Dawn Langhi- Cultural Exchanges

Thursday in class we discussed cultural exchanges and how buying souvenirs does not really constitute a cultural exchange. This made me think of the time I went to Italy. While in Italy I did do a lot of traveling to the typical tourist spots, such as Rome and Venice. However most of my trip was spent in my Uncles apartment, which was above an awesome pizzeria, in Udine. Udine is a city in northeastern Italy that is in the middle of Friuli-Venezia region, between the Adriatic Sea and the Alps. I remember when I went we would go walking around the city almost everyday. I loved being able to walk two buildings down and buy jewelry and clothing and talk to the storekeepers. Every Saturday there would be a market in the town square where you could get the best fresh food. One Saturday there was a chocolate festival, and they had these neat sculptures of castles and other objects, which were carved out of chocolate. I truly believe I got more out of this trip because I did not stay in the normal tourist destinations and was able to experience how living in this town was.