Student Journals: AIFS in Florence, Italy

David Brooke
Columbia College
Richmond in Florence, Italy

Cities are an amalgimation of many perceptions, ideas, and misconceptions for every world traveller. For instance, before travelling to London I always thougth everyone says "Cheerio" and everything shut down at teatime. I was sorely disapointed to find that they actually say "Cheers" and teatime is really coffee time in the city. Luckily my letdown didn’t stop my misconceptions of Siena, Italy, to flare into a fury of fat, warm grandmas and tough-as-nails mafia men. Ignorance is bliss once you reach your destination.

I reached Siena around January 14th and had no way of knowing what to think. Fortunately for me, Siena was relatively new for me (as opposed to Rome or Florence) and the city caught my fancy rather quickly. Surrounded by 50 foot walls and built on the tip of a rather steep mountian, Siena was where I began my language training in Italian.

Siena harbors one of the best Italian language schools because the Tuscan dialect is the closest to texbook italian. According to many Italians, some dialects, like the Sicilian, are so different they can't comprehend a word of what they're saying. One Italian man told me a story about a Sicilian mafia man calling the Florence police warning them that a bomb would go off within hours. The Florentine couldn’t understand a lick of what he said and simply hung up the phone in frustration. Hours later it went off.

There are a few things Siena is noted for, one of them being its archetecture that dated between the Rennassaince and Gothic period (Read: it's a mish-mash of both) and a Duomo that is built with white and black marble, giving it a zebra look. Besides archetecture and lack of musuems, the small city (about 20 minutes walk in diameter) is known even more today for its use of escalators to enter the city from the outside. These five escalators back to back to reach the peak and base of the city make up the new notoriety.

Beside the language and gaining at least 5 pounds over the amazing Italian cuisine in only a week after arriving in Italy, you’ll notice how most attractions in Italy seem to have been trapped in time. People actually live in the cold cement buildings, walk by towers errected a hundred years prior, and practice traditions that have gone on for centuries. Siena has a yearly horse race to commemorate each burrow of the city and continue the traditions of their town’s democracy. Unfortunately, it only happens in July and I couldn’t see it, but what I did notice astounded me.

Siena and cities like it have heavy tourist flow and must keep their buildings looking ancient and thier customs never changing. In fact much of the Italian budget goes to restoration every year. When you realize the happenings around you, the experience starts to break down. The joy of the city loses its luster and the experience dwindles. Souvenir shops start to look like they have secrets to tell, that maybe the city is a lie in itself. Then you start to wonder; maybe New York will be like this in 100, or 500 years. People will enter it not with business, but to search for tokens to bring back family.

But then you realize that the city has its own pulse now as it’s only tied to the past in the daytime. After 5pm Sienna comes alive when everyone goes on a walk through the city. Built in a circlular pattern a nice walk in the night is had by all ages and its quaint hometown feel is infectious. If it doesn’t make you want to go back home it’ll make you want to walk with them.

A simple walk can open up a new part of the travel experience of getting lost. Maybe not a good idea in all cities, but some deserve to get lost in and Siena is one of them. The walls that surround the city give your hopelessly lost trip a warm blanket feel that keeps your travel alive. It’s these moments where one can realize the world is more than what we percieved, but how we percieve it in the now. Wiping the ignorance away.

It’s February and Carnival has taken over Europe! Seemingly to circumvent the quiet and serene art and architecture of Italy, Italians have created one of the largest carnivals to rival Rio de Janeiro and Mardi Gras. Partly a tourist attraction but also very much a part of their culture and custom, carnival in Italy is a lot like Halloween. People dress up, eat bad food, and act generally crazy. Lucky for them this event lasts a month, the children aren’t the only ones who dress up, and a huge parade of satirical floats becomes the center of attention.

Most people are aware of carnival in Venice. There you get the people who wear elaborate masks and go to grandiose balls doing whatever they like before Ash Wednesday and their moral consciences take over. Supposedly it is for those who want to live a life of chaos for a short time.

Maybe to outdo the Venetian carnival, Viareggio established their own carnival in 1873. Their world renowned carnival is most notably famous for its incredible floats and puppets. It started February 19th and will go on one more time this weekend. If ever the word grandiose, grand, or any word that means large needed to be described by a picture, Viareggio would be a good choice.
These aren’t any floats, nor anything you’ve seen harbouring Santa, the Boy Scouts, or even the New England Patriots. The Viareggio floats are constructed over an entire year to compete for cash prizes and bragging rights. Before they begin construction the floats must be accepted by a board based on originality and subject matter. The mostly papier-mâché (80% is the standard) floats not only reach heights of 4 stories, some weighting 40 tons, but also carry 200 people in costume who dance and throw confetti. Each float has an allegoric meaning, some this year concerning the adoration of money, the western fear of Chinese growth, gay marriage, and even anti abortion. Typically the floats carry messages that satire politicians or social issues and aren’t meant to be considered attacks or hardnosed opinions but offer subjects to be considered and discussed. This custom started during the first parade when a masked protest was organized by citizens against higher taxes. In retaliation a float was created lampooning the tax collector. It’s no different this year as President Bush, the Pope, and the Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi among others are satirized multiple times.

You pay the 12 dollar fee, walk in, draw drops, and you watch the hours fly by when float after float drives by. My amazement was so blasted I actually walked faster to peruse each float, as unlike in America the people walk in the street with the floats, sometimes close enough to get run over. While I took in these massive works of art people lined the streets armed everywhere with silly string, confetti, and foam. Needless to say the event is dangerous in the most entertaining way. It’s hard to look down when you take in these floats, but when I did look down sometimes I’d find an 8-year-old armed and ready to fire. There’s a constant fight between running from floats, children, and not knocking everyone over. The fear of getting doused with foam is that traumatic.

In any case this is the type of event that borders on cultural yet touristic and either makes you enjoy the country for its amazing event, or loath their money-making schemes. Either way you can’t help but be astounded by the imaginative and artistic muscle the Italians are still bringing to the world.

Italian food is something that rings synonymous with culture and by no means would a world traveller pass up culture when it involves cuisine. Since the creation of the Italian food chain known as Olive Garden and the tomato sauce commercials Americans are in love with Italian food. How can you pass up a meal cooked by one of those white haired Italian grandma types just itching to dump a steaming hot pot of tomato sauce onto freshly cooked spaghetti? As traditional as family, Italian food is a staple of Italian society and culture.

Legend says that pasta was introduced in Italy by Marco Polo, who brought it back from his travels from China in 1292. The truth of the matter, according to my cooking instructor, is that pasta has been eaten in Italy for millennia before Marco Polo could ever muck up history. Thank the almighty lord of Italian food and art for Italian stucco relief’s and frescoes dating as far back as 400 B.C. In them there are depictions of the tools used for making pasta and feasts where pasta appears to be a main dish.

Needless to say my two months in Italy have brought with them knowledge, amazement, and a hearty 10 pounds of shameless flavour. The passion of eating is a world-wide thing, and the Tuscans love to share. It’s no coincidence that we always see the stereotypical Italian family crowded around a dinner table ready to eat. Italy is home of some of the finest wine with a rich history of sauces and carb-filled delicacies you could only dream of. Much of the cuisine here in Florence is based on simple staples of ham, pastas, grilled meats and seafood. But of course you can’t call Italian food Italian without the finest olive oil.

The finest dishes are presented year round though the food here is more seasonal then the typical supermarket savvy English or American town. Never to pass up is the gnocchi (an Italian word that means lump…mmm lump) which is made of potato, ricotta cheese and spinach. Believe it or not, once you put one of these in your mouth you won’t understand how a potato could ever be so pasta-like. The thick sauce makes each potato morsel chewy yet pleasing to bite through. It’s not so surprising that it is usually considered a pasta dish.

But then I’m getting ahead of myself.

Breakfast is usually a simple coffee or croissant and takes little importance in the Italian diet.

The all sinning all evil appetizer seems to have its roots in the Italian culture as well. Lunch and dinner begin with starters or antipasti—literally “before the meal.” The antipasti usually includes bruschetta—a slice of thick bread covered with garlic and olive oil or topped with tomatoes—with chicken liver, olive paste or other garnishes. Though not famous for their cheeses the Tuscan cheese of choice is a regional sheep’s milk cheese called pecorino.

Florentine first courses, or as they call them primi, tend to be less on the pasta side and more along the lines of soups. But don’t be confused! The typical Florentine bread soup is very thick and more akin to a stew than anything else.

The typical sauce gracing the primi can range from a very simple acidic tomato sauce to the ragu sauce seen all over Italy. Of course the Italian regional pride makes itself present with their sauces as well with many regional variations. The ragu from Northern Italy has a slight difference which typically is finely ground while Southern Italy has less tomato than ragu. Ragu, for those keeping score, is a meat based sauce. That soupy red sauce we Americans identify as “Italian” is actually native to an area called Campania and isn’t present in all parts of Italy.

There’s a funny thing about travel, and it could probably be categorized as baggage: expectations. You drag it around wherever you go and it doesn't matter if you’re in the historical city of Rome, or in your backyard. Expectations are basically your ADD ridden mind frustratingly trying to pin down what the next ordeal of life will bring before you can even experience it. Since patience went with the Dodo expectations have been ruining birthdays, weddings, and everybody’s first time at anything. It’s not so hard to believe, then, that Rome, the Vatican City, and Venice were all massive let downs.

Now before you write off my words as misguided bad experiences, hear me out. All of these places have a rich history, and of course enough art and architecture to make your eyes bleed with anticipation. When you actually do make it to these cities, though, the expected implosion effect of your body never takes place, and rather than jumping up and down, you’re left relatively speechless. “Wow” you might say as you pass by the Coliseum, or “Whoa” when you walk under the Sistine Chapel and the usual “Oh my god” while you walk over the Venetian water ways but, if I may quote the U.S. government, this “shock and awe” wears off when you start to open your eyes.

If you aren’t generally aware of immigration beyond the United States and Mexico, immigration is becoming a problem for many countries in Europe. The effects of immigration takes a 5 minute walk to see. If it’s raining, you will be offered umbrellas at least 15 times in a 10 foot period, sunny will offer cheap posters of the classic paintings and little baubles for the kids. When you walk to any of the sites in any major city in Italy you face these people, and part of the experience dwindles. It’s not the immigrants themselves that do this, but the recollection that everything that these historic cities bring is really left to the history books.

Eating at a restaurant that offers outdoor seating is like watching a rodeo. Everything is fine and peaceful, nothing to worry about as the immigrants sell their items, walking to your table and offering roses and generally being laid back and happy. Up pulls a polizia or carabinieri (these are army trained police who carry machine guns) cruiser, and the immigrants flee, sprinting and throwing their fake Prada and Gucci bags over their shoulders to find shelter from the police.

These people are something like modern day pilgrims, facing persecution due to their race and religion from places like Turkey and North Africa and come to Europe seeking a better home and future that offers the possibility of freedom and opportunity. With a rising unemployment rate, 22 million young people in France alone, native people see immigrants as dangerous to their lives and well being. It’s not surprising then that if you’re caught purchasing one of their fake yet fashionable bags, you’ll be fined up to 10,000 euros.

When these instances wear off the touristy element of the cities hits you like a pile of bricks. You expected amazing moments of clarity, but you were only hit with amazing moments of polarity. Case in point, I enter a nice Italian restaurant in Venice; it’s small, cute and full of character. Looks can be deceiving as I sit down to be served by Chinese people who don’t even speak Italian. I think to myself, “The food will at least be good, even if this isn’t the Italian restaurant experience I was looking for.” The food is microwaved, and before I can get up to look elsewhere the microwaved pizza is before me ready to be chewed apart.

It’s at this moment I realized that travel comes in different forms, all of which are what you make of it. When you decide to purchase that plane ticket you’re looking for 3 things; comfort, knowledge, or adventure. Some people will obviously want all three things, but 500 tourists crowded on five steps of the Spanish Steps in Rome might say otherwise. You can’t sit, not even see it for what it is. The best bet is to go early, or live in the city itself when the tourists haven’t come to swarm the area.

The problem with the three things any traveler seeks is that each one can materialize into a disappointment. You expected the comfort of home or at least something relating to the Italian custom, you wanted to experience the history rather than read about it, but are flushed with more consumerism and distractions to make it all appear like a bad Disney Land experience. When the adventure is more like a buffet line and everything is broken down to picking the right dish and moving on rather then savoring the flavor the entire thing seems better set for a Walmart production line.

Is it seriously these cities' fault though? When movies like “La Dolce Vita” show off the Trevi fountain of Rome with absolutely no tourists around, “The Merchant of Venice” making everyone believe the city is truly ancient and CNN giving the Vatican an air of the holiest place on Earth, the “Gladiator” experience is almost impossible.

The only guarantee these places offer is being allowed to stand where millions have lived for thousands of years, where death in the utmost proportions took place, and history itself was written. Above all else, to travel and truly enjoy the experience you need to understand that times have changed, and the culture you see before you now, rout with immigration and a loss of culture due to globalization, is part of the experience and trip itself.

Richmond in Florence

Richmond Florence Internship Program