Big City vs. Small Town

            The fast-paced city of Florence sits 3 hours away from the small, quiet town of Spoleto. The two drastically different locations represent the separate lifestyles within Italy. Flooded with American tourists crowding every street, snapping quick photos, and filling up the tables at every restaurant–my experience in Florence took my out of my comfort zone, which had been found in Spoleto. The main differences I noticed while traveling for the weekend to the large, popular city of Florence was the food, culture, and language. It felt like a different world compared to the one I have come to call home in the last week and a half.

Food

While you can get a large plate of freshly made pasta or a pizza with homemade sauce and yummy cheese, you also have the option to order avocado toast with an iced latte. Florence gives the opportunity to immerse oneself in the traditional Italian foods, but also have comfort in being able to order simple American dishes. The first time this past weekend that I ordered iced coffee off a menu, I got excited to finally see something that felt like home. Although excited for one of my favorite drinks at home, I realized they are serving iced coffee to please the many American tourists rather than forcing people to try what they cherish as their morning drink.

In the depths of the Umbrian countryside, there are many delicacies that are not found in other parts of Italy. The people value the importance of the food that belongs to their culture. Many of the meals consist of freshly made pasta, delicious pizza, truffle on top of many dishes, and basics such as bread, cheese, and prosciutto. Walking to a small café in the morning, you get two things: a hot cappuccino and a croissant. There are no options that reflect American cuisine, but only true Italian dishes for all three meals of the day: breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  

Culture

Taken over by the American tourists, the culture within in the crowded city is similar to one we might see in the states, such as New York City. It is face-paced with people rushing from one tourist spot to the next, trying to see each attraction in the span of two or three days. Much time is spent dodging tourist groups with earpieces in listening to their guide. The mealtimes are similar to American times such as dinner is around 7 instead of the standard later meal Italian normally partake in around 8:30. The shops are open from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m. without a break in the middle of the day. The culture of Florence had changed in the past years as it has become one of the most desired travel destinations in Europe, and it has changed away from the tradition into more American ways.

After being part of 1 of two groups of tourists in Spoleto, it has become apparent that they don’t get tourists often. The way of life here is drastically different that the bigger name cities that surrounds it. The people are up early in the morning, opening their shops until around 1 or 2 p.m. when they close for what they call “siesta”. Siesta time is from around 2 p.m. to around 5 p.m. then the shops and restaurants open back up for dinner. The standard time for dinner is around 8/8:30 p.m. and the meals normally last much longer. The workers do not force their clients to eat fast and get out the door so they can clear the table, but instead it is cherished time that is not rushed but strongly valued.

Langauge

“No need to speak Italian” said the waiter at the restaurant. As we sat down for our meal as a large group of 16 college kids, we began to use the minimal Italian we had learned in our language courses. After hearing our attempts to communicate in their language, the workers turned to us and in the most perfect English accent told us to stop trying and that there was no need. This was a rather common occurrence in the city of Florence. Most of the café, restaurant, and shop workers spoke almost perfect English in order to communicate with the millions of Americans that flood their town with tourism every year. Instead of enhancing our learning of the Italian language, we were brought right back to English and speaking in the way we know instead of embracing the city and country we are in.

 While pointing and talking with our hands and using google translate to communicate with the locals of Spoleto, we have been troubled by language barriers many times. We have not come across many people in this small town who speak much English let alone any perfect English. Many workers point at the different options on a menu or in the café food encasings in order to figure out what we are asking for, while we also use hand motions to explain what we are saying. We have learned basics of the Italian language which have become helpful here in the town of Spoleto as the language barrier continues to challenge communication with the locals as some of their only tourists.