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.
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NewsTranscript
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]