Italy is a land of rich and decadent foods, colorful citizens who live and love with passion and my dream vacation destination. I have dreamt of taking my large Italian family to Italy to walk the same roads as our ancestors since I was a young girl. Now is a time when I am able to splurge and bring my dream to fruition. The cost of taking my family to Italy will be quite exorbitant in monetary terms; the airfare alone is enough to make my piggy bank squeal in protest. My family thinks that a trip to Italy is too expensive and that I should not spend my money on something so extravagant.
However, I do not feel one can put a price tag on the experience of exploring the country of my ancestors with my family. Taking my twelve family members and myself to Italy will certainly put a dent in my wallet, but it will also provide a lifetime of memories and an education my family cannot obtain from books or television programs. There is no price to great to pay for the experience of walking arm in arm with my sisters down the Piazza di Spagna, giggling as gelato drips down our chins, as we make our way to the Spanish Steps.
To be able to watch the awe and wonder on my young nieces and nephews faces, as they stare at the Leaning Tower of Pisa trying figure out how it is still standing, is worth millions to me. I would pay any price to see the joy on my mother’s face as she relaxes in a gondola passing under Bridge of Sighs or the tears my father would fight to hold back as he gazed out upon the city of Assisi, the land of his grandparents and his ancestor St. Frances of Assisi. To share the joy of exploring the land of Michael Angelo, Romeo & Juliet and the Holy See with my family is priceless.
I will need to spend money that I have spent years earning and squirreling away to provide my family with a dream trip to Italy. My family may find the expense exorbitant, but I feel it is worth the satisfaction of giving my family a once in a lifetime experience of visiting the land of our ancestors. I am sure when we are sitting in a small trattoria, sipping chilled Chianti, enjoying fresh bread with olive oil and gazing out over the hills of Tuscany, my loving, Italian family will for the first time in my life, tell me I was right.
