Thoughts on Varese
Two weekends ago,* I visited Varese, the capital city of the province I am living and working in. The city is the largest and most well-connected in the region. The streets are filled with movie theaters, fast food restaurants, brand clothing stores, and non-Italian cuisine restaurants (which are all non-existent in Ispra and Gavirate). There is also an extensive botanical garden with various sport fields and a beach along Lago (Lake) Varese.
It was not my first time visiting. I had gone to the city the weekend before as well, but I hadn’t been able to see much of the actual city, because I went specifically to see the 16th Annual Atomiade — a sort of Olympics for research centers across Europe that the European Commission Joint Research Center was hosting in Varese. I really enjoyed my trip. Varese is a really nice city, and it was great to get out of Gavirate to see the surrounding area. But, the city is not what I thought it would be, so I thought I would share a few things that surprised me in this post.
First of all, there are no small food vendors or corner shops selling pizza. I was in Ancona during MIT’s Independent Activities Period last January, and one of my favourite places in the city was a small corner shop that sold the best pizzas. I went there every time I was in the city center, and sometimes I’d even travel to the city just for that pizza. Varese had no such pizza vendors! I looked through the entire city center, and only found sit down restaurants and cafes, which was quite disappointing.
Second, Varese has small old houses, high-rise shopping malls, and grand villas all in the same place. From what people had told me of the city, I had expected a classic small European city with narrow cobblestone streets and houses tightly placed next to each other. The old city center definitely looks like this, but only a few streets away are shopping centers that feel as though they belong in the middle of Milan, and gorgeous villas with elaborate gardens that feel as though they belong in the French country side. It was really cool.
Lastly, almost all the women I saw there were wearing long pants. The day I went it was 29 degrees Celsius (85 Fahrenheit), and sunny, so I dressed weather appropriate, and wore a cute floral blouse with light wash jeans shorts and sandals. When I got to Varese, almost every women I saw was wearing long pants, and the rest had medium length skirts or dresses. I know Italians are known to be well-dressed, but given how hot it was, especially in the sun, I was shocked by the fact that I saw no woman wearing shorts, a short dress, or short skirt.
Overall, as I said, I had a great time in Varese. It was a lovely trip, and I’m sure I will go back many more times while I’m in Italy for the summer. It was also really fun for me to notice all the small things that surprised me about the city because they were so different to what I had expected. Next time, I’ll be sure not to go expecting to find some small pizza vendor, and maybe even wearing long pants or a nice dress if it’s not too hot.
*I know, it’s been a while since I last wrote. Clearly, I have not been good at “[using] this blog as a way to document my summer,” as I had planned to. I had a report deadline for my internship at the beginning of this week, so I spent most of my days writing, and consequently had very little motivation to write for myself after work. Now that my report is done, though, I’m planning to write more. (Hopefully it sticks this time.)
