Ciao dell'Italia
Hi everyone!
I've been in Italy for about a week and a half now, and I'm having a wonderful time so far. I'm starting to get a little homesick, however, so I figured that now would be a good time to email everyone from home. I apologize in advance for the mass message format. Internet cafes here charge an obscene amount of money, so it's a lot easier for me to just write up one post and send it to everyone.
For those of you who don't know, I'm spending this summer researching/writing for Let's Go travel guides, helping to update their Italy book. I'm working for them for eight weeks in Sicily and Southern Italy, after which I'm going to head up to Northern Italy for a couple of weeks to see the sights before I head home.
I'm really enjoying the work so far-- essentially what I do is go to a city for a couple of days, check to make sure that all the listings and information in the guide are accurate, and add some places that I think are worthy of inclusion. Then it's off to the next city. I just finished up the Eastern coast of Sicily (Taormina, Catania, Syracuse), and now I'm exploring the Southern coast and some of the inland towns.
(more after the jump)
Let's Go pays me a daily stipend (assuming I send in my writing each week) of about $80, which is supposed to cover all of my costs, including lodging, dining, transportation, and sights. So I don't really end up making any money in the end, but I get to explore Italy for eight weeks and break even, which is certainly nothing to complain about. I'm mostly staying in either youth hostels or budget hotels. I prefer the hostels because they are much more social-- there are always plenty of fun people to meet and hang out with there, whereas the hotels can get pretty lonely. I spend my days traveling between cities, and then visiting every single hotel/sight/restaurant that is listed in the guide book, while I spend my nights updating last years guide and writing the new features. So far I am really enjoying myself, although from talking to friends who have done Let's Go in previous years, around week 5 or 6 I will probably start to get pretty sick of asking places their hours and prices.
Italy has been amazing so far-- this is my first time here, and I am loving the culture/food/architecture every bit as much as I thought I would. Sicily is especially great-- it is less busy and touristy than Florence or Rome, but it has just as rich a history, with some amazing ancient Greek and Roman sites and artifacts. I just left Syracuse (Siracusa) a couple of days ago, and it really epitomized what is so exciting about Sicily-- you find amazing archeological sites juxtaposed with beautiful baroque piazzas. Syracuse has some really impressive Greek and Roman ruins, including a remarkably intact ancient Greek theatre remaining from when the town was a Mediterranean powerhouse 2500 years ago (the city now uses it to put on Greek tragedies ever year). Besides Syracuse, my other favorite city so far has probably been Taormina, which is a coastal resort town in Eastern Sicily. The entire town is perched atop a steep cliff overlooking the sea, meaning that no matter where you are, you have an amazing view of both the waters and of Mt. Etna, a nearby volcano (and the largest active volcano in Europe-- only a couple of miles in from the coast, it quickly rises to about 10,000 feet!).
In just the short time I have been here I feel like my Italian skills are getting substantially better. My vocabulary hasn't improved tremendously, but I feel much less inhibited at speaking than when I was in class, which really makes a big difference. I feel like every day I am getting a bit better at using more complex phrases and verbs with confidence, and my hope is that by the end of the summer I will have markedly improved. Still, I have a long way to go, as I realized a few days ago when I had to go to a computer repair shop to fix my laptop, and my unimpressive tech vocabulary (consisting solely of "il computer") prompted a two-hour conversation based almost solely in pantomime.
Although usually my days are pretty straight-forward, I always find myself surprised by something or other. For instance last night was my only night in the small inland town of Ragusa, and I didn't expect it to be particularly eventful until a stream of fireworks began going off. I wandered over to that part of town, and I found out that June 6th just happened to be the holiday of Ragusa's patron saint, which meant that the entire town was celebrating. It was really impressive-- the streets of this tiny town were absolutely filled, with people watching the parades, live music, and fireworks.. Taking part in this holiday celebration was really neat for me, especially because it was so unexpected. I felt like a privileged guest, as I experienced the culture and religion of this town in a way that was much more first-hand than I had ever thought I would.
Today I am traveling to Piazza Armerina, a town mostly famous for its 4th Century Roman villa, that was buried under a mudslide for centuries, preserving the mosaic-filled interior. I'm going to spend three nights here, taking day trips to other nearby towns. After that I am traveling to some of the islands off the coast of Sicily-- Pantelleria and the Egadi Islands-- and then I will explore the Northern coast of Sicily, including Sicily's largest city, Palermo, and the Aeolian Islands. Every city I have visited so far has been very different from the last, so I am excited to see what these next areas are like.
I hope your summer is also going well-- I miss everyone at home so much. If you want to reach me this summer, the only way to do so is by email, so just write to me and I'll try my hardest to get back to you pretty soon (I'm checking my email every couple of days). I'll be flying back to Boston on August 4th, and I'll be there for a week and a half, so friends from school should give me a call during that time if you're going to be around. I'll be getting back to Salt Lake on August 17th, although I'll be going to Arizona for a few days as soon as I get in to help my brother move in to college. I should still have a few weeks at home though, so hopefully I can spend some time with everyone.
Keep me posted on how your summer is going-- it gets pretty lonely being on the road alone, so emails from friends make a huge difference. Take care, and I'll talk to you soon!
I've been in Italy for about a week and a half now, and I'm having a wonderful time so far. I'm starting to get a little homesick, however, so I figured that now would be a good time to email everyone from home. I apologize in advance for the mass message format. Internet cafes here charge an obscene amount of money, so it's a lot easier for me to just write up one post and send it to everyone.
For those of you who don't know, I'm spending this summer researching/writing for Let's Go travel guides, helping to update their Italy book. I'm working for them for eight weeks in Sicily and Southern Italy, after which I'm going to head up to Northern Italy for a couple of weeks to see the sights before I head home.
I'm really enjoying the work so far-- essentially what I do is go to a city for a couple of days, check to make sure that all the listings and information in the guide are accurate, and add some places that I think are worthy of inclusion. Then it's off to the next city. I just finished up the Eastern coast of Sicily (Taormina, Catania, Syracuse), and now I'm exploring the Southern coast and some of the inland towns.
(more after the jump)
Let's Go pays me a daily stipend (assuming I send in my writing each week) of about $80, which is supposed to cover all of my costs, including lodging, dining, transportation, and sights. So I don't really end up making any money in the end, but I get to explore Italy for eight weeks and break even, which is certainly nothing to complain about. I'm mostly staying in either youth hostels or budget hotels. I prefer the hostels because they are much more social-- there are always plenty of fun people to meet and hang out with there, whereas the hotels can get pretty lonely. I spend my days traveling between cities, and then visiting every single hotel/sight/restaurant that is listed in the guide book, while I spend my nights updating last years guide and writing the new features. So far I am really enjoying myself, although from talking to friends who have done Let's Go in previous years, around week 5 or 6 I will probably start to get pretty sick of asking places their hours and prices.
Italy has been amazing so far-- this is my first time here, and I am loving the culture/food/architecture every bit as much as I thought I would. Sicily is especially great-- it is less busy and touristy than Florence or Rome, but it has just as rich a history, with some amazing ancient Greek and Roman sites and artifacts. I just left Syracuse (Siracusa) a couple of days ago, and it really epitomized what is so exciting about Sicily-- you find amazing archeological sites juxtaposed with beautiful baroque piazzas. Syracuse has some really impressive Greek and Roman ruins, including a remarkably intact ancient Greek theatre remaining from when the town was a Mediterranean powerhouse 2500 years ago (the city now uses it to put on Greek tragedies ever year). Besides Syracuse, my other favorite city so far has probably been Taormina, which is a coastal resort town in Eastern Sicily. The entire town is perched atop a steep cliff overlooking the sea, meaning that no matter where you are, you have an amazing view of both the waters and of Mt. Etna, a nearby volcano (and the largest active volcano in Europe-- only a couple of miles in from the coast, it quickly rises to about 10,000 feet!).
In just the short time I have been here I feel like my Italian skills are getting substantially better. My vocabulary hasn't improved tremendously, but I feel much less inhibited at speaking than when I was in class, which really makes a big difference. I feel like every day I am getting a bit better at using more complex phrases and verbs with confidence, and my hope is that by the end of the summer I will have markedly improved. Still, I have a long way to go, as I realized a few days ago when I had to go to a computer repair shop to fix my laptop, and my unimpressive tech vocabulary (consisting solely of "il computer") prompted a two-hour conversation based almost solely in pantomime.
Although usually my days are pretty straight-forward, I always find myself surprised by something or other. For instance last night was my only night in the small inland town of Ragusa, and I didn't expect it to be particularly eventful until a stream of fireworks began going off. I wandered over to that part of town, and I found out that June 6th just happened to be the holiday of Ragusa's patron saint, which meant that the entire town was celebrating. It was really impressive-- the streets of this tiny town were absolutely filled, with people watching the parades, live music, and fireworks.. Taking part in this holiday celebration was really neat for me, especially because it was so unexpected. I felt like a privileged guest, as I experienced the culture and religion of this town in a way that was much more first-hand than I had ever thought I would.
Today I am traveling to Piazza Armerina, a town mostly famous for its 4th Century Roman villa, that was buried under a mudslide for centuries, preserving the mosaic-filled interior. I'm going to spend three nights here, taking day trips to other nearby towns. After that I am traveling to some of the islands off the coast of Sicily-- Pantelleria and the Egadi Islands-- and then I will explore the Northern coast of Sicily, including Sicily's largest city, Palermo, and the Aeolian Islands. Every city I have visited so far has been very different from the last, so I am excited to see what these next areas are like.
I hope your summer is also going well-- I miss everyone at home so much. If you want to reach me this summer, the only way to do so is by email, so just write to me and I'll try my hardest to get back to you pretty soon (I'm checking my email every couple of days). I'll be flying back to Boston on August 4th, and I'll be there for a week and a half, so friends from school should give me a call during that time if you're going to be around. I'll be getting back to Salt Lake on August 17th, although I'll be going to Arizona for a few days as soon as I get in to help my brother move in to college. I should still have a few weeks at home though, so hopefully I can spend some time with everyone.
Keep me posted on how your summer is going-- it gets pretty lonely being on the road alone, so emails from friends make a huge difference. Take care, and I'll talk to you soon!
posted by Andrew S. at
1:37 PM
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