I spent the last two weekends exploring other areas of Italy: I tried new foods, saw famous art, and appreciated views in Florence and Como. I learned some things along the way, and I'll share some of them here!
1. If you're staying in a hostel, look for one that has social events each night.
I stayed in a hostel with friends from my program in both Florence and Como. We had looked into ratings ahead of time and looked for 'social' hostels. The hostel in Florence had karaoke and beer pong, and we met lots of people around our age. In Como, I was traveling with two other people as opposed to 5 others in Florence. With a smaller group, we met people our first night that we ended up exploring Lake Como with the next day.
2. Go in with an open mind.
This one might seem obvious, but I think it is still important to note. My friends and I got into Como at 8:00 AM and it felt like we were the only ones in the town. We knew it was the off season and once we arrived, we figured it would be a quiet weekend of relaxing by the lake. However, as the day went on, the town filled up, and we ended up having a great, more exciting experience. We met people at our hostel from the U.S., UK, and New Zealand and explored the little towns around Lake Como with them.
3. Embrace the unexpected.
While exploring Como, we briefly ended up stranded in one of the towns with a French couple and two people from Hungary until we all found rides back to town. We had been planning to take the ferry to another town, but due to strong winds the ferries weren't running. Instead we took the bus back to a small town on the way to Como and explored for a bit. By the time we ended up back at the stop, bus after bus passed us by, overcrowded due to the ferry shutdown. There were no taxis in the area, with it being such a small town. After waiting for almost 2 hours, we decided to do what the locals and bus drivers had advised us: hitchhike. We stuck our thumbs up and held up a sign that said 'Como' in all caps. A guy named Lorenzo picked us up and we squeezed into his Fiat Punto. We tried to use the little Italian we knew to make conversation with Lorenzo, but after asking about his age, work, and favorite restaurant, I was pretty much out of ideas. I did not think I was going to be hitchhiking through Italy with a couple of friends that I'd met that day, but it happened, and oddly, it was one of my favorite moments of study abroad thus far.
Quick note - there were five of us, we all had cell service, our hostel knew where we were, and I was tracking our route as we drove, so I felt pretty safe. It was a last resort, though.
4. Save money for the weekends.
Going into study abroad, I knew that I wanted to travel on the weekends. I chose Europe because of its reputation for being easy and relatively cheap to travel within. After being here about a month, I have realized that travel is sometimes more and sometimes less expensive than I thought. A one way ticket to Florence, for example, was only 5 euro from Rome. But the round trip travel to Como was almost 90 euro. Sometimes you can find a flight to London for under 20 euro, and sometimes it is around 200. And of course, once you arrive, you are going to want to try the local food, go out for drinks, and enjoy gelato. I have been doing my best to limit spending during the week however I can, including by cooking most of my meals.
Some of my friends here booked trips months in advance and saved a lot because of it. There are pros and cons to this approach, and I would recommend doing this for 1-3 places that you are certain you want to go to, and then leave the rest of your weekends free. That way you can travel with the people you meet once you arrive abroad.
5. Get in the touristy parts of the trip, but save time for wandering!
In Florence, I knew I wanted to see the Michelangelo's David and The Birth of Venus and go to a wine window, which are scattered throughout the city. We also went into the duomo, a beautiful cathedral with the most intricate outside walls and a painted ceiling. Then there was the Piazzale Michelangelo, which is an amazing spot to watch the sunset while enjoying a view of the whole city. People will bring a bottle of wine and sit on the steps of the piazza. (If you do this, don't forget a bottle opener! Or ask the guy in the food truck in the piazza, which worked for us and many others.) As you can see, Florence included a lot of touristy bucket list items. But my friends and I also left time to wander some of the less crowded areas of the city, and we found a cute cafe and plenty of pretty views. I valued this part of the trip and the parts that involved seeing some of the most famous artworks in the world. (For students with an EU visa, you can get into the museums for 2 or 3 euro as opposed to 12-20!!)
It is crazy to think that I have been here about a month, and what a month it has been! Exploring Florence and Como was so much fun, and I still have so much of Rome left to see. Stay tuned for more advice and adventures.
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