Submitted by Alexa Meinhardt on the 2016 winter session program in Italy sponsored by the Department of Philosophy…
This week’s post is written with a heavy heart, as I realize that I only have two (two!!!) nights’ sleep left in Italy. I’ve been warned about how quickly the time goes by, but I never truly believed it until I blinked and suddenly it was January 31st. But enough with the sap, I have a whole week’s worth of catching up to do!
The past week took us from Florence, to Pisa, to Siena, to Milan and to Venice. Lots of buses, trains and subways – oh my! Our final days in Florence were spent somewhat hurriedly, as we tried to cram in as much as possible into each day. We did a lot of shopping (look out for presents, friends and family!), but also did an enormous amount of sightseeing and cultural exploration. Our TA told us about a pizza and gelato making class, both of which most of our trip embarked on. The pizza making was so much fun because we got to work with our own dough from start to finish. This might sound silly, but I gained a lot of appreciation for people who know how to make pizza so skillfully, as it is much harder than it looks.
One of my favorite days in Florence was our afternoon at the Uffizi Gallery. Not only was the artwork stunning, but it was also so unbelievably rich with culture and backstory that I found myself hanging on our tour guide’s every word. We learned all about the Medici family and their rise to power many centuries ago. Our tour guide showed us how the Medicis added a passageway across the Ponte Vecchio, then made the meat vendors leave their shops because the stores below the passageways smelled disgusting from the meat. I found that I was really able to picture what went on centuries ago in the rooms we saw, which was overwhelming and aweing at the same time.
On Friday, we packed up and traveled to Milan, our final destination. We have a more unique living situation this time, because our hotel is not in the city center, but rather on the outskirts, which means that the atmosphere is a little different. Today, Sunday, a group of us embarked on the mile or so walk to the city center and found ourselves passing a line of flea market vendors along the canal. On the walk back, it was so mobbed that we could barely make our way to the hotel. This was such a stark contrast from the quiet, abandoned feel we got Friday afternoon upon arriving in Milan. It seems that so much can change so quickly in Italy!
We also went to Venice yesterday, which was another one of my favorite experiences. The city is currently celebrating Carnevale, a multi-day celebration that ends on Shrove Tuesday. We saw so many elaborate masks and costumes, as well as confetti being thrown all over the city square. Spending the day there made it seem I was in the middle of all the festivities, which made me feel a lot less like a tourist and more like I belonged there – purchasing a masquerade mask probably helped with that, too!
I wish I had another month (or two or four or ten) to continue to explore Italy. I can’t put into words how moving and meaningful the past four weeks have been to me. Thank you to the benefactors for helping to make this possible.