Living – Page 12 – Finding Florence

A Day Alone in Florence (Winter Ed.)

By Kevin Coccoluto
Photo by David Weiss

Every so often, I have found myself all alone in Florence for a day and struggled to figure out what to do with my time. Either my roommates were away or friends would have different class schedules, and I would have time off by myself. For the few times that this may happen to you, and I have some great suggestions that I’ve tried myself when planning for a day alone in Florence.

If you haven’t fully walked around the city by yourself, I strongly recommend doing so. Go discover new parts of Florence that you haven’t seen before (I promise there are hundreds of them). The best part about walking throughout the city alone is that you get to follow your own path and instinct, and you don’t have to follow others. It is really fun just getting lost within Florence and seeing where you end up.

Florence can be enjoyed any time of the day, during any season of the year. If you’re a warm beverage lover, I suggest stopping in several coffee or tea shops along the way and picking a favorite place that you would want to come back to. The same idea applies for restaurants, relaxation areas, or anything else such as bookstores, shops, a monument… There are thousands of choices in the city. There is no way you are ever going to see them all in an entire term, but time alone will definitely help shorten the list in one of Italy’s most beautiful cities!

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FUA Student Life suggestion: Whether for art history classes or city excursions planned with friends, you probably have already planned to see major museums such as the Galleria dell’Accademica, the Uffizi, and Palazzo Pitti. A day alone in Florence is perfect for smaller discoveries, so here’s a winter edition mini-itinerary from our staff as a starter. Create your own and share it with us!

Am: Visit a lesser-known monument such as the Biblioteca Laurenziana at the San Lorenzo complex, designed none other than Michelangelo for the Medici family. Or any of the “small but big” museums of Florence, starting from the La Specola natural museum that features not only animal and mineral specimens but ancient Florentine human anatomy wax models.

Lunch: The Sant’Ambrogio market is smaller than the central San Lorenzo market and features several lunch options inside the market and around the area. Inside the market, Da Rocco is an inexpensive local favorite.

Afternoon: Browse a teahouse such as La Via del Tè or Tealicious or a boutique bakery like the Cantinetta for a warm snack.

Pm: Head over to a bookstore early pm around 5 or 6 to browse titles. Larger bookstores include Feltrinelli Red and IBS, but also check out smaller and artsy spots like Todo Mondo or the Gucci Museum bookshop. Afterwards, you’ll just have to decide where to dine, or you can have a cozy meal at home with roommates and friends on their way back:)

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Street Art: Letting Go

By Patricia Hoban

In the Renaissance city of Florence, home to the Uffizi, one of the largest and most famous museums in the world, and pilgrimage site of artists and art lovers alike, I was impressed not only by the greats such as Michelangelo, Masaccio and Masolino, or Giotto, who I was able view just a few minutes from my apartment. I was especially fascinated by street art, and specifically with an example that I attributed as “the girl with the balloon.”

As I walked to class, I often passed by the image of a stick figure with a hand outstretched, grasping at a red balloon. I have studied Banksy at my home university, and know this to be a copy of his work. Banksy, for those of you who are unfamiliar with him, is an anonymous street artist who uses the city as his canvas. The art he creates sends a message to its viewers and brings attention to the problems that are silenced or ignored by society. What does the balloon symbolize, and is the stick figure reaching for it, or letting it go? Each day as I walked by the piece, I juggled with possible meanings.

I, a student who was studying in a foreign country, interpreted the piece to be a girl lost somewhere between holding onto her cultural habits, childhood, and comforts, and letting them go to adopt a new Italian lifestyle. In the beginning of the semester in Florence, I almost always saw the girl reaching for the balloon and holding it tightly. However, as the semester progressed and as I became more confident in providing tourists with directions and grocery shopping at my neighborhood supermarket, what I saw was not a girl reaching for a balloon, but one letting go.

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A Walk a Day: My Firenze

By Katherine Meis

Surprisingly, my favorite part about living in Firenze was my walk to class. I took five classes in three different buildings spread across the city. The first building was home to my food and wine classes, the second my Italian class, and in the third, the main campus, I took my writing courses. I lived on Via di Santo Spirito on the other side of the river, so each walk to class took approximately 10-20 minutes. For each building, I had a different route that I gradually learned to take without the use of a map. Though the path I took to each building was different, each route had something in common: I got to walk over the Arno River and pass by multiple beautiful and historical landmarks along my way. This is why my favorite part of living in Firenze was walking to class. It produced a unique experience every single time.

On my way to class on Mondays, I crossed the river and was rewarded with the view of the Ponte Vecchio backdropped by hills in the distance. I then walked through the Santa Maria Novella square and got to see the masses of Italians and tourists coming and leaving the city. Just the other day, I was walking through the square when a group of approximately two hundred Italian soccer fans (as I deduced from their jerseys) walked by me, singing boisterously. I thought to myself, what an exciting place I live in – everything is happening here!

On Tuesdays, I walked along a similar path as Monday and I was treated to the same sight of the mist rising over the Arno River that seems to come straight down from the hills. I usually stopped in a small café to practice my Italian in a short conversation with the barista while ordering a cappuccino and blueberry muffin. While enjoying coffee in Italy is already such a different experience than having a coffee back home, it is made even more unique by the sights and smells of this city that I absorb while sipping my cappuccino.

On Thursdays I took an entirely different path to class. While crossing Ponte Vecchio, it is easy to forget that you are even on a bridge, unless you are in the center where you can see the water on both sides. A thought that has always astounded me while crossing this bridge is how my simple and direct walk to class takes me over the only bridge in Firenze that survived World World II. A simple walk to class became so much more to me, each day of the week.

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Homesickness? Fight It!

Homesickness. It’ real. Even in the most beautiful city in the entire world. I know it doesn’t seem possible with all the culture, including its culinary side, at your fingertips, but sadly it is. When times get lonely and you see friends snapchat stories from home it’s easy to succumb. Here are tips to help you realize how lucky you are to be living the experience abroad and why being homesick is not worth your time!

1. Meet a new friend! No, I’m not suggesting walking around the streets of Florence until someone acknowledges you. However, step out of your comfort zone. Don’t be afraid to do a weekend get-a-way or event offered by the institution without your roommates. If you find something interesting, then go do it.

2. Look at how much you’ve done! Whenever I am just sitting around the house on a rainy day I feel the pang of being homesick the most. I found that reflecting on the amazing experiences I’ve accumulated so far changes my perspective. It’s as easy as looking back at photos, or thinking of the laughs I’ve had with my roommates and the places that I never thought I’d experience. It helps me to realize how happy I am being here.

3. Go outside! There is not a doubt in my mind that Florence is one of the most BEAUTIFUL cities in the entire world. If you’re missing home then you need to put down your smartphone, go for a walk, rent a bike for a day, and look at something you haven’t noticed before. Florence is full of secrets, you just have to go look for them.

See more of Florence at FUA’s FB, Instagram, and Twitter.