Life in Italy

Vacation Italian Style

Ahh!  Summer Vacation.  A chance to get away for a little while and relax and enjoy some peace and quiet.  A chance to get away from the crowds of the city and enjoy nature and a bit of solitude.  That may be my idea of a good summer vacation, but it does not fit too well with an Italian's summer vacation.

First of all, most Italians take their vacation at exactly the same time.  August 15 is the big summer holiday here. It remembers the bodily ascension of Mary into heaven (No, I couldn't find that in the Bible either).  But that date is the center of most vacations.  Many businesses, small stores and even restaurants will close for a week, or more likely two for a period that includes August 15. 

 Since everyone goes on vacation, either to the mountains or the sea, vacation type places tend to be extremely crowded during this time.  Ironically, if you want solitude, peace and quiet, try staying in one of the big cities like Milan.  We have heard that over 1/2 the population is gone during the height of the vacation season.  The times we were in Milan during August it seemed a virtual ghost town.

But that's ok because Italian culture does not place the same emphasis on personal space as the American culture does.  Thus if you go to a campground here, your tent pegs may get tangled with those of the tent next to you.  And if they snore at night you most certainly will here it.

From their tent (or cottage or hotel room) they will head to the beach.  Here they will have their umbrella and two chairs that they rent for the day, week, month or summer.  Think of it like a sporting event.  The best "seats" are the rows near the water - which of course cost more.  The "seats" a few rows back cost less, and the really cheap ones are five or six rows away from the waterfront. 

So you go in and rent your umbrella (row 5, umbrella number 6) and it is your for the day.  Immediately on all sides of you are the other umbrellas.  It really seems a bit too organized for Italy.  The beaches are covered with these rows of umbrellas.  One "bathing establishment" after another - right on up the coast.

This picture, from Google Earth, is of the coast near Viareggio in Italy. You can see the umbrellas neatly arranged in rows and columns.  Almost the whole coast is like this!

Some Italians will opt to head for the mountains.  There they may have a summer home (the dream of all Italians), or they may camp (just as close and crowded as camping by the beach).  But the Italians don't mind the crowdedness.  I suppose it is a part of their culture to appreciate the others that are around them and enjoy their vacations together.

This nice thing is that most Italians (and most Europeans) will have about 5 weeks of vacation time.  Two of these weeks will be fixed to these dates in August, and another week or so may be fixed to certain dates in December/January when the company closes.