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.