Livorno and more

Each weekend I get a craving to leave Siena and experience a different side of the country. I went with a friend and we couldn’t decide where we wanted to go, but it was a long weekend, so obviously some kind of travelling was in order. We planned a day in advance this time. Actually it was just that our planning was so bad it took us a day to leave Siena. Originally we were going to hitchhike to Venezia, just because it is legal here, and I think you would meet some very interesting people…and some crazies too. Estimated travelling time to hitchhike to Venezia however, was 2 days, so we scratched that idea. Venezia is on the cards for next time though. Who can come to Italy without seeing the tackiest and most tourist overrun city?? So, we planned in advance to have no plans at all. We were to meet at the train station the following morning, packed with the few items we needed to survive for two days. From there we would take the first train that was leaving Siena, spend the night there and return late on Sunday evening. We didn’t talk about it, but we both came prepared with a back pack full of our warmest clothes, just in case hostels didn’t exist in the mystery town and we had to sleep in the train station. It was a possibility. And a popular choice for travellers. Not to mention the financial saving. That morning I had checked a few towns on the internet, and Livorno seemed a gem on Wikipedia.

So when the next train to Empoli (and to Livorno), flashed up on the board, we jumped at the idea, and bought tickets for that train, which left in four minutes. We were off! We were living the dream! We got to Livorno, and there was nothing there. I think we might even have been the first tourists to set foot in Livorno. It was good to get a bit off the beaten path. We asked a few passers-by for info on attractions and monuments and whatnot, but they all looked at us confused, as if to say we had come to the wrong town and that there was nothing to see in Livorno. I think this was what I liked most about it. We found a few beauty spots, had the best pizza I have tasted in my life (note, this is no exaggeration), and found a really good breakfast bar, with some chatty Italians. My hopes of going for a dip in the ocean were shattered when I saw the tempestuous ocean. Only if I had a death wish could I have jumped in.

An old man with hat on top of his head.

The seaside. It was wild.

This week I experienced my first taste of homesickness. To this point, it hasn’t really been so hard, because there are so many exchange students around you experiencing exactly the same thing. My image of studying in Italy was speaking Italian all the time, because I was the only foreigner. I pictured everything being strange and foreign to me, but this is not the case at all. I was asked by an Italian “What is it that you like most about the Italian culture?” I thought about it, and I couldn’t think about much positive to say of the people I had met. I liked the Italian stereotype, but there is a massive contrast in reality. Then I started thinking about Australia, and how I miss the openness, the friendliness, and how open-minded people are. I missed everything about Australia, but I wasn’t going to get it any time soon. The next day I went on the search for what I loved about Italy. And of course, you only need to do is open your eyes.