Michelle Spaight (leggi chi è Michelle) è arrivata al termine della sua permanenza ad Arezzo e queste sono le cose che le mancheranno di più della nostra città!

Because today is my last day at InformaGiovani and I will be leaving Arezzo in two weeks, I am writing about some of the things that I will miss when I leave.
I will definitely miss walking through this beautiful city. Every night I am amazed by the sunsets I see as I walk to dinner. I love seeing the crowds on Corso Italia on the weekends and watching their interactions. I will also miss the amazing views which I see every time I walk anywhere. The architecture here is so different from America’s and I love walking through the narrow streets and seeing the different buildings. Prato is a wonderful place to relax on a sunny day or to watch the sunset. It is also where I love to start my runs through the countryside near Arezzo. I will miss seeing beutiful views everywhere I run. Italy’s natural beauty constantly amazes me, even after I’ve been here for almost four months.
The way that Italy’s long history surrounds me is also incredible. Within the first week of being here, I learned a little bit about the history of Arezzo, which stretches back to before the Roman Empire. No place in America has recorded history half so long. Just yesterday, I was able to visit the Medici fortress near Prato and see ruins dating back to Roman times. It is fascinating to see how people built and rebuilt in the same places throughout the centuries. In one place I saw a medieval church built on the old Roman city wall. These both later became a part of the wall of the palace, which is now being transformed into a theater. It still fascinates me when I think about the people who have lived here before me for thousands of years.
I am also going to miss the food. It is so much fresher than food in America. I love the small cafes and restaurants around Arezzo. The University of Oklahoma has a program which allows us to purchase “vouchers” which we can use at many different restaurants around Arezzo, allowing us to try the local food without having to constantly carry cash with us. Our ice cream cannot compete with the delicious gelato here. The pizza is also much better, although it will be nice to have pre-cut pizza again when I am back in America. I will also miss the many varieties of pasta which I eat, much of which is much fresher than American pasta. The cheeses here are also delicious, particularly the pecorino. I am sure that when I am back in America I will continue to put honey on some of my cheeses. I also enjoy the delicious olive oil that I keep in my apartment, as well as the fresh fruit that I can buy at the grocery store or the Saturday market (though I will not miss how quickly the fruit spoils!).
Something else which I will miss is how much more relaxed life appears to be here. I rarely see anyone walking anywhere in a hurry (though nearly everyone drives much faster than I’m used to!) and people seem to go out to just walk through town with their friends, particularly on weekends and holidays. In America, everyone always seems to be rushed when they’re walking down the streets.
I will also miss the train system here. It is so easy for me to walk down to the train station and buy a ticket to get almost anywhere, and many of them do not even need to be purchased in advance. In America it is much harder to find trains and they are much more expensive. They also need advance purchases, and it is often a half hour or farther to drive to get to the train station. I love how easily I can visit other cities like Florence and Rome.
One of the strangest things that I will miss is leaving your umbrella at the door when it is raining. In America, there are not places to leave umbrellas by the doors so you have to carry your wet umbrella into stores and restaurants with you. This is not only inconvenient, but also makes the floors much wetter and more slippery.
Although there are many things about America which I miss now, particularly my friends and family and speaking English, I will certainly miss Italy when I return. I know that I will need to readjust to cultural norms that I never thought about before I came here.