By Juliana Guarino
Photo by Josh Berendes
When deciding to study abroad in Florence had two huge components to it for me – living in an Italian city to try to adapt to the culture, and also traveling around Europe. Many students who choose to study in Europe have the intention of traveling the continent. Some come with a “list” of must sees, and sometimes students plan each weekend down to a T before even arriving.
Upon coming to Florence, I was struck with a dilemma. I wanted to fully immerse myself for the full three and a half months, learn some Italian, even embrace culture shock in its entirety. Because “when will I ever be able to do this again,” right?
How do you find the right balance between staying in your host city and traveling the world?
First of all – you don’t need to travel every weekend! Some students really jam pack every single weekend they have here, which is fine on one hand, but some of my favorite weekends were the ones spent here in Florence.
On top of that – you don’t always have to travel outside of Italy! There are SO many amazing places easily reachable from Florence, even for a day trip. Some examples of places I went by train or bus include Parma, Milan, Rome, Venice, Lucca, the Amalfi Coast, Perugia, Tuscany, and Siena. Going to these spots was a great way for me to balance traveling/seeing new places and immersing myself in the Italian culture.
Also, it’s o.k. if you don’t make it to every single spot on your “list.” This was a huge thing for me to finally realize. In the beginning I got so caught up on all the cities I needed to see as if I was never ever going to come back to Europe. You will be back. You won’t make it to every city you heard is great – there are waaaaay too many in Europe to see in just three and a half months.
As I looked back at my experience a few weeks before departing, I was thankful to have no regrets about how I spent my weekends. I think I found a great balance traveling in and outside of Italy. So see a few different cities, prioritize the ones you want to see most, or don’t and just wing it. Either way, you’ll go back to those spots you didn’t get to see this time around. That doesn’t sound too bad right?
ps, Looking for local travel ideas? FUA’s Educational Field Trips Department are organized by the Student Life office over several weekends in the semester. The planning team includes FUA faculty who regularly teach culture courses so you’ll get to experience the best of experience and learning about Italy. Check out the current trips online or at the MyFUA portal.
pps, For food exploration starters during your time in Florence, check out the food blog of Apicius, the hospitality division of FUA!
See more of Florence and Italy at FUA’s FB, Instagram, and Twitter.