When Worlds Wind and Wander

Any adventure undertaken can be big, exciting and elemental in shaping a person and their views on life. I have found that any moment seized upon is a moment full of adventure. That idea led me to spending a year abroad in Florence, Italy, capitalizing on an opportune moment.
Italy was and is a country that mixes a legendary history, a partially shameful modernity and a westernized current day that created a sense of awe and inspiration in me. I took courses to learn about the language, the literature pre and post Renaissance, along with learning about the culture and its differences before and after the Second World War. More importantly I took time to wander the streets, enjoying the history that lingers amongst the buildings, allowing anyone with a neck and curiosity to witness its presence; pieces of Florence’s history strung up like silent balloons hiding in plain sight, including excerpts from Dante’s Divine Comedy that dot the streets pointing out the areas mentioned throughout the epic. I also learned about the food and how wrong I had been about what I thought ¨Italian Food¨ was. I ate tripe and let the tomato sauce burn my mouth with deliciousness. Pizza north of Naples had a thin crust and was still delicious and more importantly I discovered my favorite sandwich shop, The Oil Shoppe, that taught me never to mix acidic foods with Portobello mushrooms and that I should never put too many things on a panino, otherwise it may taste like a barrage of nothing.
Italy taught me many things about itself and more importantly about myself. It was an awfully big adventure because it was my first. More importantly it taught me the purpose of meaningful adventures. I lived and traveled through Italy but fell in love, leaving a piece of my heart in Florence and taking with me a piece of Italy’s soul. It was a fair trade.