By Raina Burusnukul
Page Editor
Over spring break, I had the immense opportunity, alongside other Amarillo College Presidential Scholars, to immerse myself in the culture, history and charms of Italy.
From the hustle and bustle of Rome to the solitude of the Assisi countryside, we embarked on a 10-day grand tour of Lo Stivale, or the boot of Europe. We visited some of Italy’s most prominent cities: beginning our grand tour in Venice, then making our way to Florence, Bologna, Assisi, Pisa, Pompeii, Sorento, Capri and ending our journey in Rome.
Italy has always been on my bucket list, and visiting before I had an established career and a hefty savings account felt like a pipe dream, so this experience was truly one of a lifetime. Roaming the historical cobblestone streets of Italy, basking in the Tuscan sun and relishing in the Mediterranean breeze, I couldn’t help but feel in awe of the mere fact that I was there at all.
Visiting with a focus on education enriched our visit in ways a self-made itinerary couldn’t. We watched a traditional glassmaking demonstration in Murano, a leathermaking demo in Venice, and sailed the coasts of Capri, admiring the island’s alluring, rugged landscape. We also toured the most stunning basilicas and cathedrals, such as St. Francis’s Bascillica a top quaint, rainy Assisi, where we admired some of Giotto’s finest frescoes, which are paintings done on the freshly applied plaster of a wall or ceiling, providing some much-needed respite from the busy streets of Florence and Venice. However, the most striking cathedral for me was the Pisa Cathedral, where we watched a live demonstration of its remarkable acoustics as a guard sang and harmonized with her echo.
Like most, I had high hopes for Italy’s cuisine, but I left feeling a bit underwhelmed. Although I wasn’t entirely disappointed with the food we indulged in, I never had the life-changing pasta I expected. You can never go wrong with a simple marinara pasta dish, but after a while, it got repetitive. However, that isn’t to say the entire trip was a bust; I had the most divine bowl of tortellini with bolognese in Bologna, the birthplace of the sauce, seated at a table in the middle of the street. There was something about the exhaust in the air and the cars whizzing past us that truly made the meal memorable.
One aspect of traveling I often find the most daunting is my lack of familiarity with a given city. I feel aimless, ignorant of its ways and sometimes overstimulated. Because of that, I sometimes never truly feel comfortable or grounded enough to “take it all in” or engross myself in the new sights and sounds around me and really appreciate the moment. However, I never truly faced this problem during our tour, as we often had local guides giving us a more detailed lay of the land, so to speak, as we admired the remarkable architecture, statues and fountains embellishing the city’s streets.
Having a local guide with us helped me feel more grounded throughout our visit because their knowledge allowed us to familiarize and immerse ourselves in the heart of a city. Our tour guide, Alessia, truly made our trip unforgettable. She embodied the same lively and warm nature of the Italian people, which was evident everywhere we visited. We sang, played games and tried popular Italian snacks with her on our tour bus, forming lasting memories and bonds along the way. I’ll never forget her warm smile, her hearty laugh or her plush Dumbo keychain that led us through Italy’s crowded streets, hanging on by its final threads on top of her tour flagpole.
Learning the dense history of Italy, the Roman Empire, and how its rich culture has evolved into the vivid tapestry it is today underscored the wonders of education to me. Behind an education is a deeper understanding and appreciation of the vast world around us, helping us better understand the complex web of humanity and life itself.
Before we knew it, we were bidding Italy a tearful “arrivederci,” lugging our souvenirs, tears and memories with us back across the pond to the plains of Amarillo. As corny as it sounds, visiting Italy, broadening my perspective and experiencing the fruits of life emphasized just how rich and bountiful it truly is.
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