You Never Know Until You Live It

I love traveling, granted I've only gone out of the country once. I hope to do it many more times. I was lucky enough to get the chance to experience a few month in Italy, living, eating and learning things I thought were only true in movies. I'm going to shed some light on some facts and fictions about Italian lifestyle.

Fact. Italians eat pasta for almost every meal of the day. No its not just in the movies, it happens everyday.. E.V.E.R.Y.D.A.Y. Italians have over 1,000 different recipes for pasta. And don't you dare even think about adding salt or pepper to a dish they place in front of you, it changes the whole recipe. I got in trouble a few times for that :P When I returned from Italy I couldn't eat pasta for two months! I will say this though, the quality of food in Italy is wonderful. Everything is so fresh! Produce markets cant except any produce unless locally grown. So if your looking for good quality, Italy is the place for you.

Fiction. Pizza, everyone likes pizza right? Well this isn't really true, I'm not a fan of pizza.. But I know good pizza when I have it. Italy is where it all started. Surprisingly back in the day pizza was known as "peasant" food. I was so excited to eat real Italian pizza, but sadly I was a bit disappointed. I landed in Italy and after getting through traffic we arrived at the mall and went to the food court to grab a bite to eat. We picked out some pizza and sat down, I took my first bite and instead of having a  delicious flavor overwhelm my mouth I had a mouth full of dry tasteless pizza. I wasn't too quick to judge, I wanted to give it another chance. I had pizza about 8 different time after that, and sad to say I was disappointed all 8 times. But one day my sister and I decided to go out on our own and explore the mountain top town of Tivoli. After shopping at a local market we got hungry and decided it was time to find some lunch. We walked around and finally found a small pizza place tucked away in the corner of an old building. We purchased a few different slices and a can of coke and sat in a park overlooking the small town. Needless to say, that pizza was amazing, some of the best pizza I've ever had. But I still think america beats Italy as far as pizza goes.


Fact. Italian men. Oh my, oh my. I can say without a doubt that Italian men are the most attractive and stylish men I have ever come across. Just go to the mall, every other man looks like a model dressed in his best. Its shocking! It makes me want to ship them all over here haha. The men don't follow and gawk over the woman like you see in movies, but one look at an attractive Italian and you almost wish they would! As far as men go, Italians are at the top of the list.

Fiction. Adapting to a new culture is not as easy as it looks. When you think about living in a foreign country you think about how amazing it will be, but once you live it, it is a horse of a different color. Don't get me wrong, living in Italy is great but just like any country there is the good and the bad. Doing laundry for example.. Here its as easy as pie to clean your clothes, just grab some soap, throw your clothes in the machine and away it goes. Now in Italy they do have a washing machine, but as for drying your clothes? Well just walk outside and take a look at the tree's around you and odds are you'll spot out the clothes line to hang your wet clothes on. When I saw it I had a flash back, I thought ahh I remember those, back when I was 5 we had one in our back yard. Granted its not that bad in the summer, clothes are dry in a few hours. But try it in the winter? Oh your in for a treat, Don't even think about washing your favorite sweater, cause you wont have it back dry for at least 5 days. Don't get me wrong, there are many wonderful things about Italy, like family. Family is more important to an Italian than working. Family comes first, which I think is wonderful. Most Italians are very welcoming, you feel like a part of the family after just a few hours of spending time with them. I made some great memories there and met some wonderful people.



My experiences in Italy were life changing. I hope everyone gets the chance to visit another country atleast once in their lifetime.