What a beautiful day. Beautiful Italian day, actually. We’re walking around Sirmione enjoying the sights; we meaning newly met friends. Big leafy trees everywhere surround a beautiful lake which is over-looked by the Swiss Alps. A very grand and breath-taking area made a great photograph. Elderly couples walking around, hand in hand, and their other hand with a gelato was very common to see. Everything seemed so Italian and the way it should be. “Let’s go down this way, it looks way cooler,” Ceci announces as she leads the way.
All excited to be in a European country for the first time, I just want to have time to take the beautiful sights in. But we are rushed, trying to explore the whole peninsula in about two hours. There was so much to do right away; it was so overwhelming. Should I go explore the ancient castle that the entrance was built around? Or should I go to the very popular museum of torture? Or should I get the Italian gelato I’ve been craving months before we even arrived? So many things were running in all of our minds at once where I am sure everyone was deciding on what to do.
As we start to explore we come across a very modern looking gelato shop. Walking through the glass door, you notice how clean and up-kept the shop is. Everything is all white and made to look new and clean. The gelato lady is wearing all black and had a mystery about her, but she was still very nice to have to deal with first time gelato costumers. The most colorful thing in this shop was the different flavors of gelato as you look through the spotless glass barrier: strawberry, cappuccino, raspberry, mint, and tiramisu to say the least. “Comè posso aiutarti?” the gelato lady asks in a sweet tone.
I scramble my brain to think of the correct response to her question. Within seconds I respond with, “Il cappuccino gelato alla vaniglia in uhh, that cup, per favore.” That cup? Come on, it’s quella coppa; it’s not that hard to remember.
I feel my cheeks turn a light shade of red due to the small stumble of my choice of words and being wrong on the spot. I was ready to prove to myself that the six or so years of Italian have finally paid off. But thankfully the lady knew what I was talking about and quickly got my order of cappuccino and vanilla gelato. The language barrier seemed to bother people more than it did to me but I must have underestimated it.
We still have time to kill so we enjoy the lake Sirmione is on. We slowly walk around with cameras hanging around our wrists and still managing to eat the gelato in record time. We reach both ends of the peninsula in the matter of two hours, and end up with more than sixty pictures of everything. We walk through the narrow roads where there are no sidewalks and there is room for a small car and a straight line of people to fit through at once. You see the beautiful grand houses across the fog that formed among the lake.
But the fun and freedom quickly ends when we get stuck with our mothers as we reach one of the most beautiful cities in the world: Venice. Stepping on the boat, excitement builds up in everyone. High school students have taken over the boat that takes you to the island. Flashes of light catch your eye as the pictures are being taken of the crashing waves with Venice in the background.
Deciding groups for who goes on which gondola, it isn’t hard because we automatically go with our mothers. The gondola guy is wearing the red and white striped shirt you would imagine he would wear. He speaks with a beautiful accent when trying to communicate with us in English. But when he sees a buddy of his in another gondola, they speak with such ease and speed, it is amazing to listen and comprehend them. We travel down the narrow waterways with old buildings towering over us. … That’s just one of the good times with friends, with no overbearing parents around.
Disney World: the happiest place on Earth. Every little kid’s dream vacation. But when you’re young, you’re with your parents and you don’t know anything other than that exists.
Waiting in long lines gives you time to think. Sharing some experiences with your mom isn’t enough. You want to get out there on your own and start something for yourself. There’s more satisfaction when you can do something on your own. I understand she wants what is best for me.
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