Some good advise there Nouran.

I was too trusting until that couple tried to steal my wallet and passport. Once that happens it's somewhat dificile to not be a little paranoid.

I always carry most of my money in a money belt when traveling abroad.

Iceman, So you want to see Italy and you don't want to spend a fortune? Don't spend your money
and waste time waiting in crowded stations for trains. Hitchhike the country on your own schedule
instead and meet interesting people while doing so?

I hitchhiked in Italy and never had any problems. Then when I had a car I would
pick people up. Actually I would only pick girls up.

using a money belt is a nice move villa especialy when you don't know where you are gonna spend the night.

__________________
"you can't please all people, but you can please yourself" the great philosopher NOURAN

mmmmm not sure about hitchhiking, it sounds like fun but needs extra caution.

__________________
"you can't please all people, but you can please yourself" the great philosopher NOURAN

HaHaHa Villa, I hope to be picked up by girls. I definitely plan on not only hitchhiking but in fact walking the majority of the distance. There is a Catholic pilgrimage I have planed to go on in Spain (Way of St. James - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) and so I am sure hiking across Italy would be wonderful for conditioning myself for walking long distances. Also I could do with losing a few pounds and wouldn't mind the exercise. In fact maybe I should workout along the way to prepare for the military as well. The more I think about it the more I think of what a great way to get in shape this trip might turn out to be.

As for the money, not having bills larger than 20 sounds perfect and I will definitely do that. Also I will spread my money around, some in my pockets some in my backpack and some in my wallet this way if anything is stolen I will still have some. I do think that if I am careful enough and, I will try to be, I will not have anything stolen, so lets hope that is the case.

Well, thanks for the further advice and keep it coming guys.

[QUOTE=iceman7291;24804]HaHaHa Villa, There is a Catholic pilgrimage I have planed to go on in Spain (Way of St. James - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) and so I am

You know Iceman I was going to suggest that you go to Spain but was thinking you wouldn't want to. I have a master's degree
in Spanish and of course speak Spanish better than Italian. However if you speak Spanish then Italian is easier to
learn and visa versa. Actually I learned Italian first and then when I came back from Italy to California I learned
Spanish mostly because it's so similar to Italian. When you're in Spain it reminds you so much of Italy and when you're
in Italy in reminds you of Spain. Lot's of Roman ruins in Spain. Probably the most famous Roman aqueduct anywhere is in
Segovia, Spain. There were Spanish Roman emperors, Spanish Popes, Spainsh famous Roman generals and soldiers. The charater
in the movie Gladiator was from Spain. After all Spain was a Roman colony for 640 years so the Spanish have more in common
with Italy than anyother country in the world if you don't count Argentina and Uruguay where more than half the people
are of Italian origin.

Yeah I definitely look forward to going to Spain. I have a cousin who is half Spanish and half Italian, his mother from Italy and his father from Spain, and he was the first one to tell me about this Catholic pilgrimage. He definitely loves Spanish culture and has been able to get me really excited to go there. After my trip around Italy we plan on doing the pilgrimage together, and we may even visit the land that his family owns there, so who knows I might end up living there for a short while. Also, about your references of Roman influence on Spain, I want to remind you I stated earlier that I'm a bit of a history buff myself and will have you know that one of my all time favorite Roman Emperors is Trajan, who of course we all know was born in Spain. He was a magnificent emperor whose column depicting his victory over the Dacians still stands strong in the Roman forum (Trajan's Column - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia). I obviously would have to admit however, that Augustus is my favorite emperor of Rome and the reasons for that, I'm sure you know. His successors were some of the craziest emperors Rome saw, but eventually we got emperors outside of the bloodline like Trajan. I also remember reading about the wars in Spain between the Romans and Carthaginians, and in fact during the First Punic War, the hometown of my mother - Enna, Sicily - switched hands between both sides many times, but eventually the Romans wrestled complete control of the island from Carthage. Also, besides Trajan, Spain had many other prominent people who had some kind of involvement there, such as Pompey when he crushed the rebellion of Quintus Sertorius, and Caesar when he was a governor of one of the provinces there.

Sorry, didn't mean to turn that into a history lesson, but sometimes I get a little carried away. As I said I love history and when you have this kind of information I guess just sometimes you are compelled to share it (I love historical discussion!). Well, I'm off to go watch some more History Channel. Ciao!

Hi Iceman,
Looks like everyone gave you good advice. You could make fliers to offer English conversation classes and put them up near bookshops and universities. Also waitressing or if you like art history you could be a tour guide. Actually if you need money real bad you could be a tour guide.
I will say that I was like you in thinking that things were greener on the other side; I like you have relatives in sicily and was born to sicilian parents, i felt torn between two cultures. But living here has made me realize that I am American (no matter how hard I tried in the past not to be), and there is nothing to be ashamed of for that. No country is perfect, especially Italy. And although I do like living here,the difficulties i have faced have made me appreciate both of the cultures that I have been blessed with, American and Sicilian. I hope you have a great experience! Don´t let the Italians cheat you out of money. Always be direct when it comes to getting paid. And if you pass by Florence (or Bronte, Sicily in August), let me know. We can grab a cap and you can recount all of your wild adventures.
Be great!

Natalie

It's not about being just Italian or just American. It's about being bicultural and bilingual. In some cases it's about being multicultural and multilingual.
When I learned Italian a whole new wonderful world opened up for me. Then when I learned Spanish another whole new world opened up.

Been to Spain, alright. But I never got as excited about Spain as Italy.

Anyway Iceman, if you are interested in the Spanish in Italy, you cannot go past the Borgias.

Being an expat and living o/s is incredibly complicated. Even more so when there is someone else!

Just go over with no expectations and enjoy yourself and if youlove it you love it and if you dont, then do something else.

Compared to other countries I have always found the trains good value, so don't discount them. When I was in Sicily it got up to 45 degrees in Catania and was 35 most days, not exactly walking weather.

How is the charity collection with your family going?