice to Athens. If I ever book myself a flight like that again, someone, anyone, please stop me.
5. Received a detailed review of the Italian McDonald’s menu from my friends on their first night in Florence, complete with ratings. Glad their experience was just as eye-opening as my first taste of European Mickey D’s a few months prior.
6. Led a (marginally) successful pro-walking campaign, encouraging everyone to ditch the expensive American instinct to call a city cab, and instead, stroll down Italy’s cobblestone streets whenever we could. I felt like a tyrant, but our daily step counts were incredible.
Fresh Eyes
Even if you’ve passed by a piazza, a bridge, or a historic building countless times before, showing visitors these pieces of Italy feels like you’re seeing them again for the first time.
As I took my guests to get a glimpse of Piazza della Signoria, the Arno River, the Duomo, and the Galleria dell’Accademia, I was wide-eyed right along with them. My urge to take pictures in these now-familiar locations was renewed, and soon, my camera roll was full of group selfies — a visual collision of my American life and my Italian one.
Despite my best efforts to make sure things went off without a hitch, my family and friends’ visit to Europe definitely exposed how green I still am when it comes to some aspects of living abroad. There were times when I couldn’t fully answer all my mom’s queries about the city, and it seems my fluency in navigating the high-speed train system doesn’t translate very well when I need to answer my friends’ specific ticket questions via Snapchat.
Even so, this visit also showed me how much I do know about life here, which felt incredible to share with the people closest to me.
For instance, when my friends first arrived in Florence, I knew treating them to aperitivo at my favorite Oltrarno literary café would be the perfect introduction to Italy. Three months ago, I didn’t know what “aperitivo” or “Oltrarno” even meant. But there we were, sipping and crunching and talking in a space I’d fallen in love with over the course of three months.
Similarly, I was able to make restaurant recommendations with ease as we took a gastronomic tour of Florence, and despite my shaky language skills, I found myself having much fuller conversations with locals in Italian that I didn’t know I had in me.
If we had the opportunity to do everything over again, I can probably think of at least half a dozen things we’d change. But I’ve taken enough European side trips to know that imperfection is an integral part of the experience.
Today’s mistakes will become tomorrow’s funny stories, and even with such a wild travel schedule, I know this trip will become a cherished memory for all of us — and a motivator to, one day, do it all again.
