Evening Out In Bassano

This Saturday I had my first experience leaving Paderno del Grappa and exploring a new city, Bassano. Bassano is only a 30-minute bus ride from campus and the bus company was very low priced because 47 other CIMBA students traveled to Bassano as well. Although I was arriving in Bassano with 47 other students 16 of us decided to dine at a delicious family-owned Pizzeria. Once we ordered our pizza the owner came up to the table and said “The chef is going to bring your pizza out to you personally, this is very special”. The polite, enthusiastic chef walked to our table with a ginormous smile presenting to us a large heart shaped pizza. The atmosphere in this Pizzeria was unlike anything I have experienced in the United States. Each worker greeted us with open arms and anticipation to learn more about us as well as the other customers dining. This opened my eyes to how greedy and careless Americans can be. An older couple talked to my friend and I for 30 minutes about hockey, Italian food, and various Italian customs. I was thrilled to have talked to this Italian couple because they shared valuable information with us and took the time out of their day to hold a meaningful conversation with strangers. After leaving the pizzeria we went to a nearby bar where I met a new Italian friend named Emma. It was quite embarrassing when I first tried talking to her by using hand motions and speaking English very slow when she laughed and said, “ I speak English very well, no need to play Charades!” Although I do not speak any Italian, Emma taught me different greetings and valuable sayings. Yet again, I was amazed by how friendly every Italian was and how willing they were to become friends with new people. I enjoyed watching how the Italians communicated with one another and the different mannerisms they had. It was interesting to see how almost every Italian smoked cigarettes and ran around the corner to pee outside. A few Italian men approached me laughing because I was wearing a tank top and told me that Italians always cover their shoulders and chest in the winter. After looking and realizing that none of the Italians were even wearing short-sleeved shirts and they were all bundled up in layers, I became embarrassed again. All in all, I had a great time exploring Bassano, meeting the locals, and learning new Italian customs; I will be returning to Bassano in my near future.

Journey Here

Immediately as my journey to Italy began and I walked into Air France at the Chicago O’Hare airport the entire atmosphere and surroundings had changed to a European feel. Various signs were in different languages, French food was being served, and the workers were speaking several different languages. As I boarded the plane the flight attendants greeted us with “bonjour” and “ciao”, they were all very friendly. I was a bit worried about sitting on the plane for eight hours but each seat had their own personal television and many movies to choose from. I started off watching a newly released movie but ended up sleeping the entire flight. I woke up exhausted but was excited to be in Paris and get off the plane. While in the Paris airport I was expecting to see the Eiffel Tower but I was soon disappointed when it was not visible from there. Once we settled down at the airport my friend and I decided to look for food nearby. We found a little stand with muffins and she tried to order one muffin but we became very confused when he gave us three and the total was 18 euros. I started laughing saying “no, no we only ordered one” but the man looked at me with confusion so we let it be and gave the other two muffins to other people. The muffins were delicious and much lighter than muffins from America and tasted like angel food cake. Our layover in Paris was an hour and during that time I met several more CIMBA students. When we boarded our flight to Paderno the flight attendants spoke four different languages so it took a long time for them to explain all of the safety precautions. Just like the flight to Paris I slept the entire flight and woke up eager to get off the plane and take the bus to Paderno del Grappa campus. All together the journey from Chicago to Paderno del Grappa went very smoothly and I am hoping my travels home are similar