Learning How to Travel in Italy

In Italy, people are beyond helpful and exceedingly nice. I have been so thankful to be in a country that is forgiving when it comes to language barriers. Being in another nation, when you don’t know the language, can be extremely frustrating and worrisome all at the same time. While I have been studying in Siena, I’ve been traveling all over Italy so that I may truly immerse myself in the culture of the Italians. In doing so, I have encountered being lost numerous of times and completely confused on how the systems of trains and buses operate. One tip I have quickly learned is to never schedule transportation within less of an hour from each other, because in Italy being on time is not much of an importance. And this could quickly lead you to missing your next ride to your desired location.

My two friends and I were traveling to the Amalfi Coast for five days, and we planned to see Positano, Sorrento, and Pompeii since they were all in close proximity to one another. On our way to Naples, we had two three hour long bus rides, and then one thirty-minute train ride to out B&B in Meta. Our buses were thankfully linked with one another, but our train was not and the last bus from Rome to Naples had a forty-minute delay. We were suppose to reach Naples at 8:15 P.M., but we didn't get there until 8:55 P.M. The last train from Naples to Meta was scheduled for 9:00 P.M. My friend and I had literally five minutes to find the train station, buy our tickets, and locate our terminal before the train left. The people we asked at the bus station of course helped us locate the train station. We all had little hope in catching this train before it was scheduled to leave, but as I described before nothing is on time. The train was also delayed by ten minutes, so by the time we found our terminal we had two minutes to catch our breaths before it was time to board our train. We were so flustered but praising God at the same time that Italians are always late, otherwise we would have missed our only way to Meta. There was the option of buying a taxi, but with college student salaries there would have been no possible way we could have afforded one.

Although, as I mentioned before we learned a valuable lesson to never ever book your buses or trains around the same time as one another. If it wasn't for the Italians being so eager to help us navigate around, we would have been lost beyond hope. However, we made it to Meta, so if you are ever in doubt the locals in Italy will be there to help you out!