Submitted by Tyler Wing on the 2019 winter session study abroad program in Italy sponsored by the Department of Art…
As I am writing this, I’m on a bus headed out of Florence for good. We are on our way to Rome for a few days, and then it’s back to the United States. Leaving my apartment for the last time this morning was incredibly difficult. Although we were only there for a bit over three weeks, it really began to feel like home. There’s a lot I’m going to miss about Florence, and a few things I’m definitely not going to miss. One thing I’m going to miss (obviously) is the food. It goes without saying, but I’ve had the best pasta and pizza of my life here. I’ve also fallen in love with a type of soda that’s pretty exclusive to Italy. That one will be very hard to let go of. I’m also going to miss the ease of train travel in Italy. Although it’s not impossible to travel by train in the United States, the few train trips I’ve taken in Italy have gone smoothly, and the trains themselves have been much nicer than any I’ve been on in the United States. Beyond that, the ticket prices in Italy are much more reasonable. For example, I purchased a round-trip ticket to Venice on the bullet train for about 40 euros. One additional piece of Florence that I will miss is simply the overall beauty of the city. I don’t think I’ve been in a place that was so beautiful wherever I looked. It’s been so refreshing to have a gorgeous building, street, or park to look at whenever I walk around.
That being said, there are a couple of things I’m excited to leave behind. To begin, I can’t wait to go back to wide American-sized sidewalks. I know people were far smaller when Florence came to be, but some of the sidewalks are too narrow for even one person, let alone two! I’m also eager to return to the land of convenience stores. I’m sure this seems very minor, but there is nowhere to get anything in Italy past 9:00 pm. I guess Italians are just really good at planning ahead for their late-night cravings, but I’m definitely not. Overall, I’m incredibly sad to be leaving Florence. I’ve had a wonderful time and made friends and memories that I’ll never forget.