By Olly Constantine,
Social Media Editor.
English teacher Adriane Glatt has traveled many times throughout her life; growing up her family traveled frequently for her dad’s job. When she was twelve, her dad got a job in the Philippines and they lived there for four months. She credits her time in the Philippines as the thing that birthed her love for travel. Since then, she has visited countless places around the world.
Since becoming a teacher, Glatt has been able to travel often over the summer. “As soon as I got my teaching job, and I had summers off, and I had a real pay check [the] first thing I did was I got my passport,” said Glatt. One of her most memorable travel experiences was in the summer of 2011, shortly after her daughter was born, when she had the opportunity to travel to Italy with her family and stay at a fourteenth century villa that had once been used as a hospital during the plague.
During her trip to Italy, Glatt split off from the group and took a train to Florence to visit the Uffizi Gallery. She had recently read the biographical novel The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone which follows the life of the artist Michelangelo. Many of Michelangelo’s paintings and sculptures were on display at the Uffizi, this was a highlight for Glatt. “I traveled all by myself around. It was fabulous,” said Glatt.
Soon the day was coming to a close, the plan was that she would take the train back to where her family was staying. She arrived at the train station near the end of the day close to when the station was closing. When Glatt went to the ticket window the clerk closed the window in her face and began to close up shop. She wasn’t sure which train she was supposed to get on and didn’t speak Italian. This was also in a time when not many people had cell phones.
Glatt ended up getting on the wrong train. “It got dark and this really creepy guy came and sat next me, like blocking me in. And he’s like asking me where I’m going and all this stuff and I’m starting to kind of freak out,” said Glatt. Luckily, she was able to get past him and she moved to the next car where she sat with a group of Italian women. A few stops later they all got off of the train at the same place, leaving Glatt by herself. “I didn’t know if the creepy dude was still on the train so I went to the next car and there was a couple and they spoke English. I was so grateful,” said Glatt. She got off the train with this couple and they were able to make sure she got back to the villa.
Despite the slight bump in the road, Glatt enjoyed the rest of her trip. “I love traveling… But I think I’m a little wiser now than I have been in the past,” said Glatt. Her experiences abroad have certainly broadened her perspective.
