I arrived home two weeks (which sometimes
seemed to be short, sometimes loooong) ago from Italy. During these weeks I
still hadn’t realized that I am actually back to Hungary for real, but then I
made some Skype calls with my foreign friends and after that realized like hell. It is over with the country
of the wines, gelato and pasta… Finito. So, it is time to look back and make a list! [1] ;)
Places:
One of my
goals when I got to Italy was to travel a lot. Really, really lot. After a while it became kind of impossible not
to move around in the country, because I became kind of an addicted person.
Addicted to plan, to go, to see, to feel, to tell about. Without doing this
process I got crazy. So, now I have quite an impressive list of the places I
have been (and basically no money).
I have been to: Orvieto, Viterbo, Bologna (okay, just half
day, but still), Verona, Padova, Venice, Milan, Pavia, Florence - Firenze, Napoli
(+Pompeii), Merano, Bolzano, Torino, Genova, Cinque terre, Vicenza plus some
parts of Trentino (mainly lakes and mountains). Outside of Italy: Brussels, Amsterdam,
Peja (in Kosovo) and two other cities just for a few hours, Pristina and
Prizren.
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| Addicted to travelling |
Favorite Italian city: Amsterd… Wait, Italian, you mean? Hard
to choose. If it is about the mood, than it has to be Napoli (it is crazy, but
I always felt comfortable and safe there); if it is about variety, than it is
Milan (sci-fi, shopping, romance, death… ask for any kind of atmosphere, you
will find it there!); if it is about seeing the most breathtaking view, it’s
Merano and its garden.
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| Milano |
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| Merano - the most amazing view and garden I have seen |
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| Napoli |
Favorite NOT Italian city: AMSTERDAM! Totally crazy, totally
chaotic, but still there is something which holds together the city, makes it a
nice, complex place. And I am not writing this just because of the “funny
cookies”, the impressive condom shop, the canals and the red light district,
but because it makes me wanna return: at the first time I did not have the
chance to embrace all the cultural pleasures, just the Sexmuseum… And I still
miss Anne Frank, Van Gogh and Madam Tussaud!
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| Yeah, that's a condom shop |
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| It is that museum |
Favorite place in Trento: I should say a nice place with nice
view for example Dos Trento; the river; one of the geek shops because there are
plenty of them; Parco Santa Chiara; Piazza Duomo; or the castle – anything
which is beautiful.
But I
won’t. Because my fav place was the way to walk home. In Trento after 11 pm you
do not have the chance to use that things called autobus, so you have to walk.
We had walked home so many times with my roommate, S, I cannot even remember…
First you take the side of the river, then at the gas station you turn right.
Then you get into a long, dark, ugly and abandoned street which after a while
is close to the apple fields. At the end of the street there is the church
where you turn right, and after that just walk until the last house of
Trento-Vela… And this way is my favorite place. We always had a nice talk with
S while walking home, and when I had to get into Vela by myself, I always had a
nice talk with myself which is quiet useful when you don’t live alone in the
room… Privacy is nice and sometimes you need to have time just by yourself.
Food
In Italy my
eating habit has changed a lot, I think mainly because I had more contacts with
young, crazy and vegetarian Germans than before. During these months I almost
finished eating meat, too (almost), but to be honest not because of the status
of the nature and animals, but because I don’t like to prepare food which is
still bloody. Since I had to cook myself in Italy mainly to save money for
travelling (food is not so cheap to order or eat out), I almost broke up with
meat.
Of course,
sometimes I eat out and tried some of the so famous Italian food: babà (pfuj!),
sfogliatella (yummy!), pizza in Napoli (I am exactly like Julia Roberts in Eat,
pray, love!), pizza in Trento (in the restaurant alla Grotta it is bigger than
the plate! And the plate is already big enough.), gelato in every city and horse. Yes. Horse. I said I almost became vegetarian. (And I had a
big compunction after it. Horses are beautiful and clever and I ate one of them
AND IT WAS DELACIOUS, it is so cruel to me and to the horse!)
Favorite Italian food: sfogliatella or gelato. Okay, probably gelato. It is everywhere, big and fantastic!
And I never felt guilty after eating it not like in the case of the horse…
Favorite Italian wine: I cannot remember one outstanding
wine… But I loved Spritz and Hugo (Hugo is kind of a mixture of Spritz and
Mojito).
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| Napolitan pizza and sfogliatella (and some other sweets) |
And these are what I missed from home: I thought that it would be the
famous Hungarian sweet, Túró rudi,
but I survived without crying after it. But after a while I could feel that I
missed tejföl a lot, because at home
I put the Hungarian sour cream on everything. And, in the last period, there
was always something else, like:
- “I wanna have pasta with poppy seed!” (Real thing, we put poppy seed on pasta with sugar, and it is amazing. We put poppy seed into a lot of sweet things. They are the best.)
- “Pogáááááááááááácsa” Pogácsa is the Hungarian scone, which I guess is like every scones in the world, except to be better obviously. Sopratutto, when my mother makes them.
- "Why Italians don’t have reszelt háztartási keksz to make kókuszgolyó?!” Reszelt háztartási keksz is a white biscuit in the form of powder; kókuszgolyó (coconut ball) is the best thing to prepare with it. It is with grated coconut, cacao and the biscuit.
- “My. Life. Is. Rakott. Karfiol.” Rakott karfiol is my favorite Hungarian dish (you have to eat it with a lot of tejföl!). It is rice, minced meat and cauliflower, put onto each other like layers and baked in the oven. Yummy!
But since I
got home I kind of feel strange while eating Hungarian dishes… Where is my
pasta?
Italians
There are
many stereotypes about Italians, some of them are true, some of them are not. I
kind of had the feeling that the stereotypes formed them in a way, sometimes I
could not decide whether Italians where first or the stereotypes about them…
For example everybody knows that Italians are very proud of their culture and
food, and they really act like that.
Luckily they make it in a cute way. If they talk about a dish they make, they
love it and they make you believe that that one is the best in the whole
universe, even if it is just pasta with salt and pepe. And there is no cuter
way of getting crazy because of food then Italians do when they see or hear
about pasta with ketchup… :D
The best characteristic in Italians: probably that they are kind and
ready to help. In the last two weeks I already had the lovely experience of
meeting “nice” Hungarian assholes who help you like this: “yes, I will do this, but anyways, you can f*ck yourself, because I
have a bad day or just wanna feel myself powerful and there is obviously no
other ways to do so…” I don’t like this attitude and most of the Italians
doesn’t do this. They are simply jovial.
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| On the motorino! |
The Most Italian Experience: has to be the day I spent with this
Italian guy. He showed me his city, Vicenza; gave me a ride with his motorino (scooter – I was spending half
of the time grabbing his shoulders very very hard and screaming; the other half
with pushing my dress down); tailor; and of course a nice Italian family lunch
(also with pasta!). After this, I had a nice walk in the calm city without tourists
but with the sensation of being in Italy. Just perfect. :)
The first culture shock: I think it was using the switch of
the light. They go the opposite way compared to Hungary!!
An Italian habit I acquired in this year: weeell, I eat more vegetable and
fruit (and pasta). And I hope to be more jovial in everyday life and
communicating. ;)
An Italian habit I could not get used to: that they don’t say no. Not in the
straightforward, clear way I do. It is very irritating for a mainly direct girl
like me. Just say no! Any other ways I don’t get it! Just not!
My favorite Italian word: pompino! It
means, errr, blow job. I like it because it is exactly like bambino (boy child) and sounds cute.
When I first heard this word, the conversation was something like this:
*Italians speaking* …pompino.
Me: What does it mean?
Them: How do you say it in English… Ah, blow
job!
Me: Blow job! But pompino sounds so cute! Like
bambino!
Italians: Well, from doing pompino you won’t
have a bambino.
Italian
lecture and sex education in the same
time! That’s the spirit!
This post is way much longer than should be, so
about being an EVS volunteer, the life, the emotions, the more personal stories
I will write you later! There is so much to tell! ;)
[1] Actaully
some of my friends are also going to make this list, so it is going to be even
more fun… for me and them at least. :)
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