Mastering the Italian Travel Experience | Patience
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Episode summary
In this final conversation, Brian and Anthony explore the intricacies of traveling in Italy, emphasizing the importance of understanding regional differences, managing expectations, and embracing the unique challenges that come with Italian culture.
They discuss the necessity of planning, patience, and flexibility while navigating the diverse experiences Italy has to offer, from the bustling cities to the serene countryside. The dialogue highlights the contrast between the structured life in the U.S. and the more relaxed, unpredictable nature of Italian life, encouraging travelers to adapt and enjoy the journey.
Episode Transcript
Brian Alex (00:01)
Hey guys, we are back around again and I’m just happy to be here today. Anthony, is cold outside. Baby, it’s cold outside. You got your hoodie on. How is Middle Tennessee?
AC (00:13)
No, it’s,
I gotta tell you, was 60 degrees yesterday. I was walking around, really warm. Today’s a little colder, but yeah, it’s been, but, you know, 50s and 60s, I’m happy with it. How is it in Sicily? It’s gotta be warmer.
Brian Alex (00:21)
Thanks.
I mean it was what 16 today Celsius anyway It’s probably similar you know when when you got to put on layers of clothes cuz nothing works and the Windows are paper thin You feel it you feel it even if it’s mildly cold It’s actually colder in the house than it is outside
AC (00:33)
There we go, throwing your Celsius at it. It’s about 58 to 62 around there. Yeah.
Every draft.
I’ve had that.
Yeah, I see that. Yeah, it’s my wife. I came home yesterday. It was 60. And like, I had that fireplace smell. could smell the fireplaces on. I’m like, why is the fire on? It’s 60 degrees. I was chilly. I’m like, you’re chilly, but it’s 60 degrees. It’s 70 on, it’s 70, like five in the house. But yeah, the battles, the battles we can’t win.
Brian Alex (00:58)
And yeah, that’s part of the problem.
Why? It was chilly. you Southerners.
Was it different in Rhode Island?
AC (01:24)
Rhode
Island was a lot like Italy. Every house we bought was old and the windows had, you had to put the duct tape and the plastic on the windows because there was drafts everywhere. Everything down here is new compared to going up north. Up north, unless you had a new house, yeah, have windows drafts, the oil heat was too much. That’s another story. It was a lot like what you’re going through. It always felt drafty.
Brian Alex (01:30)
Duct tape on the windows.
Yeah, yeah.
That is not
the subject of this podcast. you are tuning in, God bless your heart and thanks for sticking around through two minutes of nothing, another show about nothing. That’s what we needed. It was the hero we didn’t know we wanted even. It’s another show, but it’s what we got.
AC (01:53)
No.
Yes, as they say in the South.
Yes.
Here we go.
Brian Alex (02:13)
Another
show about nothing. no, we are, we’re about to conclude some of our thoughts on coming over to Italy. How do you manage? How do you travel well? Or as we’ve described it here recently, we’ve been finding ways for us to examine our preparation process.
but also when we get over here, how to pace ourselves, how to pivot and have a plan B. All of that comes in very handy when faced with Italy because Italy is its own series of dilemmas and setbacks and late things and early things. just, yeah, it’s all over the map. It doesn’t follow a rhyme or reason. I mean, some of that’s the appeal, honestly.
People wanna get out of their rut and I remember every time I’ve been back to the States, I’m kind of slack jaw amazed in the chips aisle or the cereal aisle, how much choice we have. But then watching people going back to and from work and there’s just this rhythm, like clockwork kind of rhythm to life and for a lot of people, maybe not everybody, but a lot of people.
AC (03:33)
It’s true. Don’t think about that,
Brian Alex (03:38)
especially, you where I’m from and you’re at in the Nashville area. Over here, things are a little bit different. And we’ve talked about this before, that people are much more in tune with the weather and the seasons, and there’s a change of things. They’re also much, much more adept at being patient when the bus doesn’t show up that you needed to get on to take you to school, to take you to work. It’s just kind of accepted.
It’s accepted that there are gonna be these anomalies. And I think that throws a wrench a lot of times in our American mechanisms, right? It’s difficult sometimes.
AC (04:13)
Yeah, I mean, the only thing that’s
ironic living in the Northeast, we used to take trains and I would take the train from Rhode Island to New York and it would get stuck just like it would in Italy. It would be delayed. And I remember trips that I would take down to have a meeting in Penn Plaza, whatever. And it would get stuck on the train tracks for like two hours. I get off the train, get back and go right back to Rhode Island.
I would say that
Brian Alex (04:36)
Wasted day.
AC (04:38)
did have that Italian flow that you would see in Italy for delays in trains. But overall, you are right. mean, the flow is very structured here than you could compare to Italian Italy.
Brian Alex (04:50)
Yeah. And it can be, it can
be stressful. I remember one of my friends, I think you met him, actually came over from Nashville and, you know, down here in the deep south, it can be even more difficult and more delays and things happen unexpectedly. was a Sunday I was taking them to the air. We have a couple little airports here, Comiso near Vitoria, way in the south. Good two hours from where I am. so we got up.
AC (04:56)
Mm.
Brian Alex (05:19)
plenty of time to get there. But you know, you can’t control the herd of sheep on the road though. And unless you’re gonna massacre 30 little animals, you don’t go off road, because you know, you’re just gonna end up in a ditch. You just wait, and that’s just part, you didn’t calculate that. It’s not, you know, it just happens when you get off of the beaten path. And so, you know, and we’ve talked about that before.
taking the road less traveled is sometimes worth it, but sometimes it’s a pain in the butt. And so learning to master the Italian travel experience, that’s what we’re trying to scratch the itch of and get down to the bottom. So there we go.
AC (06:05)
I like
how you mentioned the South because it’s similar to United States in a way that things are so different from top to bottom, even though United States is a lot, lot larger. But even to being in Bolzano, the efficiency, yeah, extreme North. I mean, you’re right on the border, right? And going to see you in Catania or in Palermo, wherever we go in Sicily, it’s like, it flips the world upside down, right? geez, it’s cleaner, it’s more efficient.
Brian Alex (06:19)
extreme north.
Yeah.
AC (06:36)
But there is a different personalities too with that, right? it’s just, it’s just, you know, I guess what you have when you think about it, I think every country could be like this, but when Italy, it’s, it’s definitely different going from North to South. Even when friendliness, we talk about that, right? A marketing or business or, you know, welfare, you know, it’s just totally different. And it also comes down to what to expect. It’s almost like you can do a preparing and what to expect.
Brian Alex (06:38)
Right, yeah, yeah.
AC (07:05)
from each region of Italy, going from Sicily to Bolzano, you know?
Brian Alex (07:07)
Yeah, I think you’d have to. Because
it is north and south. That is a legitimate difference. And this was 10 years ago or 12 years ago when I first moved here. I used to tell people going from Milan to Catania or Palermo, know, north to south is kind of like going from San Diego to Tijuana. But you’re doing it in a longer distance, you know? But there is that kind of shock. And it’s not so much that
AC (07:30)
Yeah.
Brian Alex (07:36)
way anymore, but Sicily in particular has a different vibe. mean, we’ve got Sardinia on one side or Calabria and Puglia on the other side. Puglia and Sicily are radically different. Puglia is very clean actually for, you know, its population size and the number of cities, et cetera. Sardinia is extremely clean, almost shockingly clean. I went there for a week a couple months ago and
AC (07:48)
Mm-hmm.
Mm.
Brian Alex (08:02)
I remember coming back, arriving back in Catania and hearing car horns beeping. I was in shock. wow, I’m back in Sicily because I haven’t heard a car honk its horn for a week. You know, it’s just different culture and it’s so strange. It can be so close yet so far removed culturally. And so that those are some of the expectations that have to shift.
AC (08:13)
Back home, yeah.
Brian Alex (08:28)
in order for people to come over and enjoy. for me, that’s part of the fun, that’s part of the attraction, is seeing the radical diversity that’s here in this one country.
AC (08:40)
I wonder if, you know, the question to ask people, friends, customers, whatever is what is your expectations? Are you hearing it for the first time from Brian and Anthony? Are you thinking, Hey, I’m going to go to Italy and I expect it to be like a, you know, Italian dinner you’d see in Moonstruck. Or do you think, you know, or do you, or do they expect it to be on or do they expect delays? Do they expect a little bit of stress or they’re thinking it’s going to be La Dolce Vita and everything’s going to be smooth and
And just great like you see in not on the say Stanley Tucci, but whatever the movies right? So I’m wondering As we talk about planning are they already thinking? we already know it’s gonna be hectic We know things are gonna go wrong It’s not gonna be Walt Disney and you walk in and everything’s clean and you know, they’re singing singing over the speakers and you know, you know, it’s just a wonderful life so
Yeah, I wonder, and I never thought of it that way. I should ask people more, what’s your expectations? Do you think it’s going to be something that’s the same kind of planning you do when you go on a cruise? Do you expect it to be the same kind of process and to be as smooth as it is when you go to Disney World? you know, I wonder how that is. You talk about Sicily a lot and that craziness. Like, hey, I never thought it was like that. You know, that’s not. Yeah.
Brian Alex (09:57)
The expectations and
you know and sometimes we’re you know positively happily surprised by what happens over here beyond our expectations especially the food I mean I don’t care where I’ve gone in Italy they’ll respond to me if I say I’m from near Catania si mangia bene in Sicilia ma che bella la Sicilia
It’s beautiful and you eat well. That’s what everybody all over it. And we’re talking about Italians in every part
AC (10:24)
It’s all I care about. It’s all I care about.
Brian Alex (10:29)
of it. I was in the Venice airport leaving to come back to Catania and they had the little foods out and little sandwiches and they’re touting that their tomatoes are from Pacino, which is an hour south of me. just, everybody knows north to south that the good food is in the deep, deep south.
AC (10:41)
Mm-hmm.
Brian Alex (10:49)
All that said, you know, that is a legitimate expectation that I think a lot of times people are surprised in a positive way. On the other side, expectations of, okay, there is, it’s dirty sometimes, there is some crime. It is, it’s a city. It’s a normal place. You know, it’s not just Disney with a gate around it and security guards everywhere. It’s, you know, you got to expect your, this is the real world. It’s a modern European global type.
you know, country that lots of people come to for different reasons. And so having all of that in your thought process is going to help you enjoy, I think, and get a lot out of this experience. like we’ve been talking, we’ve just been talking about how to travel well, how to master the Italian travel experience. so we’ve kind of done one or two P’s and I thought, well, we can’t do.
One, you know, we got to do another P because you got to have three, you know, they come in sets. So, but then I couldn’t decide what are we going to talk about? We talked about some of the planning. Everybody has a plan to get smacked in the face, right? But the planning is essential. You’ve got to do the planning and then you’ve got to hold it with an open hand. That was the first episode. So if you’re just listening, that was a recap of the first episode in this little triad that we’re doing here. The second one was about pivoting.
and learning, holding it with an open hand means that you gotta have a plan B, you gotta plan for that, and you gotta think through, okay, how do I get the most out of this day? I’m stuck like we were with a herd of sheep in front of us on the way to the airport. My friend’s panicking, because he doesn’t think he’s got, he did make his flight in the end. But I mean, he’s talked about that experience for eight years now, and it’s those kinds of cultural.
anecdotes, you know that you are it’s it’s your memory of it’s going to be burned and so don’t just discount it. Don’t try to just get around it. Let that speak to the situation. Let that speak to your experience and embrace it for what it is, especially if it’s out of your control. And so, yeah.
AC (12:59)
If he missed his flight,
have been a little bit different. That story would have been, yeah, I’ll never go back. I’ll never go to Sicily. I’ll never go to Sicily. No more Pecorino cheese, you know, whatever, right? It’s always a great story to tell when you make the flight, but the sheep are, yeah, exactly.
Brian Alex (13:01)
Yeah, maybe not so positive. I hate sheep. Boycotting sheep. When you make the flight, right, right, right.
And so then moving on, I mean, yeah, here’s a couple of peas for you and we’re just gonna put them all out here so we can wrap up this little part, this little mini series that we’re doing and move on.
to the rest of our season. So a couple of things came to mind, patience. I mean, that’s something we’re already kind of knee deep into talking about. You’ve got to come here with an open mind. You got to be patient and you got to embrace, you know, the moment that you’re in. You know, it’s nothing to go to the post office and spend two hours waiting for some, you know, person behind the now.
you know, COVID separated plexiglass. They love that. I wouldn’t take it down either if I were them. But not for bacteria or anything. I don’t like people in my face. But no, patients just realizing it’s a different pace of life over here. And so I don’t know. There’s so much that we could say about that. I think one…
AC (14:01)
Still there, still there, they love it.
I don’t want to deal with people.
Brian Alex (14:28)
highlight to tease out about this is that there’s not going to be a lot that goes, you know, precisely according to schedule. I was in Switzerland visiting a friend in Zurich a week or two ago and I remember getting off the flight and just feeling this. I can I can relax. can breathe. Everything’s going to go according to plan.
for the next 48 hours and then I’m gonna be back into the chaos. that’s just something you have to, you know, there’s all kinds of rules there. You can’t mow your lawn on a Sunday. You can’t do things. But it’s like, you’re given all the rules. But everybody abides by them, you know, and it’s not like down here. There’s a lot of rules down here. Nobody, they observe them in the sense that they look at them. Hmm, that’s an interesting rule.
AC (15:09)
Yeah.
they’ll use them too, especially to a tourist, right? They’ll say, no, we can’t
turn the heat on. We can’t turn the air conditioning on. Yeah, exactly. We follow the rules. Exactly. We pull. Yes.
Brian Alex (15:28)
Yeah. Well, when money’s involved, okay, that’s a different string being pulled there.
But yeah, so that whole patience. Another one that came to mind, and we’ve talked about this in other contexts, I want to talk about it in Sicily context, about that, you you have that expectation. I think this kind of tethers to what you were saying about expectations. A lot of people
have expectations and so they prioritize their trip around things that they saw, let’s say on Instagram, so, or on TV, you know, whether it was Bourdain or Tucci or White Lotus or what have you that came here to Sicily, they want to come in and replicate that same experience. I’ve been to the same places that Bourdain or Tucci has mentioned and after they left a year or so later,
Of course, it had blown up. was on over, you everybody’s standing around the block to get in and the quality goes down. This happens all the time over here. And so maybe you saw something on Instagram and you got to come over to get your money shot. You’re, know, the golden hour is everything’s perfect. All the stars aligned. You’re to get that perfect shot. It’s going to be your new profile pic. You spent
15 grand on a new profile pic. Congratulations. No, but you know you come over with that in mind and for some people that’s really hard to move on from and Prioritize other things and they don’t understand that around the corner. There could be something a million times better Yeah, but because they didn’t do the planning they didn’t know what their priorities were that priority was that profile pic having that perfect moment I don’t know
AC (16:53)
Mm. Mm.
Mm-hmm.
Brian Alex (17:18)
You don’t strike me as the kind of person that has something fixed in mind. You gotta come over and do this because it’s gonna be perfect. It’s gonna be just like this.
AC (17:28)
No, that’s definitely not me. I have ideas, they’re broad. Now, look at me wrong. If I find a restaurant and you’re like this too, you’re pinning that. It’s never on Instagram. It’s triangulating five different sites and blogs and friends that are local. you know, anytime I look at a new restaurant, I’m asking a local and then I’ll ask the other local who might be a guide or a friend that we know. But yeah, I am, I am open. I don’t pinpoint to a particular thing. Yeah, I’m very, we’ve got to be flexible.
We talk about this.
Brian Alex (17:58)
So a lot of
people may have that in mind and learning, okay, if you’re prioritizing, let’s say the Vatican, we’ve used that before, you’re coming down here to Sicily, we’re talking about Sicily, maybe you got to go to Palermo and you got to see the mosaics and I heartedly recommend that. I like to do it and this is a little free piece of candy for whoever’s listening, if anybody’s listening. I like to start off in Cefalu with the mosaics.
and work my way into Palermo, do several sites in a certain order in Palermo, and then go up on the bluff to another town for the finale. I like that graduating sense of awe for the mosaics down here, which are radically different than what we have up in the North, Rimini or wherever. But the sense of giving that a priority, I want to come over and
see this piece of art or you know this piece of history, the structures, the architecture. We have a collection of I think seven sister cities down here in the south of Sicily for their known for their Baroque architecture after earthquakes. A lot of people will come down and do a tour of these seven cities because they’re fatuated by with you know just in love with these.
the style, the Baroque style. And so that I think is perfectly fine to prioritize that. Then coming in, as long as we’re not locked into, okay, I’ve got to do ABC or else I’m not gonna be happy. I think that’s where the plan often goes off the tracks and gets us a little bit frustrated. And there’s a lot of frustration, especially in the South because of the logistics, the timing.
That favorite place that I was gonna do that everybody said to go do was close that day. And how upset, you know, am I gonna be?
AC (20:00)
That happens more often than not. People plan things and whether it’s because of the weather or whether it’s because basically they’re closing it that day because there’s a leak inside the building or the roof’s leaking or something fell off and hit someone in head. There’s always something and people show up and the guide actually might even find out that day that it’s closed or not the guy, you may walk up to the building and it’s closed. I can tell you it’s happened to me. I’m hey, I heard about this. Let me go see it. No, I didn’t plan.
You know, my whole day wasn’t set by that, but I wanted to go see it. was part of my three things and the doors are locked or, you know, and they don’t put it on the website. Another example, it’s kind of little off center. You know, go drop off the rental car, website’s not changed. you know, nothing’s on, they don’t email you that, you know, all of a sudden they move the rental car drop off four miles down the road. No one knows it.
Brian Alex (20:35)
Yeah.
Right. Right.
AC (20:56)
You know, I don’t know it. The rental car
place doesn’t tell anyone. They don’t email you on your confirmation. You know, I don’t know if they would do that in the States. I think they would. But it’s ironic. You know, it could be in Avis in Italy. It’s total different rules. They’re not telling you, hey, by the way, when you drop off the car, I know it says on your contract and I know it doesn’t say it on the website. Nothing. It’s just like a guesswork. And you show up and some guy sitting outside a coffee shop. yeah, they moved that down the road. And it’s just like, this is the things you deal with, you know.
Brian Alex (21:14)
Mm-hmm.
It happens all the time. you know,
somebody might be thinking, hey, no, I came over to Italy two years ago. went, you know, like clockwork. It was perfect. You know, okay. Where did you go? Did you stay on the major paths? Did you do the things that everybody else does that are the well-oiled parts of the, there are well-oiled parts of the machine. There’s not a lot, but there are well-oiled parts, especially where there’s money involved in the tourist tracks. You know, they’re going to make sure that those things work well.
in my, in my town, I’ve got another town about five kilometers from here that is a lot more touristy. So we chose a town that’s not very touristy at all. The South Nicolosi is you’re going from Catania up on Etna. That’s a major gateway. And so it has a lot more money than Bell Paso does as a, as a town. We have very few restaurants, over there. They’ve got restaurants coming out their nose.
AC (22:02)
and Nickelose? Yeah, yeah.
Brian Alex (22:20)
I mean, it’s just interesting how towns would be built up around certain things and the services work in Nicolosi over here in Belpaso hit or miss, but you pay for it over there. It’s just interesting that, you know, where there’s traffic, where there’s money, the squeaky wheel is getting the oil. Yeah. And it runs.
AC (22:37)
And runs efficient. I remember the first time
seeing you and I was with you. Well, she was talking 13 years, 11 years now, whatever it’s been. And I’m like, Bell Puzzles definitely lived in it’s the best word to put it lived in. What are these bags hanging off these hooks? You know? So, and all of a sudden, me and you were driving them out and that I take a hike or something. And I’m like, why does it pretty time? What is this?
Have we left Bell Paso? Yes, this is Nickelose. Nothing on the ground, trees, landscape. It’s like clean. Exactly. All right. This is my guess, Brian, is this tourism or is there an Amazon plant here? know, so.
Brian Alex (23:05)
Yeah, yeah. Clean. Everything works. So, you know, people might
have a different experience depending on where they went. But we’re talking about Italy in, you know, and especially if you come over your second, third time around.
just having that, this, this kind of mindset, like what we’ve been talking about on these three episodes is going to be a huge help to you to enjoy and to take away some, hopefully some stories that are gonna, yeah, come back and in a positive way, bring you back time and time again. So that said, I think we’ve kind of tidied up this, this little section and I’m, I’m chomping at the bit to move on, but I want to see if there’s.
Anything else that we wanted to add to the proper mindset, I guess, learning to master the travel here in Italy. there any other anomalies, things that throw people for a loop, a wrench in the machine, the fly in the ointment? The metaphors are endless, but when people come over that they struggle with.
AC (24:23)
struggle with not realizing that, and this might be a curveball for you, that Italy is not a third world country. People that live in America or Canada, whatever, they go to Vegas, they don’t pack the way they would, or they don’t think the way they would if they were going overseas. So a lot of times they travel thinking they have to bring, you know, the kitchen sink, the, you know, the preparation, what I need to do when I get there, and they don’t realize, hey,
They have all the same kind of amenities all kind of you know might be a little difficult to find certain things But I think a lot of times people don’t realize that you’re not going from A to Z. You’re going maybe A to B But you’re definitely having you’re not having you’re not your life is gonna change that much whether it gots to markets pharmacies You know things that are available to you. So that’s something else you get prepared for too I think I don’t know if we mentioned that so that goes back to maybe even packing how you would pack to be honest with you
Brian Alex (25:20)
Yeah,
AC (25:21)
So, you know, I think that’s something to prepare yourself for.
Brian Alex (25:24)
Yeah, going to Vegas, you need a thong and some flip-flops, you know? And you come over here and a cooler. But no, you come over to Italy and, you know, this is something that I think often gets neglected is not just dressing, okay, appropriately. It’s like for the…
AC (25:28)
In a cooler, in a cooler.
Brian Alex (25:49)
The weather every you know, most people are cognizant of the fact that okay, it’s cold this time of year just like in America I’ve got a dress, you know, I’m gonna bring an extra coat whatever if you’re in extreme north long johns in the south, you know some Polo shirts or something all of that is pretty rudimentary but what people don’t often prepare for is That swimsuit maybe that’ll come in handy because a lot of the resorts and the the four or five star
hotels being the proximity to the beach, you might get that one day that the temperature just, you got a heat wave and wasn’t really in season and predicted, but it would be a great day to be out on a boat and you know, or, you know, at least go to this, go to the beach kind of thing and being prepared in that way. And not that you have to bring everything in the kitchen sink, but I think you have to be smart and strategic about that and go, okay, what, what are the reasonable.
Possibilities here that I could find myself needing this or that that said if you don’t have that don’t worry There’s an H around the block and you know now, you know when I got here they had just built a brand new Supercenter of mark. How do you call that commercial center mall? Yeah, and so It was such a new thing
AC (26:55)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Brian Alex (27:09)
for Italians here in Sicily. I remember coming over years before it was built and everybody even from this town, which is not really walkable, had their weekly routines. They’d go down to Catania on the weekends and do their passeggiata. You gotta do the passeggiata, right? You gotta do your little shopping and you gotta have your gelato and you gotta have your whatever last meal of the weekend and then you prepare for Monday and that’s just the routine. That’s what everybody does.
And so they built up this mall. Well, they take all of those same habits and they put that into the mall. And so now on Sunday, after they’ve been to grandma’s house, they all go to the mall for the passeggiata. And you can see all the Italian ladies with their Gucci purse and their little dog sitting in their purse. You feel like you’re in Manhattan and they’re all walking around in their stilettos. And this is just, this is normal. This is them, you know, taking their…
AC (27:49)
walk of null.
Brian Alex (28:07)
their habits, their abitudine, and they’re practicing the same kind of thing. All that said, this is still very new over here for a lot of Italians, especially in the South, to have proximity to a mall. I took somebody there a year two ago, a mall that was open in Agrigento, and they said it was the most incredible cultural experience because…
they wanted to compare what was it like going to an Italian mall versus where they’re from in the States. one of the things that they noticed was that people were just walking around aimlessly with nothing to do, because they’re just doing their passegata. That’s the reason for them to come is not necessarily because you gotta go pick something up. You pick things up in your own town.
AC (28:47)
Emoc, yeah.
Brian Alex (28:59)
Cause you’ve got a shop, know, you get your Baker, candlestick maker and you know, whatever. They got butcher and all this is in your town. You go there to get, you know, to be seen by other people. And we’re not talking about teenagers, raw mat Wal-Mart, know, you’re there to be seen by other neighbors and you know, you know, flaunt your,
AC (29:18)
think I was with you. Wasn’t I with you in that mall?
That might’ve been me with you, unless you brought someone else. I was with you in that mall. We met Marissa and I had Burger King, if I remember, because I was hungry and there was nowhere to eat and we were waiting. I think I had a Coke. I think I had a Coke. I don’t think I ate food, but I think I had a Coke. I just… What was funny is, but it tells you the influence. That’s the influence at the mall to have a Burger King in the mall, right? So…
Brian Alex (29:23)
we did, yeah. Right. Right, right. Yeah. We’re digressing. no. You’re opening the kimono now.
Yeah.
Yeah.
AC (29:45)
It was fun in the middle of Agar Gento, which you would never am thinking Agar Gento who even goes here never mind a Burger King and a mall, you know, so
Brian Alex (29:49)
Why? Right? Right. I
went, yeah, and I had gone there with some others as well and they had this kind of interesting experience. But all that to say, what are we talking about? We have the modern conveniences now. I mean, just in the last 10 years, the last decade, this has really got on the map. But you can find, if you forgot,
AC (30:04)
You
Brian Alex (30:16)
you know, something or, you know, you can, you can find it wherever you are. Don’t worry about it. But a lot of that comes into what we’re, what we’re wrapping up here to talk about, you know, learning to plan, think it through, pivot, have a plan B, be able to prioritize. What are the real values? Not just that picture perfect moment where I’m going to do X, but the real values that you’re prioritizing.
in your trip and you know on the business side because I think everybody knows we’re an extension of Italy with Bella and we have we have clients that will ask us well we want to go here and I want to be on I want to go to this restaurant or be on this you know have this panorama I want to have this you know shot picture at sunset and it’s all perfect in their mind because they saw something on Instagram it gets fixed you know TikTok whatever
And you know, I think that’s just a wrong approach. So many things are going to go wrong or be delayed or closed or whatever. The rain is going to get in your way of that shot. But prioritizing the values that you’re after. And a lot of times we’ve had those conversations with folks. Well, tell me what it is that you’re really after. You say you want to go to Positano. What is the real attraction for you? And a lot of times, maybe not a lot of times, sometimes we find
an alternative that’s even better because they didn’t know really how to ask for it, what they were really after, but we found a solution that was it fit their their budget or it made sense. It was exactly what they were after. And so a lot of times prioritizing those values or what it is that you’re really after can be a helpful way of mitigating the fact that there’s going to be some obstacles a lot of times.
AC (32:11)
Yeah, I think it’s what they know too. So a lot of times it’s, know, client or someone says, well, I want to go to Positano because I saw it on Instagram or my cousin went there five years ago for the honeymoon. Well, Positano is very busy now. It’s not the same as it was five years ago or seven years ago. The cost is not what your cousin had, the budget wise. Or, you know, why do you want it because of that? I really don’t like the beach, but I like food and I don’t like crowds. Okay, then, you know, we need to, we need to address that, right?
Brian Alex (32:38)
yeah,
we’ve got crowds and low quality food in Positano, so you’re gonna be unhappy there.
AC (32:41)
So, so exactly. So you have to
worry about, you know, sometimes where your view is coming from too, you know, is that setting your expectations from you? And it’s, you know, that’s unwrapping the present and wrapping the ideas that they have in their mind and making sure that they’re open to suggestions, but open to what they really want, you know, and understanding that.
It happens all the time. can’t tell you that we’ll build a trip. And what about this place? And I’m like, yeah, that pesto class has 140 people in it. And they sell trinkets at the end of it. it looks so great. My friend went there. I’m like, yeah, the funny thing about it is I do some of these classes, right? And I’m just like, no, you can’t do that. I’ll go there. I’ll fly there and make you pesto with you to make it a better experience.
Brian Alex (33:18)
Yeah
AC (33:35)
So it’s all about Senators’ expectations,
Brian Alex (33:39)
Yeah, that’s so true. Wow, there’s so many different ways that we could slice the same onion. It’s still gonna make you cry. You gotta pace yourself, you gotta prioritize, you gotta pack smart, you gotta plan, you gotta pivot. All of these things, we’re just throwing in peas left and right now that maybe don’t even make sense here in this context, but I think you get the point. That was the last one.
AC (33:48)
That’s a new one.
Brian Alex (34:08)
where I don’t have the little sound machine to give a, But all that to say, when coming over to Italy, it makes sense to really think through, do your research. And I don’t mean just the top 10 blogs and TikTok or whatever you’re using.
AC (34:11)
Don’t pack petunias, popsicles, and… I can’t think of any more P’s, I’m looking around. Go ahead.
Brian Alex (34:37)
But talk to people who know, talk to people who have been there and yeah, maybe had a great experience. if that interests you, having a cooking class like your aunt Zelda did 20 years ago, making pesto, great. Go with somebody who knows the ropes and maybe you’re not sitting in downtown Genova.
for your cooking class. Maybe you’re in Santa Margarita instead, which I think is gonna be a much better experience. Go with somebody who’s gonna point you in the right direction. If you guys are struggling, folks, to find that right consult or the right people, come over to ItalywithBella.com. You can sign up for a free consultation. Anthony and his wife, Denise, will point you in the right direction.
The consultation is absolutely free if you decide it’s not for you. Very few say no, not because Anthony’s persuasive, but because he knows what he’s talking about. Hey, you’ve got an open door, free to come and go, but I think you’re gonna be super happy if you come over to Italy with Bella. That said, let’s put a pin in this conversation, another P.
AC (35:55)
Another P.
Brian Alex (35:58)
I’ll put a pin in this conversation for now. What’s up next for season four? We wanted to get this little mindset part out of the way because I think it’s so helpful for people really coming over and enjoying their experience. What I’d love to get into next, and we haven’t done this in a while, is highlighting some of those experiences, highlighting some of the cities, some of the famous itineraries that
that people have come over and enjoyed and talking about where they can find that sweet spot. And this is something that we steer people to when they come to Italy with Bella, but for those that are listening that don’t need it or aren’t interested, I’d love to give them some of those gems of finding the sweet spots where
AC (36:52)
Mm-hmm.
Brian Alex (36:55)
It’s in between. It maybe is not the road less traveled because it’s very traveled or, you know, it’s not the high traffic area, but it’s something in between. How do you go to a place like Rome and have a good experience where you’re staying in the right area? You’re doing the right things with the right people. How do you go to a, let’s say, Puglia that is a little bit off of the beaten path?
And you have an authentic experience, but you’re not getting stuck there with nothing to do, which is entirely possible. The way that Puglia is built. How do you know what to look for, what to do? And I think I want to wrap up this conversation just talking about how to rightfully set those expectations. You you’re to spend a lot of money. You’re going to spend a lot of time to come over to Italy. It’s a sacrifice, really. I mean, if you think about it.
You invest time and money and energy and it’s time away from whatever business or routine or job that you do back in the States. How do you maximize that? And that’s where the mindset really comes in and the expectations as you mentioned earlier. But I think I want to really dive into making that sacrifice into a success when you come over here to Italy.
AC (38:22)
Yeah, I like that. I like how you put all the letters together too. It makes it easy to sacrifice success. I don’t know why you’ve got all these, jeez, making it difficult for me to think. Is he going to have a third S sacrifice and this and what’s going to be the third S simplicity? I don’t know what it’s going to be. yeah. So, but yeah, I think, I think.
Brian Alex (38:26)
I’ve got them flashing up on the screen. Simplicity, we’ll work that in.
AC (38:49)
people do want to stay in these major cities and these major itineraries. But it’s one thing we love doing at Bella is to say, yeah, we’re not going to take you out of that, Rome, we’re not going to take you out of but how can we make it a real experience and give you these particular, you know, experiences that you think about when you’re going to Italy and we want to make sure we can still offer that to them.
AC (00:00)
And the point you make is, still, as a company, in dealing with friends or clients, that we want them to still have a real experience, even though it’s a major city. You get people that are not gonna go to Italy like us every year. They’re not gonna go to, they’re gonna be a once in a lifetime, taking their parents over, their kids over, and they’re not gonna come again. They might be going to Switzerland next year or Disney. So we want them to see those major sites, but they still wanna have those experiences. And to do that, obviously,
We’re gonna try to put them in areas and try to have that experience. Hopefully it’s a neighborhood or an experience at night or someone’s home to be able to feel that, I went to Rome, Venice, and Florence in Amalfi and be able to offer that to them and to be able to say, yeah, I loved it. I wanna go back now, but I also felt that I went and had the experience that I was dreaming of.
Brian Alex (00:50)
Yeah. Yeah. That quest for La Dolce Vita, that sweet spot where you go to the famous places that you’ve always heard of. You’ve always dreamt of. I mean, we’re talking about the first timers, but maybe they only come over once. And this is that shot to get in and do that thing that they’ve always wanted to do. You know, it can be super personal. We’ve got a lot of folks now that come over that have Italian heritage and they’re coming back to their roots and they want to go to that.
AC (00:54)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Brian Alex (01:19)
place that grandma was or whatever trip that they did or we had family roots in this town or that. And you know there’s expectations and baggage with all of that and how do you do that in a way that you know meets those that you don’t you don’t know what you’re going to find. I tell you a lot of people though and we had clients even this week coming over in December. They they want to go back to where their their parents were from and they they found
cousins online in this town and we set up the driver to take them there even though it’s a low traffic area and difficult to get there and all of that. And they had a blast. They had an amazing time and it blew their socks off. it’s something you don’t know what you’re gonna get. It’s a box of chocolates, you know? But at the end of the day, there is a way, I think,
AC (02:05)
Mm-hmm.
Brian Alex (02:15)
if you manage your expectations right and you’re thinking back to the Rome or to the Sicily experience and you go, okay, I don’t wanna do just the tourist traps. I wanna get out of the main traffic arteries, at least some, and I wanna find that authentic, that real, those little anecdotal moments that I’m gonna remember. I think that’s the hook.
that really brings people back. It’s not, I’m going back to Italy because I saw the Vatican once and it was amazing.
AC (02:47)
Yeah, and we mentioned that before. And the other thing is this customer was a was I think six days, five days in Rome already. And they took that car up to their family up north and blew them away. They loved it, unexpected. The driver we had was amazing, knew the area well enough to speak to it. That is gonna be the most memorable part of the trip. Not the Vatican like we talked about last week and this week. These are the things.
you’re going to stumble upon. We have so many stories about it was the serendipitous or is especially, you know, going to a small town that there’s one restaurant, no Airbnbs and they meet a relative or there’s a house that, you know, they, they remember or something like that. So it’s, it’s, special.
Brian Alex (03:34)
Yeah. Well guys, we will wrap it up here. Coming at you next time, really excited to get into kind of the second part, the second chapter of this season four, as we dive down into the real nuts and bolts of some of these famous itineraries and take the, I don’t know, open up the blinds a little bit, open the kimono, so to speak. We’re gonna…
AC (04:02)
Mm-hmm.
Brian Alex (04:03)
We call it in Italian, dietro la quinta, see behind the scenes, behind the curtain kind of thing. And I think it’s going to be interesting and not just entertaining, but how do I want to say educational for a lot of people, especially if it’s your first time over. Maybe you’re thinking through that dream trip, just like we’ve been talking about. Maybe you’re a second or third timer.
You’ve been on those major tracks and you’re ready to venture into something new. We’re going to have plenty of that for you as well. Any last words?
AC (04:39)
Nah, I’m looking forward to that. like to know what towns, I’m looking to see what the agenda is and to make sure I’m brushed up on some of these towns. I will be in Rome for the month of February, so hopefully we’ll find some new stuff too if we do discuss Rome. yeah, I’m looking forward to it.
Brian Alex (04:46)
Hehehehehe
We may leave Rome for later in the season. Some of the bigger, yeah. And it may be fun to do something kind of on location, on site. In the meantime, we’re gonna start with some medium, just to give you a little heads up. A little pillow talk, coffee talk. We’re gonna start with some of the medium-sized towns that we know and love so well. Maybe it’s Verona, maybe it’s, I don’t know.
AC (05:02)
Yeah, because I’m going to see you too. Yeah.
Brian Alex (05:28)
Bergamo or Bologna or Florence or Cortona medium to large but not mega. We’re gonna stay in those heartland type cities and talk about how to have those genuine experiences. Yeah, we’ll have the tips for you if you’re in Venice. Stay away from the Rialto Bridge. Done, moving on. No, we’ll
AC (05:30)
Hmm.
I like that.
Yes. Yes. Don’t buy a mask that has a china on the back of it.
Brian Alex (05:57)
We’ll have some good tips for you if you’re in those metropolitan areas, but we want to stick with the heartland.
AC (06:02)
And my biggest hope,
my biggest hope is that Brian does have a reference from this millennial, millennium, instead of 90s. So that’ll be the big thing, that all his references are not, good luck with that. my gosh. We should have a podcast, we should have a podcast, the references that Brian makes from the 90s, and maybe even 80s. So.
Brian Alex (06:07)
Good luck. The last 25 years are a blur. man. We will leave you with that happy thought. Don’t
put your expectations too high and learn to…
to pivot and have a plan B. All right guys, talk to you next time. Arrivederci and see you later.
AC (06:37)
Yes.
Bye bye!
