I have to blame this post on the French lady I met on the
plane in Montreal. She started my negative mood, so she is to blame. But I also
think it’s fair of me to write something not so picture perfect about my
travels, because let’s be real, traveling is not always easy and is not always
perfect and fun. And if I’m getting really honest, we all know how much I rave
about Italy, its beauty, its people, its language, its culture, its food, etc.
I could go on… but thank goodness Italy has all of that to offer on its good
side because it is very easy to find yourself down, frustrated, angry and upset
at the way you end up treated and the number of obstacles that can be hurdled
into your perfect day.
So, this French lady started my flight off terribly. Her
and I were one of the first people to board the Air Canada flight, Montreal to
Brussels. Naturally, since we were the first, we had to wait for the entire
plane to board after us, a completely sold out flight, that’s a lot of people
and luggage to be put in the overhead compartments! I’m settled, so I start
playing with the television on the seat, and pick a move to start watching, I
put my headphones in, sit back and relax, watching this film as the plane
continues to board. Then all of the
sudden I hear this lady talking at me in French, and I just can’t help but
stare at her with a dumb look on my face as she continues to talk at me in
French. Finally, she pauses and asks in French, if I speak French, to which I
respond no, (although I understood everything she was saying) so she then
begins to lecture me in broken English about how it is important that I remove
my earphones while we are on the ground because it is critical to my own safety
and the safety of the passengers that I listen and not be distracted by my
headphones. I just stared at her, said thank you, and put my headphones back
in. This drove me INSANE and ruined my mood for my transatlantic flight, why
did this lady insist on micromanaging the way I was behaving on the plane, when
I was doing something that was so not even worthy of commenting on? ‘sta gente.
Waiting in the boarding area for my flight to Bologna
from Brussels was another experience. 5 minutes before our flight has started
to announce, folks start lining up at the gate ready to board. I sit there and
watch. These people were so interested in being the first on the plane that
they had queued up in anxiety even before they had started the boarding
process, you can only imagine how that turned out once they did start the
boarding process and asked for those who need assistance and other special
passengers to board first… what a nightmare! At least I can laugh at that one.
Now let’s talk about space. Personal space. This is
something you don’t get when you’re in Italy. Especially public space, like
sidewalks. This straight up gives me stress. Running, walking, skipping, no one
cares. It’s you against them, and I NEVER win. It’s mind blowing, literally. I
walk by myself nearly hugging the wall most times or on the cusp of the curb,
groups come at me, single people come at me and none of them move. I always
secretly swear to myself that the next person who does it I’ll just plow right
through, but I never have the courage!
Ultimately, the perks of being in Italy outweigh these few unfriendly details, but I do think it’s important to keep it real, so I hope
some of you can sympathize with some of these points!