The magic of June
Ciao! Here’s the debrief on my second month in Italy (bonding with my host family, preparing for my visa appointment, and trips to Florence, Antibes, and Cinque Terre). 🫡
The month of June always feels a bit magical to me. Time starts to speed up, even though the days themselves feel slow and long. I discovered a local waterfall this month and played mermaids for an afternoon in the crisp, blue river. Natural bodies of water are so spiritually cleansing, and with the ever increasing chaos of international relations… I think we could all use every dip we can get. I go to the ocean at least five times a week, but usually daily.
I’ve been bonding more with my host family, thanks to candy and a bit of additional chaos. Marta and I have comparable sweet tooths, which is honestly quite impressive on her part. We offer each other sneaky candies and cookies as a sign of camaraderie. She is an absolute fire cracker at ten years old, and she genuinely inspires my inner child. It’s also interesting to be called out on my English in moments where it’s not as direct as it should be. Marta takes me very literally, and I honestly appreciate that. When I was encountering issues with my Spanish visa, I told Marta that it’s “our fault” because the USA is strict on foreign visa’s, so the EU is fairly reciprocal. Aussie’s have much less struggle because they are kind in their own visa process. Direct Marta quote: “You said “our,” but you did not make the visa law, AND you vote for the woman. There is no “our” in the fault. It is Donald Trump’s fault. I HATE Donald Trump. The woman was much more pretty too.” Fair enough, sister!
Her parents were so sweet to me in helping me to get back on track with my visa, which included making me a doctor’s appointment, printing almost a hundred random forms and offering me an ink pad to take DIY fingerprints for the FBI. I had professional fingerprints taken before coming to Italy, but of course the North Olmsted Police Department fucked that right up and sent them to the wrong location, and they are now lost forever. Per my host mom, Italy’s government is too corrupt to offer personal fingerprinting, so if you’re not getting an Italian visa, you are shit out of luck. She still tried calling over five different police stations and random private investigators, but no luck. Left with only the option to DIY, I did feel like a detective when taking twenty samples of each finger and sending those off to the FBI. Let’s collectively pray that they are processed in time for my visa appointment.
On a lighter note, my travels this month included a weekend trip to Florence, a day trip to Antibes, and another weekend trip to Cinque Terre.
Florence is a must visit city. I have never seen a community so centered around art. Art is an invaluable piece to any real culture, and the Uffizi art museum is truly unbelievable. Even after three hours, I fully lost my way simply trying to exit! I doubt I was the only one, as it’s a conglomerate of extensive rooms, awe inspiring hallways, and a broken elevator. The labyrinth offers a single exit, beginning from a winding staircase, hidden within one of the many hallways.
Antibes is a slice of heaven in the south of France. Beautiful artisan markets, patio restaurants galore, a Picasso museum, and crystal clear water. We walked 10 miles on our day trip, which has amazingly become my new normal!
Cinque Terre is utterly breath taking. It’s the type of nature that can’t be captured in photos. The vast water, ever expanding greenery, rolling hills, sprinkled with tiny cities, which pop up seemingly out of nowhere in pockets along coastlines. Again we pulled almost 30 km in two days (roughly 18.3 miles), but this time our walks included hiking the equivalent of 310 flights of stairs. Yeah. 310!
This weekend I will take a train followed by a bus to my accommodation on Lake Garda, then retrace my steps, hop on the train to Venice, board a ferry to Croatia, and spend a week off of work wandering around Pula and surrounding cities.
I’m excited for my near future, but I’d be beside myself if I didn’t mention the absurdly stressful political corruption and wildfire of misinformation being spread in regard to the US and Israeli governments. Let me be clear in my stance: free Palestine and fuck capitalism. Please do your part to reach out to your representatives; they must hear that their constituents are anti-war and pro-Earth. Boycott billionaires, buy local as much as possible, and love your neighbors. Please don’t look away. Please don’t give up your individual power to apathy and nihilism. We need community leaders more than ever, and we must all do our part to organize and fight the good fight.
Thanks for reading!
Take care,
Thea 💛
