Things I'll Miss

A non-exclusive list of things I’ll miss about Italy:

• My friends

• Aperitivo hour

• Hearing opera singing and piano playing from nearby apartments

• Getting coffee from my Italian mom and her yelling at me about how little of the language I know after two years of living here

• “Field trips” where we wine taste in world renowned wine regions

• The smell of jasmine

• The smell of coffee and cigarettes in the mornings

• River days

• Seeing Italian men speaking on the phone at the beach while twirling their hair and/or chest hair

• The Wednesday/Saturday market where the boys working at the fruit stand give my friends and I extra fruits and vegetables because we are pretty girls

• The vintage market on the first Sunday of every month

• Pop-up artisan markets

• Quaint towns and streets

• Watching soccer games at bars

• Midnight bike rides home from the bar

• Midday bike rides home from the grocery store

• Late dinners on the balcony

• The art and the history

• The guy who walks around playing his saxophone

• Not leaving the house without running into friends

• Gelato

• Walking pretty much everywhere all the time

• Dogs being welcome pretty much anywhere all the time

• Public transportation (*note: I also won’t miss this at all)

• The town buzzing each morning and evening, but being dead between the hours of 1 and 4 each day

• The overall unseriousness

• Buildings reflecting pink light at sunset time

• The poppies blooming along the city wall and our running trail

• Lime and red pepper chips

• Thunderstorms

• Day trips to Milano

• Sunday strolls

• €7 cocktails (that come with snacks!)

• The public library that’s modern-ish except for the one room that feels like it could be a library in a story book

• Karaoke

• Hearing old ladies gossip over their morning coffee

• Hearing old men gossip over their morning coffee

• The pretty churches

• The church bells

• Flower stands and fruit stands

• Seeing all the different ways two people can fit on one bike

• Being known by the kebab shop guy

• Watching people talk with their hands

• The town square and the random activities that happen within it (concerts, medieval times/renaissance fairs, figure skating on rollerblades, soccer games, Christmas markets, wine fairs, etc.)

• Fresh squeezed orange juice

• People-watching at the outdoor bars

• Spontaneous dinners, drinks, and day trips

• Being walking distance to my friends’ houses and sharing spare keys with many of them

• The slow pace of life

• 🤌