Submitted by Kaitlyn McConeghy on the 2018 spring semester program in Rome, Italy…
This weekend was our first spent traveling. After an hour and 15-minute train ride, and we were in Florence. Florence was, at the same time, so similar and yet so different from Rome, as was our experience in both cities. In Florence, we were truly visitors, while in Rome, we’re temporary residents. We tried to check out all the “must-see” places like the Uffizi Gallery, the Statue of David, the Duomo and the Ponte Vecchio, but we also tried to build a little time in our schedule just to wander, and that time ended up being some of the time best spent.
We were so excited for our first weekend away, and it would have been so easy to overbook ourselves—scheduling everything down to the minute. But if we hadn’t given ourselves time to just explore freely, I think we would have missed out on the authentic “Firenze” experience like eating sandwiches in the Piazza della Signoria (best sandwich I’ve ever had/ever will have), stumbling upon the Gucci Garden exhibit, climbing to the top of the Duomo and seeing the panoramic view of Florence. After this weekend, we vowed to always leave a little extra room in our weekends to just explore, and I’m so excited to see what we’ll stumble upon next.
