| Black Travels.com An Original Guide to Exploring the World for the Adventurous Black Traveler |
| A Tour of Italy by Jacinta Smith |
After college I started working for a
national travel company that catered to
students, teachers, and young adults.
The atmosphere of this company was
full of adventurous minded people that
would travel at the drop of a hat. So
after about 6 months of working here I
was past due to take a trip. I was 23 at
the time and I decided if I was going to
visit Europe I wanted to explore Italy. I
tried to find people to go with but turned
up empty handed.
national travel company that catered to
students, teachers, and young adults.
The atmosphere of this company was
full of adventurous minded people that
would travel at the drop of a hat. So
after about 6 months of working here I
was past due to take a trip. I was 23 at
the time and I decided if I was going to
visit Europe I wanted to explore Italy. I
tried to find people to go with but turned
up empty handed.
So I decided to go on my own. My game plan was a two-week trip to Rome, Florence, Venice, and
Naples.
After college I started working for a national travel company that catered to students, teachers, and
young adults. The atmosphere of this company was full of adventurous minded people that would
travel at the drop of a hat. So after about 6 months of working here I was past due to take a trip. I was
23 at the time and I decided if I was going to visit Europe I wanted to explore Italy. I tried to find people
to go with but turned up empty handed. So I decided to go on my own. My game plan was a two-week
trip to Rome, Florence, Venice, and Naples.
I was kind of apprehensive about being on my own, but on my second day in Rome I went on walking
tour and ended up meeting 4 other solo travelers. We all went out to dinner that night together. Through
the rest of my stay in Italy I traveled with two other solo travelers. There are pros and cons to traveling
alone. Staying in hostels makes it very easy to meet other travelers. I think it's important though to keep
a focus on what you as an individual came there for.
Along with the two other travelers we explored the museums and restaurants of Rome. I don't
remember being overtly aware of people's reaction to me as a black person. Since it's a big city I did not
receive a lot of attention. Luckily for me meeting these other travelers provided me with a companion
to go to Naples with and I'm glad for that. Naples is a great city (although opinion varies on that), but
not a city I would like to travel alone in. Naples has a reputation for being crime laden, but like most
cities it's just important to be aware of your surroundings at all times. While Naples is known for crime
it's also know for very helpful citizens. For example the plaza outside of the train station in Naples had
prostitutes standing around with a stream of cars full of men parading past the women. When we asked
a nearby bus driver for some help with directions, he didn't know so he turned to someone else who
then turned to the prostitutes to ask them to help us. To me this scenario represents the paradox of
Naples.
Florence is a charming and picturesque city. There is more of an influence of America in Florence than
the other cities because of all of the study abroad programs located here. I would walk down the street
and hear many conversations in English, mostly from American students. A very popular and busy
place was the McDonald's located in the plaza across from the train station. Besides that there is plenty
of other outlets for real Italian culture. I think overall the people of Florence seemed to be the friendliest.
There was a laid back feel to this city.
My one bad experience happened in Rome. I was checking out the shops when I entered on in
particular. The store was completely empty except for about 5 sales women. In a friendly voice I said,
"ciao!". All of them were heavily made up attractive Italian women and not one of them greeted me in
return. Instead they all spoke in Italian and stared at me frostily. One of them whispered something to
another girl and she laughed. I went closer to them, only because they were near some clothes I wanted
to check out and when I looked into one of their eyes she just stared at me in a way to intimidate me.
Needless to say I wasn't happy and left. That's when my two fellow companions came in handy. They
heard my story and we were all so upset by it that we went back to complain. One of them spoke Italian
and provided translation for us while we gave a piece of our mind to one of the women. She flatly
denied that they had done anything wrong. Although I definitely didn't let that ruin the rest of my trip, I
still will never forget being treated that way.
I would definitely recommend anyone go to Italy. It's an incredible country. My experience left me
wanting to go back for more.
Naples.
After college I started working for a national travel company that catered to students, teachers, and
young adults. The atmosphere of this company was full of adventurous minded people that would
travel at the drop of a hat. So after about 6 months of working here I was past due to take a trip. I was
23 at the time and I decided if I was going to visit Europe I wanted to explore Italy. I tried to find people
to go with but turned up empty handed. So I decided to go on my own. My game plan was a two-week
trip to Rome, Florence, Venice, and Naples.
I was kind of apprehensive about being on my own, but on my second day in Rome I went on walking
tour and ended up meeting 4 other solo travelers. We all went out to dinner that night together. Through
the rest of my stay in Italy I traveled with two other solo travelers. There are pros and cons to traveling
alone. Staying in hostels makes it very easy to meet other travelers. I think it's important though to keep
a focus on what you as an individual came there for.
Along with the two other travelers we explored the museums and restaurants of Rome. I don't
remember being overtly aware of people's reaction to me as a black person. Since it's a big city I did not
receive a lot of attention. Luckily for me meeting these other travelers provided me with a companion
to go to Naples with and I'm glad for that. Naples is a great city (although opinion varies on that), but
not a city I would like to travel alone in. Naples has a reputation for being crime laden, but like most
cities it's just important to be aware of your surroundings at all times. While Naples is known for crime
it's also know for very helpful citizens. For example the plaza outside of the train station in Naples had
prostitutes standing around with a stream of cars full of men parading past the women. When we asked
a nearby bus driver for some help with directions, he didn't know so he turned to someone else who
then turned to the prostitutes to ask them to help us. To me this scenario represents the paradox of
Naples.
Florence is a charming and picturesque city. There is more of an influence of America in Florence than
the other cities because of all of the study abroad programs located here. I would walk down the street
and hear many conversations in English, mostly from American students. A very popular and busy
place was the McDonald's located in the plaza across from the train station. Besides that there is plenty
of other outlets for real Italian culture. I think overall the people of Florence seemed to be the friendliest.
There was a laid back feel to this city.
My one bad experience happened in Rome. I was checking out the shops when I entered on in
particular. The store was completely empty except for about 5 sales women. In a friendly voice I said,
"ciao!". All of them were heavily made up attractive Italian women and not one of them greeted me in
return. Instead they all spoke in Italian and stared at me frostily. One of them whispered something to
another girl and she laughed. I went closer to them, only because they were near some clothes I wanted
to check out and when I looked into one of their eyes she just stared at me in a way to intimidate me.
Needless to say I wasn't happy and left. That's when my two fellow companions came in handy. They
heard my story and we were all so upset by it that we went back to complain. One of them spoke Italian
and provided translation for us while we gave a piece of our mind to one of the women. She flatly
denied that they had done anything wrong. Although I definitely didn't let that ruin the rest of my trip, I
still will never forget being treated that way.
I would definitely recommend anyone go to Italy. It's an incredible country. My experience left me
wanting to go back for more.
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