One reading I found so interesting came during our last day of class for Sense of Place. It was called, “Containing Children” by Roger A. Hart. The reading talks about city development and its consequences for access to outdoor play spaces, focusing on voluntary free play of younger children specifically. I was a camp counselor for pre-school children for six years, and I still babysit frequently, so this reading immediately sparked my interest. Though I’ve been trained as a camp counselor, I don’t often read scholarly pieces on the subject of child development. By reading this article, I think it can provide me with some insights as I compare it to my experience as a summer camp counselor.

 

One aspect I found most relating to my experience as a camp counselor was the idea of exploration. The author stresses how “children have an urge to explore, touch, manipulate and experiment with their world in order to understand it” but how most public playgrounds do not encourage this type of play (Hart, 416-417). I find this to be true in my experience. Often, I will lead the campers off of the formal playground area to the neighboring open field where we play group games that allow for more creative and less structured play. Instead of going down a slide repeatedly or sitting on the swings, the campers are more interactive and begin making up games of their own to play. As a counselor I find a lot of the kids enjoying this type of play more, since it shifts their sense of place outside the gates of the playground.

 

Another aspect I felt very closely related to specifically my hometown was the section that outlined the problem of removing challenge from play environments. The author notes the trend that while playground safety is important, it has turned into a “paranoid attempt to create no-risk environments”(Hart, 418). He emphasizes the problem in this, since children need to develop risk-taking abilities and “physical competencies that can protect them from injury” (Hart, 418-419). The old playground in my town was a perfect example of this. It was torn down due to paranoid parental complaints that certain parts were unsafe. A key factor was the old metallic slide, which was notorious for slightly burning your legs on a sunny day. But as soon as part of your leg touched the surface, you knew not to go down, and this was representative of the author stressing the importance of testing your competencies. The new playground is much more sterile and has far less obstacles, and it will be interesting to see how this influences how children play.

 

I thought this reading was valuable and I enjoyed it a lot because it was about a field that I wouldn’t think to read about on my own. I found so much of it connected to my experience as a pre-school camp counselor, and I think the information will even be helpful as I continue babysitting this summer. Childhood play is a relevant factor in our overall development and how we start to perecive the world around us.

As a reflection on my time abroad and in order to express what I learned in my Sense of Place class this semester, I will be reflecting on how each place I travelled influenced my overall sense of place. Below, I’ll outline each city I travelled to by recounting a favorite memory, favorite food, a tip, and how I felt the city compared to Florence. I also want this to serve as a guide that I can share with friends and family travelling, since during my time abroad, I’ve found myself so reliant on recommendations from older friends who have travelled abroad. I’m also hoping I can organize the information I gathered during my travels and investigate how my sense of place has shifted throughout the semester. We will begin on my first trip outside of Italy: Copenhagen.

 

COPENHAGEN

Favorite Memory: A friend of a friend who studied in Copenhagen showed us the Bastard Cafe, where you drink beer and rent board games for the group to play!

Favorite Food: Avocado toast from Union Kitchen. It was my first time having avocado during my time abroad, so it tasted extra amazing.

Pro Tip: Most expensive place I’ve been abroad. Would only recommend a couple days here.

Compared to Florence: I was happily surprised by how modern Copenhagen was compared to Florence. Every restaurant could easily split the check and accepted credit card!

ROME

Favorite Memory: Getting to hang out with people from our program I hadn’t met before. It was a really well organized trip that had tons of activities already in place for us so we really got to see everything.

Favorite Food: Carbonara from Osteria Da Fortunata. It was so amazing to see the chefs hand-making the noodles right in front of our table.

Pro Tip: Go to the Trastevere neighborhood for the best food and the overall vibe is much less touristy. This was my favorite area of Rome!

Compared to Florence: I loved Rome, and have been back since, but this was one time when I knew I studied in the right place. Rome is gigantic and I was overwhelmed just being a visitor there.

 

AMSTERDAM

Favorite Memory: The MOCO Museum. I felt transported to the modern world after being in Italy surrounded by such historical and religious art. It was a breath of fresh air to see modern ideas being represented in art. I also loved the curation. Could have stayed in there for the whole day.

Favorite Food: Bakers and Roasters egg, toast, bacon brunch.

Pro Tip: Do a Those Dam Boat Guys tour. They give you a great sense of the layout of the city, but also emphasize cultural and historical significance of the city along the way without overloading you with information. This was one of my favorite guided tours abroad!

Compared to Florence: I felt this city was almost the opposite of Florence in a lot of aspects. The food was not traditional and had much more room for inventiveness and creativity. Also, the art scene was much more focused on contemporary.

 

DUBLIN

Favorite Memory: Hanging around Temple Bar area with friends and checking out the cool pubs.

Favorite Food: An English Breakfast from Layla’s Rooftop.

Pro Tip: Book this trip very far in advance if you think it’s something you want to do. Everything gets pricier as the year goes on.

Compared to Florence: This trip made me miss pasta in Florence, since the food scene was not the greatest. But the local people were wonderful and it was a very enjoyable trip!

 

LONDON

Favorite Memory: Walking around Camden and eating for 3 hours. This was my favorite area and there were tons of cute shops to walk around and check out.

Favorite Food: Cereal Killer Cafe in Camden Market. My brother told me about this place and I knew I needed to go since I’ve been craving sugary American cereals this whole time abroad.

Pro Tip: Figure out the public transportation. We ended up ubering everywhere for convenience but it’s definitely worth it to figure out how to take public transportation.

Compared to Florence: There were way more ethnic restaurants and a generally wider variety of types of food. However, I don’t think I ever could have studied in this city because of how enormous and bustling it is.

BARCELONA

Favorite Memory: All of the Gaudí architecture. Park Güell was my favorite. We had no idea where we were going the entire time and just explored it for so many hours and I was amazed at the beauty.

Favorite Food: Tapas! Tomato bread was my favorite.

Pro Tip: Book ahead for the Park Guell terrace because it fills up.

Compared to Florence: The architecture is like nothing I’ve ever seen before, and after so many visits to various Renaissance churches in Florence, I loved how unique the Sagrada Familia was.

 

SORRENTO

Favorite Memory: Finally seeing my family (especially right after a jam-packed spring break) was so incredible. When I hugged my brother when I saw him in the airport I almost cried of happiness. Besides that, sitting by the water the whole weekend was my most calm I’ve felt all of abroad.

Favorite Food: Acqu’ e Sale, a pizza place my mom and sister and I found right on the water.

Pro Tip: We took a train back to Florence out of Naples and stopped to get amazing takeout Neapolitan pizza to eat on the train.

Compared to Florence: This was the first coastal part of Italy I’d seen, and it showed me how many different things the country had to offer. Made me wish Florence had a beach.

 

VENICE

Favorite Memory: Wandering around Venice with my family was so much fun and it was a great end to a great visit with them.

Favorite Food: Crab from Trattoria Aquila Nera

Pro Tip: Go to any gondola ride that’s closest to you because they’re all a standard price throughout the whole city.

Compared to Florence: Venice is much more touristy and it felt like there were far less authentic little places to find, especially in terms of food. This made me realize how much more authentic Italian food Florence has.

 

CINQUE TERRE

Favorite Memory: Sitting on the beach in Monterosso. We went by the rocks after our hike and relaxed and watched the waves.

Favorite Food: Fried calamari after our hike from a street vendor.

Pro Tip: We bought a train pass that is unlimited trains for 2 days which was helpful when we wanted to explore all the cities once we got tired of hiking between them.

Compared to Florence: This influenced my sense of place in Florence a lot, since it made me realize how geographically diverse the country is. I felt like I was on a tropical beach far away from Florence, though I was only a couple of hours. It made me realize Florence has shaped my image of Italy as a whole, instead of just being one city within Italy.

 

PRAGUE

Favorite Memory: Eating weiners outside of the Prague Castle. Also, I loved exploring Golden Lane: the road was filled with storybook houses the 7 dwarfs might live in.

Favorite Food: Street food around the Prague castle was so good (weiners, tradelinks). I also got a great Mexican recommendation, Las Adelitas, from my friend Anna who used to study there.

Pro Tip: Definitely withdraw cash for this trip once you get to Prague. Most of the street food and bars do not take card.

Compared to Florence: This was one trip I was very homesick for Florence. As my friend Anna warned me, the Czech people are not generally more standoffish and not as friendly compared to Italians. I missed the hospitable space of Trattoria Boboli when I walked into various restaurants in Prague and was met with a more hostile attitude.

GREECE

Favorite Memory: Going on an adventure with Maddie’s Papou and Vassili, who spoke only Greek so we had no clue where we were going the entire day. He took us up a mountain, into a church that was built into a hollowed out tree, a cozy Greek restaurant, the entire time not telling us where we were off to next.

Favorite Food: Maddie’s Yia Yia’s salad. Really every meal here has been incredible and it’s definitely because of the olive oil.

Pro Tip: This was my first time abroad staying with someone else’s family, and it has been such a great experience. If you can, try and visit any relatives or friends’ relatives that you are able to, because it’s such a different experience than staying in a hotel with friends.

Compared to Florence: While I knew I always wanted to study abroad in Florence, Greece has always been the number one place in Europe I wanted to travel. This trip made me feel so fortunate that I had the chance to see it!

Overall, I feel the Sense of Place course has given me the tools to experience my time abroad with more of a sense of depth. Recounting my experiences in each city made me realize how much of a home I consider Florence and has reinforced my sense of place in Florence. While travelling, I constantly find myself comparing each detail (the food, the people, the architecture, the size of the city) and have realized that Florence was my favorite city out of any one I’ve travelled to. I will be so sad to leave it, but am so looking forward to coming back here one day. Ciao Firenze!

As our Sense of Place class made our way down my street (Via Romana), I already could tell where we were going: my favorite restaurant Trattoria Boboli. I walked directly behind the tour guides, excited for everyone to hear about my favorite restaurant. What I didn’t know was that at the first stop on this Food Tour we would be given free focaccia bread!

Sabrina began talking about why this is her “sense of place,” and described the first time she ever went to Trattoria Boboli, and instantly felt right at home. She talked about the restaurant in a familiar way, mentioning the owner Michael and his wife Iyana and their two dogs Mia and Tina. I loved the personal touch that this tour had. At each stop, we were given a background story on why this food spot was so special to them. Going into the tour, I had expectations that we would be taken to more well-known spots around Florence, and that the experience might have a more touristy feel. I liked that they made an effort to take us to important places to each of them, and were willing to share their stories about their experiences at each stop.

Specifically at the Boboli stop, I felt that this tour was really special. Since this is my and my roommates favorite restaurant in Florence (my roommate Maddie and I went a few hours later that day for dinner) it really felt like they were seeing a piece of my home.

After eating as much bread as I could at Boboli, we were onto the next stop: Sbrino Gelato. Since we didn’t have time to stop by 4 Leoni, Summer explained outside of the Gelato shop why 4 Leoni was her special place. She described her first time as a child eating pear ravioli, and how she continues to love it today. Sammy then talked about how Sbrino is her sense of place, and that the famous flavor to try is Speculoos, which tastes like Teddy Grahams. Though I’ve been to this gelato place too many times to count, I was just as excited to have a taste of a few of the flavors. They brought them out in large cups for us all to sample with a spoon, and everyone loved the Speculoos flavor. I heard people talking about how they needed to come back soon, and loved the little shop. A few other students and I actually went inside to get a full cup of our own.

Ari’s sense of place was a juice spot called Tamarindo on Via dei Neri. I’ve been along this road so many times, but have never seen this juicery. We tried a couple of flavors of smoothies they offered, and just as we were getting ready to leave the employee brought out a gluten-free, vegan banana bread. It was delicious and something I definitely will be back for. I liked this stop along the tour a lot since it was a place I would have had no idea existed had it not been recommended by my classmate.

The aspect I loved most about this tour was the personal touches that made it so engaging. During our time abroad, we’ve all experienced trying to find the best restaurants in any given city we’re traveling to. But in my experience, it’s always personal recommendations from friends that end up being the best meal. Food has a unique ability to bring people together, and it was a wonderful experience to get a taste of my classmate’s favorite spots around Florence.

 

Last weekend, I went somewhere that was on the top of my travel list: Cinque Terre! I’ve wanted to go since I saw pictures, and I’ve never hiked before, so I thought it would be an incredible place to do that for the first time. However, when I saw pictures of the hiking route between the cities, I realized it would be a struggle for me: I’m terrified of staircases with no railing (which are all over the path), and on top of that, it didn’t exactly seem like a beginner’s level hike.

As we arrived in Monterosso, Cinque Terre, I saw the incredible mountains that were even steeper than i imagined. I could already picture myself slipping on a step and falling down the side of the coastal mountain. But finally, we found the ticket office to buy hiking passes, devoured a pre-hiking pizza, and made our way to the beginning of the hiking path that would lead us to Vernazza.

As I stared up at the mountain, I was overwhelmed. I didn’t know how I’d make it up that steep of an incline. I moved slowly and carefully at first up the mountain, but as the hike went on, I was more confident and picked up my pace (though sometimes I still had to grab onto my friend’s hands when stepping over some difficult staircases). It was actually when I saw a couple who looked like they were in their 80’s trekking by me that I realized I would be fine. If they could do it, I could too.

Once I was at the first lookout point, I realized how lucky I was to have access to this incredible view. It made me think about the Mitchell reading that we discussed in class about having access to public spaces. It’s interesting that this incredible mountain has an economic barrier in order to gain access.

Though it was scary at first, I had a great time hiking for the first time and was glad I stepped out of my comfort zone! It was a tough but rewarding trip, and I hope I get to go back someday!

After a long spring break vacation visiting three cities in a row: Dublin, London, and Barcelona, I met up with my parents and brother and sister in Sorrento for the last weekend of spring break, and from there they would come back to Florence with me. The city of Sorrento was incredible, but as we were on our train ride back to Florence, I was so excited to be home again. After so much travel, I was happy to have a space I felt so comfortable with and was ready to get back in my routine. 

Being in four different cities over break really made me think about how much I think of Florence as home, which was an especially interesting experience when my family came to visit. Though my family has all visited before, I was now the “expert” and it was my personal responsibility to show them great experiences in Florence. I was most excited to show them a few of my favorite food spots and see their reactions to the city’s incredible cuisine. 

My family rented an Air Bnb in the Oltarno neighborhood, right by Ponte Vecchio. This week overall, most of my food spots to show them were in my own neighborhood. I took them to 4 Leoni, Trattoria Boboli, and even La Mangiatoia for lunch. It was fun to show them my local spots that felt like home. This was a big contrast with the other side of the river. We went to great spots like 13 Gobbi, Buca Mario, Pino’s, but when I was leading my family to them, I still had my Google Maps pulled up. I was almost as unfamiliar with these neighborhoods as my family was, since I had never been to the specific restaurants before. It was an interesting experience feeling like a lost tourist again in a city I’ve lived in for this long. 

Though my family did a lot of the touristy sites while I was in class (the Duomo, Palazzo Vecchio, Santa Maria Novella), I joined them for one spot I’ve been dying to go: the Boboli Gardens. This was another instance when I felt like a tourist in the city I’ve lived in for two months. I was amazed at the expansive garden and my family and I wandered through for a couple hours, pointing out waterfalls, trees, and the incredible views. This visit was one of the only tourist sites I have seen outside of class, since several of my classes take field trips to museums and churches. It was a fun change of pace from the informational tours I usually encounter, to just be with my family walking around and looking at scenery.

In all, it was a great experience having my family in Florence. It made me think about definitions of home, like in the Rybcynski article that discussed how home is not just the physical house, but the people in it. Having my family here this week has been the most that Florence has felt like home to me this semester!

 

This week I read Jill’s blog, and it prompted me to think about my musical habits here in Florence. While I’m not a singer, I love listening to music in earphones. Back at school in Madison, if I’m walking alone, I always have earphones in, tuning out my surroundings. It’s something that can get me in the zone for a test and uplift my mood throughout the day. 

But it definitely creates some type of barrier around me, giving the impression that I’m in my own world. As Jill mentioned, the Wise article last week discussed the ways people can stake their territory in a space. As I wear earphones, I’m creating a kind of boundary to the sounds of the city. I never thought about it too much until I got to Florence.

As I mentioned in one of my earlier posts, in the beginning of my abroad experience, I stopped wearing earphones while walking in order to really take in the world around me and feel more comfortable with my surroundings. But as I got more comfortable, I realized that listening to music makes me feel at home, so I started up again (only when walking alone to class). In the reading for last week, Wise says how home is not a static point, but instead there are markers of home, like familiar songs. This resonated with me. With so much change happening so quickly, it’s nice to still have this ritual of listening to music that reminds me of friends from home and family. 

While I definitely will continue to listen to music on my walks to class, there are certain places I now know I cannot wear them around the city of Florence, like the grocery store. Last week while running errands at the Conad near CET, I had headphones in while searching through the produce section at the supermarket, when a hunched-over nonna came up to me, frantically pointing at the grapefruits and blabbering Italian at me. I looked at her confused, and took out my earphones to hear her. I couldn’t understand her, but we both began laughing. She didn’t give up, and I finally could tell she was asking the price of a grapefruit. I weighed a couple and showed her the price. She grabbed a few and continued laughing at our confusing interaction. Next time I went to Conad, I actually saw her again in the checkout line, and she smiled at me. 

This nonna was able to break down my spatial barrier I had created around myself by wearing earphones in public. It’s certain funny interactions like this that if I had kept my earphones in and tuned out the world, never would have happened. So while I’ll still listen to music on my way to class to feel that sense of home that I need to keep some stability, I’ll try and keep them out on my walks around the city so I can take in this vibrant and wonderful city. 

Since my first trip to Florence my senior year of high school is really what activated my interest in art history, I wanted to write with a fresh perspective on some of the spots that made Florence so memorable for me: the museums. I had two experiences in museums this week that made me so appreciative of the city where I chose to study abroad.

First, I’ll begin with my trip on Monday to the Museo Novecento. I’ve been wanting to visit it ever since I first began researching museums in Florence. When I heard my Sense of Place class was going on a field trip to Novecento, I was delighted for a few reasons. Last semester, I took a Concept of Contemporary Art course. It was one of my favorite courses, since my professor was so passionate about contemporary art, and even prompted me to go to a couple of museums featuring Contemporary Art over winter break (the wndr museum and the Milwaukee Art Museum). Since contemporary is my favorite type of art to study, I was so excited to walk through this space.

I also was excited for a change of scenery. Though I love being surrounded by such incredible Renaissance works of art, I’ve always felt more absorbed and captivated in a contemporary or modern museum. When I walked in the Novecento, I noticed how modern it felt compared to other interior space of Florence museums. The art was curated uniquely in a collage on the first wall as I walked in, which was different than the typical linear sequential displays I’ve seen at the more traditional museums here in Florence. It made me appreciative that I’m in a city where I’m able to see art spanning from Byzantine to more contemporary concepts.

My next trip to a museum this week was the Accademia Gallery. My senior year, with very little background in art history, I knew this was an important place. This week I read the Dovey reading, and though the piece was about skyscrapers, I think the larger concepts relate to why any building can be a powerful presence within a city. Two aspects Dovey mentions are “distinction” and “place.” The Accademia is a unique landmark within the city that’s gained a lot of its power by being a recognizable structure within the city. Next is place. The Accademia stands right near the Piazza San Marco in the city center. Its location in the city gives it prominence. Inside, the grand columns and exquisite architecture set the tone for how historically prestigious the art inside it is. The mood is much more serious, and my Art and Architecture class was told a few times by security to speak in a whisper. This was quite the difference from Novecento, especially in the sense that there is an entire outdoor space to walk and socialize. 

Of course, the most popular attraction is the David. As you turn the corner when you first enter, it’s down a long hallway underneath an enormous skylight dome that illuminates Michelangelo’s original David. My senior year, I was taken aback by the 17 foot tall statue even with no background in art history. This morning, I got to see the incredible work once again, this time with a new perspective. My Renaissance Art and Architecture class had a field trip to the museum, and as I was walking through, I was amazed once again. It was an incredible experience to be back in this historically influential place knowing so much more about what I was actually looking at. I could now recognize different styles, techniques and periods of art that gave the museum a whole new meaning.

I live in a small suburb of Chicago, and though I frequently drive or train downtown to Chicago, I’ve never felt entire comfortable knowing where I am in a city with such high rise buildings. My sense of direction was actually better in Madison, since I had a body of water to orient myself within the city. I knew coming to Florence that the Arno would be a big part of my mental map as I learned to navigate the streets of Florence.

When our first class field trip was announced that we would be climbing to the top of the Duomo, I was so excited. Though I have made the trek with my family before, I knew it would be a totally different experience now that Florence is my home for 4 months. I thought it might give me a clearer view of a map of the city, however, once I got up to the top, my initial reaction was not to search for my new apartment in Florence. The view looked like a painting. I first noticed all beautiful red roofs that were surrounding me. My eyes then jumped to the outskirts of Florence, where I saw something that was lacking in the streets of Florence: trees! The dark green color of the trees was incredible against the skyline. Going to the top of the Duomo didn’t necessarily give me that sense of direction and orientation within the city, but made me appreciate a fuller picture of the city of Florence as a whole.

My next view of Florence from above did end up giving me a better sense of orientation in my space. Right after Italian class ended one Thursday, my friends and I made the hike up the Piazzale Michelangelo. The view was incredible. One of the first aspects I noticed was where I was in relation to the river. I could clearly see all of the bridges now one after the next. Since I don’t live in the city center, I’m crossing a bridge almost every day. This view helped me to see where each pathway was from a new point of view, and in the following days, I already felt more comfortable navigating which bridge would be best to take given where I was going.

My most recent view of Florence from above gave me a whole new appreciation for the city. We went to the Bardini Gardens and walked up to view the city. Our Hayden reading this week talked about knowing a place by engaging all your five senses. I was tuned into this reading going through the garden and trying to make notes of how all my senses were perceiving this space. It was interesting that when our class walked up through the luscious green garden, you could tell everyone was stunned at the difference between this space in contrast with the rest of Florence. I heard birds chirping for the first time from above me, which was a soothing experience in contrast with the sounds of traffic I’m usually surrounded by. In terms of smell, I heard an exchange between two of my classmates where one mentioned that she thought it smelled weird in the garden, to which the other girl replied, “It smells like earth.” I think we’ve gotten used to the smell of a city already that this garden experience seemed foreign to us. The view was also incredible looking out onto the city. I felt a sense of calm being in one of the green spaces I had first admired from the top of the Duomo on my first day of class.

My roommates and I stood waiting among the eager CET students in the Florence airport where we were about to receive our housing folder that would tell us where we would be living for the next few months. When we got the folder, I opened up my Google Maps and immediately mapped “Via Romana 14” to the Duomo. A 17 minute walk. My roommates and I were a little let down at first to feel so far away from the city center in a place we were all unfamiliar with. But we stayed positive as we hopped in the cab to go to our new home.

 

My apartment is in the Santo Spirito neighborhood, the more residential area of Florence. I noticed the quaintness of our neighborhood immediately as we pulled up to our door. I had been to Florence before, so I had seen the city center and the herds of tourists, but there were none to be found as we drove in our neighborhood. On the first night, my roommates and I went to a restaurant recommended by CET in our neighborhood, Trattoria I’raddi. It was all local Italians, and the language barrier with our waiter was evident right away. A little intimidated by the language, I took my friend who studied in Rome’s #1 piece of advice: when in doubt, order Cacio e Pepe.

As I began exploring in the next days and weeks, I realized how much I love our neighborhood, since it feels so authentically Italian. At my favorite gelateria in our area, Sbrino, I often see Italian mothers with their children who have just been picked up from school and are stopping in for a snack. The best pasta dish I’ve had so far in Florence is only 500 feet away from our apartment, at Trattoria Boboli.

Besides the food, residential Florence has so many positives. It’s much quieter on the nights when we want to stay in to watch a movie or get some homework done. It’s not crowded with tourists on every street, which actually makes me feel a sense of home more than if I were to be in an area where people were always just visiting. We’ve gotten to know so many faces of the people in our neighborhood too, like the little old man that lives two apartments over and always gives us a big “ciao!” when we run into him.

 

This week in class, I felt this distinction between the residential neighborhood and the city center was really apparent during our Milgram map activity we completed in Sense of Place. We all drew mental maps of Florence. When we were finished, we passed the maps around, and it was so interesting to see how everyone oriented themselves within the city. The people who live in the city center were much more in tune with restaurants and landmarks on their side of town, including several tourist sites on their map. Some even had nothing marked in the Santo Spirito neighborhood, since many have not yet ventured over. My map included the river, three bridges, my home, a few restaurants in my area, and the Duomo. It’s intriguing that though I’ve been over to the city center almost every day, I still was not as strongly oriented in that neighborhood that I felt comfortable to place anything else on that side of my mental map.

 

The Milgram reading discusses linking certain molecules of your map together. On my mental map, this was clear I see a distinction between the city center and residential, since the only real pathways I had were the bridges that I cross to get to the other side of the river. This week in class really reminded me of the difference of the neighborhoods, but reinforced for me how great it is that I get to enjoy and explore the Santo Spirito neighborhood for a whole semester!

 

As I mentioned in my earlier post, I have always been terrible at directions. I can still get lost walking around Madison though I should definitely know my way around by now. I am used to heavily relying on Google Maps to get me to my exact destination. Walking and being able to comfortably navigate has been an interesting aspect of my experience abroad so far.

 

First, Google Maps seems not to work as well as it does back home. Because of all the hidden side streets of Florence, my maps app has a difficult time getting me to an exact location. This has happened a few times so far, and actually yesterday when my friend and I wanted an i Fratellini panini, it took us about 20 minutes of circling blocks around the tiny restaurant before we actually made it. It’s one of my goals during my time abroad to learn to feel comfortable putting down my directions and navigating the old-fashioned way. I think I can do this by noting landmarks I see in order to build a mental map of Florence. We did end up finding i Fratellini by remembering the color of the awning and finally spotting it from down the street.

Walking in Florence during the day has also proved to be a different experience than when it gets dark. In the Susan Ruddick reading, she discusses how space is gendered and a different experience based on your own personal background. I haven’t felt necessarily unsafe when walking home late at night, since I have always been accompanied by a few friends, but I definitely feel more uneasy walking at night here than I do at home. I’m sure this feeling will become better with time as I become more familiar with my surroundings. During the CET orientation, they stressed one point throughout the safety aspect of the discussion: be an “Ice Queen.” This means walking with a sense of purpose and looking straight ahead, so you don’t appear as vulnerable. I think this tip has been helpful and actually makes me feel more comfortable and confident while walking in unfamiliar parts of the city. Florence is a beautiful city to walk through at night. 

Since I have been to Florence before, I am noticing an interesting relationship between my sense of space and time. When I first visited, my family and I hiked up to see the Piazzale Michelangelo. I remember my little sister and I being cranky as we made the trek up the stairs (we were both wearing the wrong shoes for the occasion) but once we saw the incredible sunset our moods elevated immediately. This past week, I made that same climb with a group of friends. In the David Harvey reading I read for class, he discusses the idea of absolute and relative space. Though the experience took place in the same absolute space (the same stairs, the same view), the relative space was entirely different. My frame as an observer had changed since my last visit, and I kept thinking back to my experience when my family was here. For example, I knew to wear sneakers while hiking up this time.