A Preview of my Semester in Florence, Italy
A Preview of my Semester in Florence, Italy
Art, Art, Art
Art. The lifeblood of this semester. I am living in one of the world’s greatest art capitals, home of the renaissance, and I am studying at the Florence School of Fine Arts. The school is essentially one gigantic art studio, and I can’t help but be overwhelmed by happiness and creative energy each time I walk through the school’s doors.
Learning about art and the city
One of my electives this semester is the Art Renaissance, a class that teaches art history with a focus on the renaissance that took place in this very city. Almost every class takes place outside of a traditional classroom, in the streets, churches, and galleries of Florence. Our assignments involve presenting about famous pieces and artists in front of the pieces themselves in settings such as the Uffizi Gallery, the Duomo, the Accademia Gallery, the Cathedral of Santa Croce, and more. I am so beyond excited to see and learn about the works of art that marked the rebirth of art in Europe.
I am also learning about street art in an impromptu manner with our teaching assistant at the Florence School of Fine Arts, Antonio. He is a street artist that works closely with the school and has kindly been showing us spaces around the city where street artists can freely create.
Making Art
Seeing the spaces where street artists can display their work inspired me to create my own works, and I hope throughout the semester to be able to create poster-like pieces that can be specially pasted up on walls all over the city. If you have any ideas of what I could potentially paint, please let me know! I am open to any and all ideas!
I also have the opportunity to create in my other elective, New Practices in Language, Type and Publishing. This class is all about learning how to use printing presses, the oldest of which is from 1862. We spent the first class getting a run down of the machines and going over the syllabus, but the second class found us elbows deep in thousands of letters, laying out ideas for creating posters. Over the course of the semester I will be able to create several posters and produce two articles that will go in a class magazine about Florence. Print making is a skill I never knew I wanted, and it is a beautiful combination of creativity and my intense organizational skills!
Learning how to lay out our names in printing press letters
The printing press in the Florence School of Fine Arts that dates back to 1962
My first print project in the works
Studio space in the Florence School of Fine Arts
An Apartment in the Heart of the City
Another incredible aspect of this semester is that we get to live in apartments in the middle of all the action in the historical center of Florence. I am fortunate enough to share an apartment with one of my closest friends in the program, Kendall. Our apartment is small, but has everything we need and is only 4 minutes from the school, 8 minutes from the Ponte Vecchio, 8 minutes from the Duomo, and minutes away from anything else we could possibly want or need. Most importantly, my apartment is 6 minutes from my best friend Emily’s apartment, and I am so psyched to be living abroad with her this semester!
The door to my apartment building in Florence
What’s even cooler is that our landlord is a painter, and his artwork adorns our walls and fills easels in the hallway. Almost every aspect of my life here in Florence involves art, art, and more art, and I am living for it.
Delicious Food
When you think of Italy, you can’t help but think of food. Of delicious pasta, cheese, bread, and wine. In one mere week in Florence, Kendall have found a great food market for fresh fruits, veggies, and pasta; a sweet Italian couple that sells Italian wine from their little shop; and one of the top ranked gelato shops two minutes from our apartment with 24 flavors of yumminess.
The market, the Sant’Ambrogio Market, is a ten minute walk from our house and has most of our grocery needs. There, I can get a kilogram of gnocchi for 6.60 euros, and 2 pears, 2 apples, and 4 kiwis for 1.90 euros. Kendall and I also stock up on garlic, spinach, pesto sauce, and more at this indoor and outdoor market.
Fresh produce found at the Sant’Ambrogio Market
Fresh pasta at the Sant’Ambrogio Market
Our little wine store, Bacco Nudi, is my favorite find to date. It came recommended from another student that had studied abroad in Florence, and I will certainly become a regular there. The store is small, but has a host of Italian wines to choose from for only 3.50 euros a bottle. The best part? If you bring the bottle back, it’s only 3 euros. Cheap, sustainable, and we get to practice our Italian with kind, patient Italian couple. They also have a sweet red that I genuinely enjoy sipping everyday with dinner (and sometimes lunch, too).
The gelato shop from heaven is directly in between my apartment and the school, and offers a cone of gelato for one euro, so if anyone is looking for me, I’ll be there every day making my way through the flavors.
Also, my best friend is here with me this semester and we are going to eat SO MUCH gelato together!
I will also be frequenting this panini shop called Pino’s because it is family run and, once again, they are super patient with my choppy Italian. The paninis are also huge and super yummy.
A panino (panini is plural) from Pino’s Sandwiches
The Beauty of Simply Walking Around the City
The city is gorgeous. Around every corner is something interesting and beautiful to discover.
A view of the Duomo
A view of the Duomo, the widest freestanding dome in the world
The elaborate side entrance door to the Duomo
Jackie standing in the Piazza della Libertá
A view of part of the city from above the train tracks
A view of the river alongside the city
A glass greenhouse in one of the parks outside of the city
A view of the city at Orti del Parnaso
Walking through one of the big squares in the city
A view of a statue and the Duomo in the distance
After only a week in Florence, I can already tell that this will be one of my favorite semesters with Global. Outside of Florence, I already have trips scheduled to Pisa, Cinque Terre, Venice for Carnivale, and Rome, and I can’t wait to add to the list!
Your semester in Florence sounds absolutely spectacular. How fantastic that you have the market, the wine shop and so many other amazing eateries close by. And all the art, especially all those on the walls around the city. If you could add your own piece to Florence, that would be breathtaking. And having Emily so close is gelato on the cake for sure. Love you, miss you!!!