There is a moment when you have time, build up enough confidence and decide to embark on a personal journey. I have kept writing tour scripts about Firenze (Florence) and heard many great things about the city from my host family, the descriptions I work with for bicycling tours and my co-workers. I have been extremely encouraged to travel on the weekends out to nearby places. I have found it necessary and refreshing to leave the countryside and go into Italy’s greatest cities. Learn more about where I am historically and culturally and becoming familiar with Italy.
It is the fourth week and I made the long expedition down there via train two hours directly from the Faenza train station. This time I leave my bike home and explore on foot. The second I was at the train station, I knew I would be on my own, working with the language and finding my way around. Luckily I have access to the library of maps, information, brochures and tours from work (that we give out for the tours, tour leaders and various clients).
Fully immersed and excited, I could not nap on the train. The countryside, orchards, vineyards, homes, farms and rivers zipped by in the curves of the hills. Firenze is in the heart of the country. It is also the start or day stop or final destination of a number of tours I have worked on at the office such as (bicycling) Venice to Florence, Pisa to Venice, Cycling Italy’s Culinary Circus, Amalfi Coast and Beyond.
17 euros can go a long way, (about $20) for a single night in hostels (as I have learned from the first group semester). A place with a roof over your head, a bed, shared bathroom, interesting mixed-dorm mates, helpful staff, in the center of everything and of course more maps.
10 am I was able to set out, walking rather aimlessly back to the Duomo, down the street from Maison Hostel on Via Cavour. I had stopped there on the way to the hostel. Returning to see it a second time (and many more as I loved the Piazza del Duomo for its vibrancy and life, where I began using the monument for a point of reference in case I really did become lost.
With a mental map of Firenze and the help of the tourismo signs, I walked down small streets, past the hidden cafes and ristorants, among both locals and visitors, below neon signs and awnings past statues and attractions. Every 50 steps would be (everyone’s dream) a gelateria. Take no more than 10 and you would find another attraction, Dante’s House, Point Vecchio, Hotel, Hostel, cafeteria, Opera House, cathedrals, Museo di Vecchio, Piazza di Signoria, Museo Uffizi and street ways that wound to further hidden treasures.
I cannot emphasize how much more I “see” when I am out doing photography. Detail, lighting, angles, lines, contrast, shadows, illumination, color, hue, portraits, candids, panoramas and still life, in a single frame. (What do you see and feel and capture in a single moment? It is like telling a great story, whether it is of a city, country or culture…or adventure).
I was able to meet other travelers and locals along the way, that would direct me to the “best gelato” or “must-see” place. Everything was a must see. A few highlights include seeing the Piazza di Michaelangelo by day and night; it has a simply spectacular panoramic view of Firenze, Point Vecchio and Toscana. A now favorite place is Piazza di Signoria with famous statues that one can sit amongst. The Giardino di Bobili is a treat, first thing in the morning, with the tranquility of the few people and many songbirds.
After walking everywhere in Firenze until my feet went sore and running out of camera batteries for photography, taking the train never felt so nice. I can say there is “no place like ‘home,'” no matter where it is in the world (despite getting lost and taking the wrong train all the way to Livorne, past Pisa, then back to Firenze, then to Bologna and Faenza for an indirect route back. I can say I even saw Pisa and the west coast along with Firenze!)
The more one gets lost, the more you find yourself. Instinct, emotions and memorable.
Buena adventura,
Courtney