Submitted by Alexis Dempsey on the 2022 winter session program in Italy sponsored by the Department of English…
Four hundred and sixty-three stairs. A fifteen minute walk. This is how I was led to my first connection with Florence. As I stepped out of the dark, cramped stairwell of the Duomo, I felt the cool Florence wind hit my face. When I began to look around, I saw the beautifully wide expanse of the city under the bright setting sun. Although I was already out of breath from my hike to the top, the view took my breath away in a completely different sense. I fell speechless at Florence’s beauty. “This is it,” I thought to myself. “I’ve actually made it to Florence. This is real life.” Up until that point I had felt as though I was dreaming. However, seeing the city from this angle for the first time caused reality to strike me. In that moment, I felt connected to the city. It began to feel like a place that I would be honored to call home. On the walk back down, I couldn’t stop thinking about the purple and pink skies behind the mountains on the outskirts of the city or the gigantic cathedrals breaking up the Firenze skyline. I couldn’t help, but think about the feeling of awe and joy that rushed over me when I first stepped out of the stairwell. That’s when I first felt a connection with beautiful Florence.