As we uncrowd the stuffy bus, I’m flooded with a newfound confidence for the day ahead—an unexpected feeling 4,840 miles from certainty. This confidence propels my heavy but eager body up the remarkably gentle incline to the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi. After only a few days in Spoleto, my knees, calves, and lungs […]
If I had thought traveling from Charleston, South Carolina, to Spoleto, Italy, had been a culture shock, nothing could have prepared me for traveling from Spoleto to Florence. Upon first arriving in the birthplace of the Renaissance, I wandered the streets of Firenze starry-eyed with wonder. Street vendors on every corner, selling handmade leather bags, […]
For foreign travelers and tourists, smaller European cities and towns—like many of those in Italy’s Umbria region—can seem mystifying and mundane all at once. As I explored the Umbrian town of Spoleto, I found myself walking from ancient stone walls to local cellphone stores, from cobblestone piazzas to moving sidewalks and escalators. There is a […]
There are many things you can do to expose your position as a tourist when visiting Florence. You can take too many pictures or you could fall for one of those guys handing out bracelets or you could be too loud when scolding your wife or father-in-law or cousin for getting you sparkling water instead […]
As I hop onto the bike that will be my singular companion for the next four hours of my life, I stare up at the giant path, that was once the Spoleto-Norcia Railway Line, prepared to conquer it on what I thought was going to be a leisurely 6-mile bike ride. I make my way […]
From the very moment I read the itinerary and realized that our major group excursion would be Florence, my mind was alight with possibilities of what I could finally experience in person – through a lens that not many people would ever have the opportunity to view. I was driven to visit some of the […]
I was dripping sweat, gaggling my way up the Leonardo Express coach, and beginning to lose hope. Led by the train conductor’s promise of free seating further up, I hoisted all my luggage—tagged orange HEAVY— towards the front carriages for the thirty-one-minute direct train from the Fiumicino airport to Rome Termini. I apologetically called “Scuzi!” […]
The bump from the man was enough to almost knock me off my feet. I had been walking towards the Ponte Vecchio (a bridge that has dozens of jewelry shops) when he and I made contact. The moment my eyes met him I instantly realized; he was just like me. He was short in stature, […]
I never thought that I would feel at home inside an Italian McDonald’s. Florence had done to me what I had just done to my cheeseburger: chewed me up, digested (making sure all the nutrients were properly absorbed), and shit me out. The previous day and night had been a rollercoaster ride of events. We […]
