Spiritual Retreat Gone Wrong: A Village Full of Perverts

Nicole Venglovicova
4 min readSep 11, 2024

I decided to seek spiritual fulfillment and strengthen my connection with God. That’s why I booked an Airbnb in a small Italian village that seemed overly Christian. Or is that just normal in Italy, the holiest of lands? The village had six churches and Christian festivities every two weeks. Not to mention statues of Jesus and Mary at every other corner. Exactly what I was looking for.

Do I want to live my life cynically, or stay a bit naive? It’s a dilemma that pushes you toward cynicism at 33, because you’ve been through enough and certainly don’t have any illusions about life anymore. In any case, I try to suppress cynicism at least partially and bring back a bit of my childhood naivety.

I can’t help but laugh as I write this blog because I never would’ve imagined what I’m seeing in this Catholic village. Of course, hypocrisy is everywhere and in every religion.

Whoever is without sin, cast the first stone at me. I’m no saint either and certainly not without bad human traits. So, I don’t want this blog to come across as criticism or judgment of the people in this village. I want you to take it as satire, and feel free to laugh at my naivety and rose-colored glasses. I won’t take it personally — I’m a blonde, after all.

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