Gelato is a must in ever city.

My “spring break” in Torino has been pretty awesome…of course that could have a lot to do with Di Un Gelato.

Not all who wander are lost.

For me the best part of traveling in a new city is the enjoyment in getting lost. I am all about being the biggest tourist while I am in Italy, but I have come to realize that when you let yourself wander there is a whole other part of the city. Of course, the downside to this is that I end up having several “deja vu” moments but that is only a small side-effect of putting away the phone and map. If you really want to see the city: just let go of your instinct to know where you are going and go down the less traveled road. This tends to work when I have longer than one day in a city, but even when I lived in D.C. I would just randomly walk around different neighborhoods. There is a sort of freedom to not be tied down to Google Maps or (when you forget to pay your phone) regular maps.

It is always difficult to let go, especially when you want to see everything the city has to offer. I know that feeling, when I was in Roma for 3 days I wanted to see and do everything (even though it rained the entire time), I was able to see all of the “main attractions” that Roma had to offer: Forum, Vatican City, Colosseum, Spanish steps, Trevi Fountain, etc. But I was also able to see the street art that I did expect to find:

 

Before traveling to Italy, did I know that street art/graffiti was such a large part of the culture? Nope, but it has become one of the random things (the other is doors) that I look for and snap photo of. While street art (and doors!) is something I did not see listed on those “Top 10 Things to do in ____” before I came to Italy, it is one of the best ways to see how people are feeling in that area/city. From what I learned street art has been around for a long time and many of it is focused on politically issues.

Since I mentioned my other favorite thing to take pictures of here are some of my favorites:

Of course, I take pictures of the attractions, but for me the joy of traveling is seeing what I do not ordinarily pay attention to when I am home and realizing that I should.