My hitchhiking in Italy

Ciao and buongiorno to everyone!

I always start my posts complaining about the amount of adventures, events and emotions happened recently and I complain because I am always not sure how to put it on the blog. There is not an exception this time and so much has happened over the summer in Italy that I don’t really know where to start. For instance, I conquered an active stratovolcano Etna, visited  small cozy and very picturesque little towns of Italy, tasted sea-food and sweet delicacies of the Sicilian coast, made friends with local chefs and barmen, discovered incredibly amazing and friendly world of Sicily – the birthplace of the mafia. But I will try to tell you about everything another time. Today I want to talk about such an exciting phenomenon as an autostop.

Once upon a time in a very very cold morning when there was nothing to do…of course, this is completely untrue, as I always have something to do (especially in Italy) and it’s never cold there. Every second was like a piece of gold for me and I think I can say that I lived the moment and was “here and now” in Sicily. However  our hotel was located aside and it seemed that we lived and worked in the village. And it was kind of problematic to go to the city: the hotel bus worked all days except Sunday and  we had a day off on Sunday. It’s such an ironic fate, isn’t it? Taxi was expensive, especially considering that the trip to the town was no more than 15 minutes.

So it happened that my friends (and at the same time my colleagues) Anna and Artyom  were the pioneers in the field of “hitchhiking” for me and when they spoke about travelling with strangers they talked about it  very brightly, lively and interesting therefore I was curious to try it myself.

Thus on the 7th of August (the birthday of my dad who didn’t know) I decided to overcome all my fears (ok, I won’t exaggerate – one fear of many millions) and having collected all will in a fist  and also the necessary things in my bag, went to meet my fate…as the territory of our hotel was huge it took me about 10-15 minutes before I got to the road.

I put an incredible effort and raised my paper with amazingly (ok, badly to be honest) letters on it that composed into “Siracusa” (destination – B where I was going to). I must say I felt awful. Just imagine: in principle I hesitate to ask for something, but here I am asking all passers-by and what’s more I am asking absolutely unfamiliar people and doing it alone, on the road, for the amazement of the crowd. My situation was aggravated by the golden sun of Sicily that so generously granted me with its positive rays (or, to be more precise, mercilessly scorching me).

I think it would be fun to film my “heroic deed” with a hidden camera because there was a struggle for life and death inside me. The internal dialogue was something like that: “Natasha, you can! Do not be afraid! Keep the sign raised!” (the sign rises). Then: “Oh, what a nonsense. How embarrassing! The car ran and didn’t stop!” (the sign omitted). Next: “So! Anna and Artyom were able to do it, why can’t I? You’re a confident person and you always get lucky, it’ll be great! You have already decided, just do it, go for it!” (the sign rises again)… missing just 4-5 cars I was desperate and thought that since a few cars drove past it was time to go back, I did everything I could (haha). And there I was standing already with the lowered sign “Siracusa” so no one could see it), and I noticed a guy on his scooter slowing down and giving me a signal. He asked me where I needed to go and afterwards I said to myself: “don’t go with him, Natasha! Don’t go! No!” and at the same time my legs moved towards the scooter. I looked at the guy’s eyes and understood that there was nothing to fear. He was a good kind young man and what’s more he was going to the destination I needed. I was afraid to sit on his scooter properly so I set sideways on the edge. In this case I was going without a helmet while also holding my bag and as it was embarrassing to hold the guy, I held the rear part of the scooter that made my journey even more risky and dangerous. I should have wear pointe shoes and stand on tiptoe. After a few minutes my lovely driver stopped and asked me to sit properly as I had to and that’s what I eventually did. I won’t tell you all the details but want to mention that the guy’s name was Sebastian. He was a very nice, kind and friendly 28 years old man. He took me around the city, showed interesting places, told me a little bit about his life, didn’t let me to die of thirst, was very attentive and courteous, and we visited Castello Maniace (positive name, right?). And then he drove me back to the hotel…Everything was perfect! Sebastian, if you are reading this I am saying thank you so much once again!

(A window in the Castel)

(The view from the window)

Next time (in about a week or two) I went to another autostop with Artyom (aka Artemio) and Anna (aka Anna that loves a Russian song “Ulibaysya” (“Smiling”). If she was near I would sing this song immediately!). This time we planned to go to Catania via Syracuse, so just in case, we had two pieces of paper with us (Syracuse was about 15 minutes away and Catania was about an hour away therefore we knew that not everyone would have taken three “russo turisto” so far). We waited a relatively long time, 15-20 minutes if being more precise but when you stand in the heat and the cars fly by, time seems infinitely long. We had our signs, smiles, large voting fingers and even dancing! Yeah, we had to dance on the road and it was very cool when people kind of supported us. For instance, some of them did not have a spare place in their car (especially for three of us) but people were going and repeating our movements or making some other signals. Also it was amusing  when a driver on his scooter/motorcycle  shrugged, lamenting that he could not take all three of us)))

Finally fate has smiled upon us when a man aged 50-60 (who was going with his son or grandson 12 years old, I guess) stopped near us. The man was driving to his mother and it was obvious that he wanted to give us a lift to Catania even but how can a person ignore the invitation to visit his beloved mother. He was also very friendly and they both (with his grandson) constantly looked at us, maybe they haven’t communicated with foreigners before and it was a very interesting experience for them. The man dropped us off right on the highway leading to Catania. Thanks a lot to him! It was great to meet with him as well!

Our “autostop business” was a bit stuck on the freeway. Cars were passing, our hands were already down but then we had a second wind and again we worked as a team “smile, finger, dancing”)). Catania was quite a long way to go and perhaps that is why many passed us. But here the destiny smiled again. Two lovely strangers named Francesco and his beloved Elena stopped their car in order to give us a lift. They were both Italians living in Milan. They were just on vacation, traveling to different cities and friends in Sicily. We had a very interesting conversation on various topics and spent about two hours all together. I was also amazed and very pleased when it came to Emilio Pucci subject. It is an Italian clothing brand a great one, which I dream to work for, draw prints, and so on. And it turns out that just yesterday (the day before we met Francesco) he was at a party with the creative Director of the fashion house of Pucci. Is it a coincidence? Is it a miracle? Is it a sign? I don’t know but I was certainly happy. As our Italians spoke English well we had more English talks rather than Italian. In addition to that, we drank some coffee together. We really wanted to treat our “saviors” but Francesco never gave us a chance to pay for coffee, explaining: “You are in my car so you are my guests and I want to buy coffee for my guests. The objections are not accepted otherwise I’ll be offended”. That’s Italian hospitality! This is amazing!

In general, I was over the moon because of such an interesting meeting and I am certainly looking forward to new meetings with our new friends from Milan, really looking forward to!

(c) Photo by Anna Banana https://vk.com/artlandphoto

(c) Photo by Anna Banana https://vk.com/artlandphoto

(c) Photo by Anna Banana https://vk.com/artlandphoto

During our walk around the city we came upon a tour bus and decided that it would be great to ride this if it cost 5 euros. We were offered bus-tickets for 15 euros per person, but when the seller saw our retreating back he offered us the same tickets for 5 euros. What can I say – we are  “russo turisto”))

The bus-tour was gorgeous! I’m not exaggerating, it really was amazing! There were very few passengers, many seats and we were on the second floor where the bus was opened,  you could feel fresh sea breeze, and you  kind of “fly” and observe the architecture, constructions, sculptures, whilst listening to the audio guide in your own language (there were 6 or 8 of them and Russian was on the list). And you feel like a tourist being on holiday even though you actually work in Sicily. It was perfect! It’s been a few months since then and I still feel happiness gained in that trip!

(Views from the bus)

(c) Photo by Anna Banana https://vk.com/artlandphoto

(c) Photo by Anna Banana https://vk.com/artlandphoto

(c) Photo by Anna Banana https://vk.com/artlandphoto

(c) Photo by Anna Banana https://vk.com/artlandphoto

(c) Photo by Anna Banana https://vk.com/artlandphoto

(c) Photo by Anna Banana https://vk.com/artlandphoto

(c) Photo by Anna Banana https://vk.com/artlandphoto

(c) Photo by Anna Banana https://vk.com/artlandphoto

Afterwards we continued with our shopping and walking and then we went to the airport to meet our new tourists and get to the hotel so there was not “hitchhinking” on the way back.

Next Sunday we repeated our adventures but a bit different this time. We were waiting for a new autostop (and the last one for now). Myself, Anna and Artemio were on the way to Syracuse this time. We waited quite a long time (10-15 minutes I think) and as soon as Artyom said: “Well, Natasha, perhaps it’s time to dance”  a very nice, friendly man of the age 45-50 years old stopped his car. I believe he heard Artemio’s words while being a hundred meters from us and thought:  “no, do not dance, please! I’d better stop”))) but he was wrong thinking like that as I dance well, especially if we are talking about the autostop and dancing on the road! On arrival in the city the man was given an apple (unfortunately for him not an “Apple” but a fruit))) as a way of saying “thank you”. By the way I was sitting in front beside the driver while going in that car and that’s another plus of knowledge of Italian. As I learn/practice the language I spoke on the way and at the same time thanked the driver for his kindness. If I didn’t know Italian, I would sit in the back seat of the car, and even perhaps not in Sicily, but somewhere in Siberia))

Our trip to Syracuse was less memorable than to Catania but was also distinguished by some happenings there. We visited a couple of supermarkets, looked what to bring to Russia (this time instead of the usual souvenirs I brought my family pistachio paste (like Nutella but better), olive oil with peppers, chocolate of different flavours, dried tomatoes, pistachio brittle, pistachio liqueur, wine (with almonds, sort of)…Oh, and please don’t ask me how I fit everything in my 25kg suitcase). In one word a trip to the supermarket was needed. I also bought a book by Paolo Coelho in Italian language and was very happy about it (until I tried to read it, haha). And then three of us went to sit on the waterfront. At the pier there were different boats and two large yachts with the Union Jack. We sat, chatted, admired the yachts and each dreamt about diverse things but all three wanted to go on the yacht. We even had a plan how to get there to observe it (with a permission of the hosts of course), but the plan was never carried out, alas, alas. Then Anya and Artemio left me alone for a while and I decided to walk a bit but primarily I stayed on the embankment and plunged into thinking about the boat and how to make our intentions a reality. I sat and thought that if I didn’t do at least one step in the desired direction then how am I going to respect myself. It won’t be me in this case! At that time the yacht was empty as all of its passengers-the owners swam in the pool and went to their cabins. The yacht was quiet and peaceful, and was monitored by a camera or few.  Suddenly I decided to write a letter. It was in English where I wrote a little bit about my life, about my pure love to the UK, about my achievements and knowledge of several foreign languages, provided a link to my art work, as well as my e-mail address. Who knows – maybe someday I’ll get an answer, an invitation, or just a regular email from someone who read my letter-message on the yacht. When Anya and Artyom came back I took the letter and put it on the stairs of the ship while adding two apples giving some weight to hold the paper on the stairs.

(c) Photo by Anna Banana https://vk.com/artlandphoto

Unfortunately the yacht was constantly thronged by tourists that were taking pictures and could have taken my letter or apples, but it was more importantly that I figured out how to leave my sign there and how to do a step to something I desired. And after all it does not really matter. I believe in the fairytale and it is always there, in my life! It happened that in Italy I met some people who thought I was strange, not from this world and marveled at my naivety and a belief in miracles. Thus I did not share this story with anyone in Italy and now suddenly decided to write about it in details. Why? Because I am who I am, those people cannot affect my life and at the same time I hope I can inspire my readers, to reassure and to show how out of the ordinary day you can make a fabulous one and how to create your own adventure and expect some miracles.

That day we also used “auto stop” on the way to the hotel and this time our “savors” were a very friendly lady with a young lovely girl (they were probably mother and daughter). They were also very nice, communicative and we exchanged contacts. The girl was a medicine-student and spoke English very well. It was so nice meeting them too!

(c) Photo by Anna Banana https://vk.com/artlandphoto

In conclusion I want to say that I am probably still afraid of “autostop” to some degree and, of course, traveling with friends is much safer and quieter than doing it alone. But I’m very thankful that everything happened the way it happened and that I had such an incredible experience of an autostopper.

You can read on my blog very soon: “Conquering an active volcano”, “The job which I loved and missing now”, “Children are the flowers of life and how great it is to work with them”, “How I love Italians and, thanks to the chefs, bartenders, waiters…”, “learning Italian” and much more. I hope I can find time to share those 100000000000000 emotions that I have accumulated over the summer.

I wish you all love and happiness, my dear readers! Speak soon!