[The plane taking off.] Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking.
Welcome to the third episode of my English Compass podcast. Now, from the bustling streets of Rome to the romantic canals of Venice, through historical Florence and posh Milan, Italy attracts millions of tourists every year. Italy is unique in its own way, right? I have my favourite place in Italy, and it’s Venice.
I have been there 2 or 3 times, and every single time I’m there, it’s quite hard to believe that it can be such a unique place. If you ever have a chance to go to Venice, please use it. Take it. Go there. It’s worth spending the money and going there. I know it’s quite crowded, but when you go there, you will know why. It’s quite original in its character, I have never been to any similar place on our planet.
So I have my favourite place in Italy, and that’s Venice. But after my last trip to Italy, which I will tell you about, I have my new number two, my new favourite city. My new favourite place in Italy is in the south of Italy, and in a moment you’ll find out which one.
Today we will embark on a journey through Italy. And this country has it all. Ancient history and the historical ancient sites, the rich culture, stunning architecture, sunny weather, both the mountains and the seacoast. And last but not least, the cuisine. I mean, come on. Is this even fair? That one country has everything that you need to have a quite pleasant trip or historical trip, or a day on the beach or a delicious dinner, it has it all. Whatever you need, Italy has it, and it’s quite unfair. Now, while both the north and the south of Italy boast their own charm, they differ significantly in terms of culture, cuisine and landscape. Now, the North includes cities like Milan and Venice, which are often associated with wealth and kind of sophistication.
You know, Milan is famous for all their fashion shows and everything related. Now, in contrast, the South encompasses places like Naples and Matera, and the South is celebrated more for its laid-back atmosphere. And, well, let’s face it, mouth-watering cuisine.
Now, let me start my story today by talking about food, because the mouth-watering cuisine which Italy has, is pretty impactful and pretty unique in its own way. Italy is famous for its diverse array of cheeses. Probably, with mozzarella being one of the most beloved varieties. And from this trip, I remembered two delicious types of mozzarella. And what surprised me is that they were both served for breakfast in the hotels we stayed in, so I didn’t need anything else apart from mozzarella. Maybe a bunch of fresh tomatoes and bread with butter. White bread, because I’m a fan of white bread. I know this is not the healthiest option, but still. Well, what can I do? White bread with butter, mozzarella and a bunch of tomatoes. Seriously, nothing else is needed for breakfast for me. Now, you may be probably familiar with the traditional mozzarella, which is called di bufala or bufala, and it’s crafted from water buffalo milk. And there are probably also quite a bunch of varieties within Buffalo itself. So, buffalo was the first type of mozzarella I really enjoyed. And the second was burrata, which has a creamy filling with a soft mozzarella shell covering a juicy center of cream and curd. And it’s a true indulgence for the taste buds. Like, it’s hard to express it in words, but it’s really worth any sin, to be honest, it was more than delicious.
So the cheeses. Even though I’m a fan of mozzarella, I did not see that coming in a way that you know, if you eat something in the place of origin, it’s much, much tastier. And apart from food, of course, there are also other things. So here are some of the highlights from my latest trip to Italy.
I was there in the beginning of April 2024. I had to take part in an international project meeting that took place at the University in Naples. By the way, the university is named after Frederico Secondo, and my husband joined me on this trip and since the project meeting lasted till Thursday, we rented a car on Friday, hit the road and went to the south to explore the very end of Italy, including even visiting the geographical heel of Italy.
Now, mind you, when it comes to the pronunciation of this word, heel /hiːl/ is pronounced with a long e (/iː/) heel while hill /hɪl/ like the top of the mountain, it’s pronounced with a short e (/ɪ/), which is very close to Polish /y/. So we have heel and hill. That’s the difference.
When it comes to this trip, here are the things that I remember most. Naples. To start with, Naples may have a chaotic reputation and not the best fame for its crappy streets and rubbish flying around, but Naples is truly captivating. Despite its gritty facade, Naples, to me, is the essence of Italy, and I’m saying it and and I’m surprised myself because I did not see that coming. Of course, I’ve heard that Naples can be charming, and then it’s a nice place to visit, that it’s different from the north of Italy.
But after visiting Naples, this is my number two. So after Venice, Naples is my second favourite city in Italy. It’s the essence of Italy. It has all the vibrant street life and stunning architecture. Well, you know, honestly, it offers a true, true taste of Italian authenticity. It’s vibrant, but it’s not too crowded. It’s sunny but not too hot yet.
I know it was April, so perhaps that’s the reason. It can also boast beautiful architecture, but there are not that many tourists and it’s not that crowded as Rome or Milan or Florence. And finally, it’s not as expensive as North, and it’s absolutely phenomenal when it comes to food. It’s phenomenal, truly. And I like my previous experience in Poland, where mozzarella was mediocre.
In the south of Italy, I discovered the heavenly delights of burrata and all the other kinds of mozzarella. Now, each bite was truly a revelation, not only in Naples, but generally, as I said in the beginning, throughout the south of Italy, it was literally melting in my mouth. Now, moving on from Naples, we were going south and we discovered a city named Matera. But I can say I discovered it because when we were preparing for this trip, I didn’t have much time and I didn’t participate in, let’s say, preparing the itinerary. I have to be honest, my husband took over and he was the one that did the research. He checked what are the best locations to visit in the South and he planned it accordingly. Also, considering where we should sleep and so on. So after taking the car from Naples with the first city, the first location we visited was Matera and I had absolutely no expectations because I didn’t even know the name before we visited the city. I didn’t know the name of the city, I didn’t know it existed. And that is probably why I was so shocked to see Matera.
Because Matera is renowned for its ancient cave dwellings. They are like caved in the mountains and it’s it’s absolutely breathtaking. It has, like most lovely landscapes. When I saw Matera for the first time, the first thing that came to my mind was Dubrovnik in Croatia. If you have ever been to Dubrovnik, you’re probably familiar. You remember the view, the beautiful ancient buildings in the old part of the town. So Matera in Italy is just like Dubrovnik, but without the crowds. And, it’s not as expensive as well. It’s much cheaper. Dubrovnik is crazy expensive. I do not understand that, to be honest. But, Matera is as beautiful, not as crowded and simply cheaper. It was really beautiful to walk around those streets that were like a labyrinth, and they offered a very panoramic view to the entire city, and it was an absolute hit.
The best thing, though, about visiting Matera was that it was like almost empty. We could barely see any people that either the locals or the tourists, and it was absolutely gorgeous. It’s a different kind of experience when you can actually visit a place, a location without crowds of tourists walking around. Of course, there were some people, in the most popular areas, including some school trips, but still the location is breathtaking.
So I truly recommend visiting this city. Another place that we decided to pay a visit to was the picturesque Amalfi Coast. It’s not that far away from Naples itself, and it’s known for the, let’s say, dramatic cliffs and, pretty charming coastal towns. And, well, the scenery we we experienced was undeniably stunning because, you know that the view from the cliff, the sea on one side, the mountains on the other side, the cliffs that, you know, the narrow streets, the Italian atmosphere and everything.
It is stunning in its own way. But the crowds at the beaches diminished the experience slightly. Well, you know, you can still soak up the sun and those beaches, you can still enjoy it. But, you know, the beaches were small because the coast itself was not huge. And I am a person who prefers to have more space than, you know, have a bunch of people lying around your head because there is no other place to go, because the beach is so small. So the beaches are small, they are crowded because Amalfi Town and Amalfi Coast in general is pretty famous and popular among tourists. So it is visited by many, many people, not as Matera. And because of that, you know, those people have to go somewhere. So they usually go to the same locations and as a result it’s pretty crowded. I’ve seen more beautiful places. Definitely. I’m not denying the picturesque views and the atmosphere. You know, some of those views could be even described as jaw-dropping because you know, high on the cliffs, sea in front of your eyes, especially in sunny weather. It can be stunning, I admit. But personally, I would never go to Amalfi or generally Amalfi Coast for any kind of holidays. You can go there just to admire the views, the picturesque views, but not to enjoy. Like your relaxing holidays on the beach. It simply too crowded, too small. Not the best location for that. Now, as I mentioned already, we have visited the very end of the heel of Italy, the most south oriented point of continental Italy. And do you know why that is so refreshing?
It is a breath of fresh air because it was almost empty, like almost uncharted. No tourists, not a single one. Can you imagine that? Perhaps it was because it was April, but still hardly do I remember similar experience. Honestly, because it was still beautiful, breathtaking. Stunning. It was still jaw-dropping view, this, the you know, the end of the hill. It was amazing. That’s why it was such a breath of fresh air. And it just has, I think, strengthened the experience itself. It’s worth a visit, especially that on the way there you can not only admire the farming field in the utmost beauty, but, well, also the coast and the picturesque towns and and villages on the way. You can just stop there and, walk around.
You can just admire them from the car. Our trip to the south of Italy was captivating and surprising in so many ways. Mozzarella. Naples, Matera, empty south and the most delightful food. The one that you can actually kill for. Honestly, I ate so much, during this trip that I think I put something like two kilos because I couldn’t stop myself from eating the pasta, the pizza like every single thing was so delicious. Every single restaurant we went to, they were not, let’s say, incidental. They were not random. We always checked the review, the reviews on Google Maps, but still, like every single place we visited, was absolutely mouthwatering and delicious. Not every single restaurant, though, had staff that could speak English, and that was something that could be surprising because considering that we visited places that are mostly for tourists can be a kind of a pain in the neck. Right? not being able to communicate. I can speak Spanish. So I tried to use some of my Spanish because Italian can be considered quite similar. Of course it’s not the same, but like, apparently they couldn’t speak a single word in English, which is quite surprising. Not in every single place we visited, but some. But still, it didn’t matter because food was absolutely delicious.
So Venice, to sum up, is still my number one. But Naples is now my number two. Number three. I would need to think about it, because I think the first choice could be Rome. But then, if I recall how crowded Rome is, I’m not that sure. So it’s hard to say, but definitely Naples. Number two and Venice number one.
And last but not least, two pronunciation tips for you guys. Bustling and scenic have one thing in common. They have silent letters, so it’s /ˈbʌs.lɪŋ/, not bustling. So T is silent. And the word /ˈsiː.nɪk/, the same, so the c is silent. You don’t pronounce them. That’s the last pronunciation lesson for today.
Thank you guys very much for listening today. I hope you like Italy based on my today’s description, and let me know if you are also a fan of Italian cuisine and Italy in general. Well, I’m looking forward to having you here for the fourth episode.
Cheers.
[Cabin-crew announcement for landing]