August in Milan is wonderful. No, that’s a
bullshit. If there is one period of the year when the busiest city of Italy
gets the most boring place on Earth, it’s definitely the month of August. If
You ask me why, you probably don’t know how this country works. According to the unwritten rules of the
Italian lifestyle August - but especially the week of Ferragosto, the national holiday - is the time of the holy break when Italians leave everything behind to unbend
themselves on the seacoast.
What can a poor European volunteer do when the
city is abandoned by its people, the blinds are down, the bars are closed and
the streets are empty? Well, he can
only follow the exodus.
It all started in late July with a three-day
long, intensive #ifyouknowwhatimean, mid-term evaluation in Verbania, a
charming town which lies on the lakeside of Lago Maggiore. It was a great occasion to
reunite with fellow volunteers from all over Italy in order to share our
experiences and other stuff. As you can see, we worked really hard to
understand what were the turning points and main lessons of our EVS:
Not many hours after we had returned to Milan,
Giuseppe, my fellow Hungarian-Italian popped up to discover the hidden secrets
of this city and the surrounding areas. Lago di Como and the house of George
Clooney seemed to be an ideal destination for a weekend trip:
The next weekend, our beloved Turkish buddy,
Methe knocked on the door after taking a sharp curve in his Eastern European railway
adventures. At the time of his arrival, we asked ourselves the following question: why should we stay in the empty Milan if we
can refresh ourselves in the cool water of the stunning lake Como.... So we
went there once again:
The ensuing
days brought the long weekend of the sacred Ferragosto. Staying at home at
this time when everyone is lying on the beach? This was not an option for me..
First stop: the beach of Varazze, the town close
to Genova where the Riviera of Palm trees commences:
Second
stop: the beach of Pescara and the house of Manuel (the well-known Erasmus
stripper from Szeged) in a hidden village of Abruzzo region.
Third stop:
Sulmona in the heart of Italy and the place of Alessio, who is also a
well-known Erasmus stripper of my hometown:
As for the last step of this summer tour I took
advantage of the low-cost flights to see the legendary Ruben Gadea Mira, my
old-time Erasmus fella in Valencia, Spain. The five days spent with him turned
out to be an authentic Mediterranean experience with loads of paellas, beach
parties, tequila shots and sports like football and
adventurous river trekking. Although three years has passed and many things has
changed in our lives (but especially in his life) our Erasmus spirit still
keeps rocking:
On the way back
to Milan, I took a short visit in Zaragoza where I had the pleasure to be
guided by Cris, an ex-erasmus friend from Milan.
So dear friends, this was the summery summary of my
last (and probably the busiest) month here in Italy. In less than one week time
my European Voluntary Service will come to an end, and I will return to my
hometown in Hungary. From there –hopefully- I will come back to you with my
ultimate post. I really hope that you enjoyed the last month of this summer as
much as I did. Laters!
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