One of my father's favorite lectures was over the importance of first impressions. It was his strongest argument against my derelict high school wardrobe. Many a battle was fought over jeans with holes in the knees. As an adult, I now relish the freedom to look as gentile or as trashy as I desire. Being abroad presents the opportunity to meet new people and I take that into account when I wear the same pair of pants everyday. I also take that into account when I go to a new place and find it tricked out in an uncommon way. For example, first impressions of Rome during the Notte Bianca and first impressions of Genova during the lazy August off season.
When traveling with other Clemsonites I got to go to Lucca during the exceptional circumstance of a Comics and Gaming Convention. I regarded it as an especially warm welcome to the medieval city. It was early November and I had never really gotten over that longing for a real Halloween. There was something satisfying about the combination of enthusiastic gamers and Lucca's natural fall beauty. We got to enjoy the sites, the fortress walls, and the circular Piazza Anfiteatro with its craft market but peppered with kids in cosplay.
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