Made for Walking

A morning walk in Florence. image by Flora Kontilis

image by Flora Kontilis

After one month in Florence I’ve easily decided my favorite pastime is walking. This is the best way to be a tourist and explore a new city! Florence is made for walking. Ok, maybe minus the narrow, uneven cobblestone streets and abrasive Italian pedestrians who readily walk through you like air. And the dog shit. Best to keep your head down to save your shoes and nose. Nonetheless, you get my point. I’ve found this place easy to navigate and enjoy by foot.

Yet the reason I take to walking wherever I’m a tourist is because of the unplanned sites you are exposed to. I think you can better stumble upon the things you can’t read about in a brochure, magazine, or guidebook. I love walking a new city because you get to see the place as the locals do, find the things the locals love, and get a more authentic experience – not to mention the authentic and unique eateries you’ll find! And since Florence oozes beautiful scenery, history, and art, there’s always a piece of this city that catches your eye. Boom! Instant self-guided tour.

Language school.
image by Flora Kontilis

This leads me to how I found Centro Firenza. I left our flat for a morning walk and kept weaving in and out of the surrounding streets, peering into restaurants, cafés, pastry shops, antique stores, and art galleries; and less than 10 minutes away I walked passed this Italian language school. My mom and I visited the receptionist for more information and ended up enrolling in two weeks of classes. Planning our trip to Florence, we actually had no intention of enrolling in a formal class, but I’m so glad we did! The class met every morning for four hours. There were about six to seven of us from all over: a girl from Germany, Turkey, Venezuela, and Switzerland, and a guy from Australia, and Sweden. We spoke in Italian the entire duration of class so it was GREAT practice. Now that I’ve completed two weeks of the course I can better understand by listening, but, naturally, I definitely want to get better at speaking the language.

Aside from having a chance to improve my Italian, I enjoyed being around new and interesting people of all walks of life, age, profession, and culture. We've definitely made great friends! Last Friday, March 27, we had a long Italian dinner with some girls from school. One girl doesn't speak much English so we all got by with our broken Italian and hand gestures. I savoured every moment, taking mental snapshots for this adventure!

Neighbourhood near Piazzale Michelangelo.
image by Flora Kontilis

After such a good night as this, I know getting out sans a sense of direction can take you places you hadn’t thought you’d wanted to go, show you sites that are off the beaten path, or give you experiences you wouldn’t have had otherwise. Put your shoes on and just go!