Italy, perhaps, is one of those countries where you can find out a brand new, unknown side of life of its inhabitants everytime you visit it. The difference between the mentality of the locals and nature of the north and south of the Italian “boot” is very noticable for the traveller. Travelling Summer University (TSU): “La vita e bella”, organized by the brilliant AEGEE-Cagliari and AEGEE-Napoli-team, did their best to show the maximum of possible places of interest to the participants interchanging relaxing days at the seaside with the days aimed to explore the cities and its surroundings such as Pompei, Casserta castle and Villasimius.
It is believed that one shall, once a year, visit a country which he or she had never been to. But even if you have already been exploring Italy, I highly advise you to have a look at its southern part and Sardinia. The nature and sea may remind the traveller of some other countries’ coast but the local people, their traditions and architecture are very unique. Speaking about this, I’m glad to have had a chance to take part in the “Italian gestures workshop” which was a very curious experience and the participants of the SU tried to speak only by gestures afterwards.
Even a 13 hours route from Cagliari to Napoli by ferry turned out to be an amazing experience: catching the sunset from the upper deck of the ferry, taking fabulous photos of the sea and sky changing each minute and playing group games both indoors and outdoors.
The morning we arrived, Naples seemed to be very noisy compared to southern Sardinia while walking, no, heading to the tourist places of Naples- as the verb with the meaning of slow leasurable pastime does not match the rhythm of the city. It seems that the capital of the Campania region has borrowed these traits from an unpredictable and now dormant volcano Vesuvius.
The most unexpected in rather chaotic Naples was a spotlessly clean subway which is claimed to be one of the cleanest and most beautiful in Europe. It truly can be compared to the museum. A way from the surface to the underground train took us about ten minutes, but I must say that this way has never been so very enjoyable! Multicoloured shining tiles, wall paintings and yellow (which gradually turns into blue) colour of the walls on the escalator while going deeper under the sea level will not let you be bored on the way.
Typical landscape of the city is a lot of narrow streets without dividing lines for pedestrians, bikes and cars, making it difficult to move for the latter; lots of small shops and pizzerias (italian cuisine is something we all were willing to try in Italy and compare to the same meals prepared in our native cafes and restaurants); narrow windows with shutters. Italian desserts, pizza, pasta and ice-cream made us dive into the atmosphere of the country.
The title of the “most mystical church in the world”, I would have awarded the Church of St. Mary in Naples. A few wealthy Italians established this Church with the aims to bury the poor and homeless. With the time going the inhabitants of the city came up with the legend that anyone can legally adopt a skull and bones of any beggar. In exchange, the spirit of that person will protect and bring good luck to its “adoptive parents.” Such a frightening procedure was permitted until the 60-ies of the last century. “Adopters” also pledged to build a sort of shrine with a roof for the selected skull inside the church, to pray for their souls and collect all the skeletons, that was not possible, for obvious reasons. However, judging from the lottery tickets and other gifts that lie next to the remains, it seems like the legend was a true story.
Tyrrhenian Sea, which washes the western coast of Italy, is much warmer than the Mediterranean Sea in Sardinia. Along the coast of the south of the country we had a great opportunity to enjoy its incredible beauty, admiring nature, azure sea, a variety of landscapes, mountain cliffs and scenery villages scattered on hills by two boat trips made in Cagliari and Amalfian coasts. Amalfitanian coast – the pearl of the Campania region includes the towns of Amalfi, Sorrento and Positano, a real paradise places where our 35 people enjoyed swimming, jumping into the water right from the boat and sunbathing.
Leaving Italy, I realized: I do not have the feeling that I have explored the country enough. In Italy, it is necessary to go back again and again to learn all of its faces. In addition, the Italians are very friendly and hospitable, at least our organizers. They, for sure, made it the best summer holiday for all of us.
Written by Alesia Vorobyova, AEGEE-Minsk