Italia/Hetalia/Italy

I guess I want to make a post about my overall experience in Italy. So to start, let's talk food. I thought that Italian food was going to be more than what it was. I thought that stereotype that all Italians eat is pasta was just that...a stereotype, but boy was I wrong. I already don't prefer pasta, so I've been looking for non-Italian food the whole time lol, but luckily the second Airbnb was in a like mini Chinatown (or just an Asian community), so I had boba almost every day (as one does). But I will admit that this one place that Rachel found that was more authentic/ non-touristy had REALLY good pasta that actually made me want to go back. But I realized that the only vegetable that is a part of Italian cuisine is literally tomatoes. I did eat a lot of bruschettas, but towards the end I started getting a little clogged up because that was the only fiber in for two weeks, lol...So 6/10 on my food rating.

The people were by far the worst part of Italy. I've never dealt with so much outright racism in my life. Every day, it felt there was something racist happening. People would hard stare, ignore us, be overall rude, and avoid sitting next to me, and just now some random man took a picture of me. I don't know, I felt very uncomfortable by the general Italian public. I did meet like 3 really cool Italians. One of them was Naoni's friend, and we met her two other friends. It was a chill evening in the park, drinking cider and chit-chatting about random stuff. I liked it a lot. Also, we stayed with the sweetest, nicest nuns. I liked them a lot. So 3/10 for the general Italian public.

Said general public 🙃

As for the city itself, it was very dirty, like a lot of building that were decrypted and ugly that weren't ruins. Like, not going to lie, I always assume that most of Europe is better than the US in every way. So it was kind of shocking to realize that Italy has pretty crummy areas, and a lot of it too...dare I say more than what I'm even use to, but I thought it was cool that whenever we walked around the city (specifically Rome) you would just come across amazingly beautiful places. Like cathedrals, fountains, and simply building facades. I liked that. And also it was pretty easy to walk around the city. Like though, the city is literally HUGE walking around wasn't bad since there was so much to see and appreciate. And Naples was the wild west, it had no rules, so it was kind of cool to just be part of the chaos. And Pompeii was chill, though I didn't realize just how massive the city was/is. So for that I give the location 8/10.

Finally, the public transportation...it was very Italian. All the buses I took, I didn't even try to guess when they would arrive. I would just stand there and hope that it came some time soon. And the metros were a little bit better and more on time, but the lines were so limited. I think Naples had just one line and Rome had an astounding TWO. It was really hard to bounce over the city, so we kind of had to plan where we went in order to be able to do things in a more timely fashion. But the chairs were comfy, didn't have too many delays while on the bus/metro. And more or less people respected the on-and-off rule. So I'll give the public transportation 5/10. It wasn't good nor was it bad, just very mid.

Anyway, when I first arrived in Rome. I hated it and decided that I would never come to Italy ever again. But after going to Naples, Pompeii, and more being in a more central location in Rome I decided that I just need to stay in more touristy areas, have an insider or white person, and accept the fact that Italian food isn't all that special lol. I would love to come back one day, but it's not at the top of my list. Overall, Italy was a 6/10 for me, but since I was with my besties, the location didn't matter much. I was just happy to with y'all. We did so much stuff that made the mundane fun and exciting. I look forward to every day, and hopefully we will be hanging out together soon! Thanks babes, I miss y'all already.