Meet Glasgow Central Tours Italian Guide, Flavia Burroni
Meet Glasgow Central Tours Italian Guide, Flavia Burroni.
Flavia has been giving tours in Italian as well as English.
Flavia has been giving tours in Italian as well as English.
Transcript
00:00 So, why has the station started tours in Italian?
00:29 Because this was my idea, I speak in two languages and it was interesting for me that we had
00:37 this opportunity.
00:39 This means a big push for natural rail, but especially for the tour, because the tour
00:47 could be a very good occasion for people that are travelling or tourists or people that
00:53 live here just because of Italian heritage, to know exactly what this station means for
01:00 Glaswegian and for Scotland as well.
01:03 And the managers say absolutely yes, because you know, natural rail is a British company,
01:12 but British companies means also international because we have a lot of people that is coming
01:18 here and use the railway.
01:21 And are there aspects of Italy or Italian things that you talk about in the tour?
01:28 Usually people ask me differences, so differences between UK or maybe Scotland and Italy.
01:37 They are very interested in what kind of life we have here.
01:42 And because you know, Scotland is an iconic country.
01:47 It's an iconic not just because of the tartan, but because of the history.
01:52 And because my degree was in history, and especially in British history, this is very
01:59 strange now because I have a degree in Italian about British history.
02:04 So the people is very interested to make difference and to know more about the story of Glasgow
02:12 generally and the station.
02:14 For this reason, I mix the history of Glasgow and the history of the station, because it's
02:20 clear without Glasgow, no station, no station without Glasgow.
02:24 I mean, the Glasgow that we know today is in large part because of this station.
02:32 When I start after five or 10 minutes that they take confidence, everything change, because
02:40 they understand that was something exceptional, no, to have Italian guide.
02:48 Also when I work as a guide, a tour guide in Italy, I don't know English at all.
02:54 So why did you come to Glasgow?
02:57 Glasgow was my dream.
03:00 When I visit Scotland, I fell in love for Scotland.
03:04 I say in my dreams, one day I want to stay here.
03:11 So I had two years in college and I had the national qualification as a tour.
03:17 And I finished just this year the agency in tourism.
03:23 So my preparation, my education in this kind is complete because of Scotland.
03:30 I was adopted by Glasgow.
03:35 Not that I adopt Glasgow, Glasgow adopt me.
03:40 So what is it about Glasgow that you love?
03:44 I love people, because it's real that people make Glasgow.
03:49 But especially I love the Victorian and Edwardian aspects of the city.
03:56 Walking around the city every day give you a new surprise.
04:01 You can discover a unique place or some corner that you never seen before.
04:08 Is a city that has a lot of different face.
04:15 Is a historical aspect because it was at the top of the industrial revolution.
04:20 So Glasgow was the best of the best.
04:23 And also because of the Victorian period or Edwardian, but also because of the war.
04:30 The engagement of Scotland in the First World War was massive.
04:36 These poor people were forced to fight in Europe.
04:40 And I think because in the Second World War it was vice versa.
04:46 So a lot of prisoners from Africa, Italian prisoners.
04:50 Of course, yeah.
04:53 Went to Orchard, to the Isles, to Kirkwall.
04:58 And they build, for example, the little, the wee Italian church.
05:04 So like, because I'm an immigrant and Scottish people left this country a long time ago to
05:13 do the same life that I had before.
05:16 So my totally love for these people is because I had and we had as Italians the same experience.
05:26 We share a lot of things in common.
05:29 More than we think.
05:31 Keep numbers stay together.
05:33 Thank you very much.
05:35 Thank you very much.
05:37 Thank you.
05:39 Thank you.
05:41 [BLANK_AUDIO]