Ten Travelling Tips

Twenty-eight hours, one bus, three trains, two airlines and three flights, four train stations, four airports, three bags, a backpack a handbag, two airline dinners of fish and rice, two panini, blueberries, overpriced water and coffee, three time zones, two swollen ankles and one exhausted Coco, I made it to the other side of the world with all my bags and sanity intact- just about.

I said earlier that traveling is a good thing and everyone should do it. I still say travel but now I’m going to modify this statement. Traveling, like chocolate tasting is not for the faint hearted. Before you travel you should know a few things:

1.) Make sure you have time to get to where you are going. If you live in a place like Bra, you need say about six hours to get where you are going, especially if you are traveling by Train Italia on a Sunday headed to Milano Airport. That’s where you insert the Bus to Carmangola-train to Torino-then another one to Milano- and a final one to Milano Malpensa airport. It helps if you have friends on the way to help you get there and keep you company on the journey. Thanks L and S.

2.) Always smile and be friendly to the check in and immigration people. Most people have bad experiences with them, having been made to pay a lot of money for having excess weight, even as small as half a kilogram. I have had my fair share of paying for excess baggage seeing as the fact that I have tried to travel light all my life but have failed drastically at it. My excuse is that you have to pack things to be prepared for all the unexpected possibilities. I get away with my excess by traveling with others who are light travellers, we end up sharing the weight. This makes one of my brothers, K, an excellent travel companion, he carries literally nothing for a long trip but somehow it is always enough, even for the unexpected things.

Back to the smile- I was blessed this time round, I approached the check in counter, with my three bags (you are only allowed two and you pay for the third one) prepared to pay for the third one and the check in lady smiled and almost violently waved me away when I was talking about paying for my third bag. Three bags checked in headed off to the Western Part of Central Africa, I prayed that they all got there in tack and did not get redirected to another airport or anything funny like that.

3.) Don’t wear too may accessories that have metal. When going through the security clearance sometimes I get really irritated. You wait on a line for so long only to get there, you have to take out your computer, which is in a case, inside your stuffed backpack, then if its winter you remove your boots and boots can be difficult shoes to wear. Then you take off all your jewellery- don’t be silly and go wearing an armful of bangles to the airport. I did it once, that was silly. And then you have to take of you belt. Make sure that you are wearing something that can survive a few footsteps without a belt otherwise you are in for embarrassing moments! All that for a few seconds through the security. If you are unlucky enough to cause the machines to beep you might just be frisked- Not fun.

4.) Take a look through the shops in the airport but don’t buy anything, unless you really have to. Why you ask? Because you are going to have to carry that stuff with you till you get to your destination and if you decide to be silly and get things that are heavy and overpriced well, you might regret it later. And you might come across an airline that is super strict about hand luggage. You will have to stuff all your purchases into you already over stuffed bag. How did I get away with it with a backpack and a handbag? Somehow the purchases squeezed into the backpack and I decided/ convinced myself and the guy at the boarding gate that that my handbag was actually a part of me and I only had one piece of hand luggage.

5.) Eat and Drink. While travelling it is important to keep hydrated, I would stick to water since the airplane wine is-well for me (a budding wine guru/snob) the wine is subpar. The problem with water is that you can’t bring any with you from home. You can only buy it after the security checks. That means you will fork out about €2.00 for a 500ml bottle of water. I found that water was conveniently only sold in 500 ml bottles so that’s was a dent in my pocket because a on a four hour layover you need to drink water lest you get dehydrated. If you are like me I have to munch a bit when I travel, it passes time and I do not like being a hungry traveller. A hungry traveller can be an agitated traveller. Carry snacks from home (home-made chocolate chip cookies, blueberries, peaches) you will save money and if you are like me with allergies some airports do not cater very well for your allergies and you will be stuck with a limited overpriced selection of things you can eat. And don’t wait saying that you will have a meal in the plane. You will have one but it will probably be an hour into the flight and you probably won’t like what is being served (another airplane meal of rice and fish?) but you will eat because you are hungry.

6.) Sleep or Watch the in flight entertainment. The only way you will survive a long journey is taking a nap between the flights/ buses. You will feel better and it will pass time when you are crossing the time zones. I started watching The Godfather, it made much more sense now that I have been living in Italy for nine months. My brother T, will be very happy that I have finally watched some of the movie. But I will stay away from the underworld gangs and bosses.

7.) There is no need to push! Honestly, you will all get in to the plane and you will all get out of the plane! Relax and don’t shove people. When travelling know that the concept of personal space is something that many travellers do not understand or want to understand. On the  last flight, fully booked, no leg room, people, their ‘hand’ luggage and me.  As soon as we landed they removed their seatbelts and decided it was time to leave (contrary to the cabin crew’s warning) opened up the overhead cabins and then stood waiting. I knew that we had a long way to go so I stayed seated and enjoyed another 30 minutes of sleep while the animated and agitated passenger kept complaining that everything was taking too long.

8.) Have you story straight. Remember I said that you should smile and be friendly to the check in people. Different story when dealing with immigration. Smile, but be confident and know your story. The immigration people like to make you sweat and ask you unnecessary questions when all the information is right in front of them. Sometimes you find some kind ones who put you at ease. The immigration gentleman in Frankfurt decided to have a long conversation with me about food and cooking when he saw where I was studying. If anything he was intrigued, in a good way. Seems like being at UNISG pays off for a conversation starter. On the last leg it was more difficult to explain. I had to go through two immigration officials. One strictly to check the visa and the final one to check my vaccine certificates. He held me hostage for a while, looking at my documents and looking at me, somewhat confused, I think my ‘straight story’ appeared to be dubious. His puzzled statement was: “You were born in country A, you hold a passport of country B, you live in country C, and you are coming here to country D, and finally you do not have the one required vaccine to enter country D because you are allergic to it”. I gave him a frank, yes that is my story and he let me through.

9) Always mark your bags and know what they look like. On these fully booked flights from Europe to the Western part of Central Africa, there will be several stops. You hope and pray that you get your luggage and that in the journey it is not rerouted to some obscure airport or that it is not tampered with. That does not include acts of God such as a rain storm in East Africa. After being pushed around by the other overzealous passengers who kept grabbing pieces of luggage they thought was theirs then upon discovery that it was the wrong thing they would throw it back on the baggage claim. I got my luggage, although it did not look like mine. The rain storm in East Africa had changed soaked my bright red suitcase allowing it to be blotched by brown and black marks of the baggage handling. My grey suitcase has a few more battle scars added to its exterior casing, it lost one of its wheels but it is still usable. My third little bag, the one I feared for the most did well and came out a survivor- maybe because it was too heavy (it felt like I put some mercury in it) to be tampered with.

10) Rest. When you get to your destination, rest, breathe in your new environment and don’t have too many expectations, that only leaves room for disappointment. Have an open mind to new experiences, tastes, flavours, smells sights, sounds, and enjoy the adventure.

Bon Voyage.

Now an added disclaimer. After talking with my parents I found out I have nothing on them when it comes to travelling and adventures. If you really want to know about adventures talk to people older than you. They have seen many more sunrises and sunsets than you and possibly they are more adventurous than you give them credit to be. 

Don't be a Dinosaur...

“To travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries.” – Aldous Huxley

Majestic Great Zimbabwe

One of the best things about living in Europe is the boarders, or lack of. In my humble opinion as a student in living in the European Union, I’m very happy with the creation of the Schengen area. There is a certain freedom you feel, time and money permitting you can travel and see the world- well at least Europe without the hassle of applying for a visa each time you cross a border. Other parts of the world make it slightly more difficult to cross into their borders.

In this way food travels allow us to engage with new ideas. Crossing the boundaries of food allows us to have a glimpse into cultural groups and their food ways. In the past year I have learned about sustainability of food systems and how communities and countries try to achieve the goals of social, environmental and economic sustainability.

My studies here in Italy have taught me to travel. One of our guest lecturers explicitly told us to get out of our bubbles and see the world. Exercise our palates and learn new flavours, rediscover the old ones at the back of our memories. Go places and engage. Try new food. Engage with people. Cross borders (the metaphorical ones, the tangible and physical ones) and have new experiences.

Travel is what I have done, and what I hope to continue to do. I'm so thankful for all the travel opportunities I've had in the past year and the ones that I hope to have in the future. The little that I have seen of the world has allowed me to debunk a few of the myths about other countries.

This means you can have weekend getaways in neighbouring countries. You can drive across the boarder, fly, walk, cycle. Do what you choose. While living in the western part of Switzerland, my family and I would drive the five or ten minutes across to do our shopping in France. It's surprising how just a few minutes away the road signs and street markings are different.

One of the many frontiers between France and Switzerland

In an effort to save some money while visiting Switzerland on a didactic trip our class spent the day in a border town in Switzerland. When our day was over we walked across a bridge that led us into Germany. Staying at a German hotel meant that each breakfast we had was a full on German breakfast: cured meats,fresh fruit juices, breads, yogurt, cheese, pickles- the complete opposite of the simple Italian breakfast of strong coffee and a sugary pastry.

Switzerland in the distance, across the river from Germany

I have been able to spontaneously fly across the border to visit a friend in Paris. It was great, just a short flight and there I was in a vibrant French city.

The Eiffel Tower, Paris at twilight

Living in Bra has its advantages, surprisingly. We are an hour away from the airport so we can get a quick escape (as long as the airport is open and not under some sort of renovations, as it happens once in a while, or if the trains are not on strike). Bra is also just a few hours drive down to the coast, the Italian and French Rivera. A quick spontaneous drive down for a dinner of mussels and French wine. Great things to do with housemates is go on spontaneous adventures.

Azure Skies and Ocean of the French Riviera

What about a business trip to a capital city. Its more interesting when the capital city of the country you live in happens to be Rome. A visit to Rome should be on everyone to do list, at least once in a life time. It’s a historic city waiting to be discovered. When you are there all those history lessons form years gone by about ancient Rome and the Roman Empire begin to make sense. There is something spectacular about seeing the grand structures and edifices for yourself. If you thought they were larger than life in the history books then you will have to prepare yourself  for the alluring grandeur of Rome.

Roma, Italia

In the words of our guest lecturer,Frank, a charismatic Italian-American restaurateur from New York City "Don't be a dinosaur". See the world, and talk to people. A trip to the other side of town or even to the neighbouring city is your start to breaking the boundaries and borders that separate us.

Travel makes you appreciate the place you call home. Yes, you can even appreciate Città di Bra and its 30,000 inhabitants.

“No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow.” – Lin Yutang

Liguria

In the few months of living in Italy I have had several moments of flashbacks and recall of memories of my past lives. With what audacity do I have to speak about a past lives? I bestow the power upon myself within reason and with a very good explanation.Each time I have relocated to a new country I consider that starting a new life. So I would roughly calculate myself as having had eight lives already and I’m well in my way to my ninth life.

This particular flashback was brought on when my traveling buddies and I were in the Italian Rivera, in Liguria , the north-western coastal region of Italy. We were on the search for mussels, well just really good fresh sea food at restaurants. We had some hits and some misses in our search. The best seafood that we found was at the local fish market in La Spezia. It’s a pity that we only got to see the seafood and not cook it for ourselves. The cooked seafood at the several restaurants we tried left a lot to be desired. I would say in my limited Italian that it was così così (so-so).

Mussels at the market in La Spezia

Fish at the market

While walking through the fish market I remembered growing up on the Mamaroneck Harbor in the USA and having our land-lord and his brother come looking for mussels in our backyard that led to the shore. I knew nothing about the little creatures that are delicacies. I thought it was strange and even funny that a senior citizen would drive up to our house in his bright red classic Mercedes Benz, wear his rubber boots and walk down to the shore with his metal pail and all other tools needed in obtaining the little shell fish.

Seeing and smelling the ocean brought back memories of childhood and the past four years of my life living in a costal city. It was quite refreshing to be near the ocean. I had never seen the Mediterranean Sea, now I can say I have. I think I had the best vantage point that I could ask for while walking through Cinque Terre . (These are 5 little Idyllic Italian towns connected by footpaths. Their beauty is in the way that the towns are situated on the edge of cliffs and the houses literally cling onto the rocks.)

At Riomaggiore

You could describe the towns as the quintessential little Italian village. It was spectacular. Imagine people living in a little village on a cliff. Breath-taking views of the ocean and the mountains. All this can be seen while walking/hiking through the towns. Disclaimer: the memorable walk through Via Dell'Amore should be done with a loved one (although friends are a more than perfect substitute) the name itself ‘street of love’ explains such, and the locks of love illustrate it. Legend has it that padlocks or any sort of knotted materials left by lovers on chain link fences will ensure that their love will last forever.

If you have 5 hours or so to spare while you are in Liguria I would recommend that you walk through Cinque Terre. I would also suggest a little site seeing of the port city of Genova . It’s a grand city with the medieval city walls still intact and numerous castelli (castels) to be seen. While walking through the medieval section of the city I felt like I had been transported to a fantastical place. A place you would only imagine, but alas to my surprise the dark narrow streets lined by enormous buildings from centuries ago exist.

Many of the buildings were being refurbished with modern interiors allowing the inside of the building to juxtapose the ancient outer shell. I must not forget to mention the many beautiful churches that are the norm in Italy. In Genova you will find the beautiful Cattedralel di San Lorenzo built in the majestic Romanesque style. When I see some of the buildings I sometimes think I should have studied architecture. Who knows maybe I will; considering that I have no idea what the future holds for me and anything is possible, for example last year this time I had never heard of Bra, Italy let alone UNISG, but look where I am. I can tell you though that next week I’m planning (well the university is) another adventure to the South of Italy.

Cattedrale di San Lorenzo

Travelers and ancient castles in Genova