I think most of us from other countries dream of visiting Europe and in particular, Italy. Italy is always romanticized on television with her picturesque scenery, authentic and delicious foods, gondolas, wines...the list goes on and on. Believe me, she certainly delivers all of those things and more!
I have been afforded a great opportunity to not only visit Italy, but to live here. Isn't that awesome? Naturally, while I am here, I have visited so many places and intend to visit many more. I am often asked how do I like living in Italy. It is indeed an experience. Living here allows me to be submerged in their culture. I can tell you they certainly love their holidays and truly enjoy their wine. But despite wine being offered around the clock, you will not find drunken local roaming the streets or disrupting different establishments; this is reserved for tourists (lol).
The Province of Pordenone
I live in the northeastern region of Italy (Friuli-Venezia Giulia). The province of Pordenone is known for its beautiful mountains, blue rivers, and fine wines. I have the pleasure of seeing the Dolomite Mountains everywhere I go here. There are many small villages to visit here and lots of history. Feel free to google it yourself (lol). There are many ski resorts, museums, and places to leisurely shop , There are markets most days of the week in different towns where you can get fresh fruits, vegetables, hand made clothing, crafts and anything your heart desires.
The area I live in is within reasonable driving distance to Venice. I can and have caught a plane from Venice and gone to Paris in less than two hours.
Wine and food
Many people know Italy for it's great wine. And I must agree, they have plenty to offer. This area has plenty of wineries that offer free and paid tours. One of my favorite winery tours was at Bessich. The location is beautiful and the wine is superb! If you like sweet wines, I strongly recommend the Bacche Rossa and the Bacche Bianche. Below are a few photos from my wine tour there and they are not photoshopped or enhanced in any way!
If you are offered grappa while you are here, stay away from it! It is condensed devil spit and orphan tears! (lol) Grappa is so very strong and would put the average social drinker no their back. I do not drink often and had gone out to lunch with some coworkers. They offered me grappa and I drank a very small shot glass of it. Boy oh boy! The little, petite, female coworkers of mine were turning it up like it was water and were not affected at all! They laughed at me leaning from my one small glass.
Honestly, I have not been to many places in this area to eat Italian food other than the Avianno Inn. The pizza there was pretty decent. Please note pizza here is not always the same as the "authentic Italian pizza" you receive in the U.S.
One of my favorite places to go is Shi's. This is a Japanese restaurant with some of the best sushi's I have ever had. I also love their Soba Kataki.
The People
I have come across so many wonderful Italians during my stay here, to include my beautiful co-workers. The majority of the people I've met are very friendly, very helpful, and very beautiful. As with any place in the world, there are sprinklings of assholes. But I will talk about visiting Rome later (lol).
There are quite a few Americans in this area in part due to the military bases. You will find people of all races and colors here.
The people of Italy speak Italian. Seriously, people ask me all of the time what language they speak. I tell them Italian and they say "Spanish?". Then I have to explain to them that Italian is a completely separate language from Spanish and native to the country of Italy. A pleasant surprise to me is that most Italians speak English as well. The more I travel, I am quickly learning that Americans are notorious for only speaking English. When I go places throughout Italy, I try to use the broken Italian I've learned. I often get a congratulations on my attempt and a conversation in English.
Prior to coming, I was forewarned by my well meaning spouse who had gotten here a little before me, to leave any low cut blouses, sheer materials, short skirts, and anything "sexy" behind. He said that the dress is very modest here and I should acclimate (LMAO). Well, he obviously had not gone outside of the house and mingled with the locals because that is far from the truth. Overall, the Italian women do indeed take pride in their looks. Again, there are always exceptions. I've gone to the grocery store plenty of times to see a sexy nonna (grandmother) shopping in heels and full makeup. Short skirts are worn by women of all ages here. The only time where I have seen true modesty is when you are near a religious center.
The men seem to have a love of well fitting, skinny leg pants. And I must say, most men I've seen here do fit the image of the hot Italian you see in movies. Again, there are exceptions. The teens seem to be stuck in between the late 80s fashions and the style the Mexicans wore around the 90s in the West Coast.
Everyone seems to love physical activities, walking, jogging, working out and bike riding. When driving in this area it is easy to be thoroughly annoyed by the bike riders and the moped drivers. They merge with regular traffic and you must respect their right of way. I am in their country and I do, regardless of how much they hold up traffic or the moped drivers swerve in and out of the lanes like they are on a real motorcycle.
I will tell you when you get here, please understand that ITALIAN PEOPLE DO STARE. It is very off-putting at first. When I say stare, I mean STARE. Yes, all caps and bold font (lol). They call it people watching, I call it staring. If it is a group of them together, they will all turn around and stare at you together. No words. No expression. Just eyes. I asked a few of my coworkers about this and was told that a majority of them know most people in their areas. When they see something new, an oddity, they look and observe.
When I first moved to my neighborhood, I went for a stroll to explore and exercise. As I was walking through, people were literally coming out of their homes to look at me. My friends ask "Is it because you are black?". No. I doubt it. I think it was because I was new. I felt like a semi celebrity parading down the street. And I will get to those questions I get asked most shortly (lol). Most of the people were very friendly, smiled, and would say "Eh-llo!". Then they would call their family members out from their homes, point, and the rest would say "Eh-llo!". This completely killed my opportunity to use my well practiced "Ciao!" and "Salve!" (lol). I smiled, waved, and said "hello!" back to them. I also wondered how did they know I was an American and not an African-Italian or an African.
I have had a few instances of people invading my personal space when I have been out and about solo. I have big hair worn in a natural state. There have been occasions where women have come up and touched my hair without my permission. I tell them "non toccare!" (no touching) and they would either scurry away or say "bei cappelli" (beautiful hair). I also had a coworker who would do drive by touchings. I was curious as to why she would come all the way to my area to use the printer when she had a much better one in her office. Because of the length, I did not feel it the first few times this was done. Once I was attempting to move and felt a tug and saw a shocked her at the other end. I told her I do not like people touching me without my permission and she stopped. I was advised by a friend that there is no such thing as personal space in the Italian culture. They also love long hair and something that is different. My big, long, hair does garner me a bit of attention and also has provided me with free meals a time or two. At the grocery store I frequent, the cashier knows me by my hair and refuse to let me go through anyone else's line. I don't mind answering their curiosities about my hair, but I can't do unsolicited touching.
Next up, Part 2: The questions I am asked most regarding being black in Italy.
