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Italian trip By Sophie Major, University of Southampton
La settimana in cui gli studenti entusiasti sono andati in Italia‌
By Sophie Major, University of Southampton Jesi 17th-24th June 2014 When packing my impossibly tiny suitcase and desperately trying to make sure I had everything I needed for a week abroad whilst remaining well within Ryanair’s strict 10kg hand luggage weight limit, the imminent trip to Italy was giving me a simmering feeling of rising excitement. Although I had visited Italy twice before; once on a family holiday to the beautiful mountainous region of Umbria aged 10, and once on a school ski trip to the Val d’Aosta aged 14 during which, along with my peers, I confess to have not paid much attention to Italian language or culture due to being rather more interested in laughing at us falling over; I was now an adult and a linguist eager to soak up all the language, culture and experience that this trip to Jesi had to offer. On Tuesday morning, the boarding passes were printed, spare photocopies of all travel documents strategically stashed in both bags in case of emergency, and my departure for the train to London was looming; this was it, I was really going back to Italy! 2
After a monotonous train journey to London Victoria, made bearable only by my new foray into George R.R. Martin’s ‘A Game of Thrones’ on my Kindle (a craze which had long gripped many of my friends and to which I had finally reluctantly succumbed) followed by a quick lunch at McDonalds, I boarded a coach headed for Stansted Airport. All was running smoothly as we made our way North out of London until we hit a traffic jam and crawled along for over 45 minutes; pulse slowly rising, I SELFIE FROM STANSTED knew by now everyone had AIRPORT arrived at the airport (thanks to their ‘selfie’!) and was starting to worry if I’d be there in time. Luckily I was, and when I walked up to the group, ridiculously stuffed miniature suitcase in tow, I could see their grins of anticipation for what we were about to discover. On arrival in Ancona, a scattering of city lights below an inky sky, we were chatty (chiacchieroni!) with a craving for gelato italiano.
MAMMA MIA !!!! CHE GELATO! 3
We explored our hostel,
which was comfortable with friendly owners, and made arrangements for our first day in Jesi, during which we experienced breakfast al bar,
visited many beautiful churches, wandered around the enchanting cobbled streets and piazze, and sat outside with aperitivo watching the people of Jesi wander by.
We concluded our fantastic day of getting to know Jesi and each other with a meal we prepared in the hostel consisting of delicious fresh local ingredients; a perfect way to end such a lovely day; the trip was proving to be more enjoyable than I ever could have hoped. 4
Our days in Ancona and visiting le grotte di Frasassi on Thursday and Friday were both informative and pleasant, and the temperature was steadily rising, but I could sense everyone’s excitement for the big day which was looming; all we could think about was “sabato andiamo a Roma!!” When the time came we were groggy from our 5am start but clearly full of anticipation; we’d made our packed breakfasts and drawn up our itinerary of where we wanted to visit, so after a quick snooze on the 3 hour train and an adorable romantic reunion courtesy of Carla and Alfredo, we headed off to the Vatican City.
I had been labelled a Christian since I was baptised at 5 months old and had attended a Church of England primary school, but I had never really felt any sense of faith and thus pride in my religion until I started attending church and discussing my beliefs with close friends during my first year at Southampton. This relatively new sense of trust in my belief and in my identity as a Christian meant that I viewed the trip to Italy, and in particular the visit to la Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano, as a journey of faith during which I would discover, reflect and grow as a Christian. Whilst this is partly true, I have to confess that I found the Basilica profoundly disappointing. 5
Perhaps this is due to its status as a cathedral of the Catholic faith which I have never experienced, yet I personally found it devoid of any sense of spirituality for a few reasons: I was shocked at the commercialism surrounding what is supposed to be a place for prayer and worship. Secondly, the extravagantly ornate gilded interior of the Basilica was completely open to allow the flow of vast numbers of chattering tourists and had nowhere to sit or kneel for quiet prayer, thus making it feel more like an atrium to a palace or museum than a place of worship; and lastly because I could not see a single depiction of the crucifix which I feel is the pinnacle of all Christianity, leading me to question if not to Christ, to whom was this palace dedicated? After tears shed, not from feeling moved but from feeling strangely empty, and big hugs from my friends, I emerged into the blazing sunlight and was consoled with a pizza margherita! Our Saturday in Rome was living proof for me as a tourist that you cannot gain a true understanding of a place until you have stood right in the centre of it. As breath-taking as Rome’s architecture is both in the guide books and in reality, what the guide books fail to illustrate is that if you look like a tourist, you will get harassed like one. In addition to the scorching heat and the teeming streets, we contended with being approached and shouted at from all sides by street vendors and beggars. It is to be expected that with a city as famous as Rome come hordes of tourists such as ourselves, especially in the summer season, and with the tourists come those who will try and make money from them; having experienced similar in Paris I should have expected it, yet I was still taken aback at the sheer number of sellers or beggars and their sometimes shameless methods of trying to get you to empty your pockets. I remember at one point discussing with one of the group that we’d never realised how tiring ignoring people could be!
HAND MADE PAPER FROM FABRIANO
I can honestly say that, whilst I loved the day in Rome and am now proud to say that I have been there, I was delighted to return to the calm charm of Jesi! For these reasons, I felt that my own experience of our visit to Rome could be described as bittersweet. In the days which followed, including a blissful day at Alessia’s lovely parents’ house, we bonded more as a group and began to dread having to inevitably come back to life at home. I can truly say that I have seen some beautiful places, grown more as a person in a week than I had in a whole term at Uni, laughed more than I had done in months, and, most importantly, gained precious friends and memories along the way. Thank you to the University of Southampton for making this trip possible, to Alessia for sharing her home with us so warmly, and to all the group for making it more special than I could have hoped! Sophie Major