Pieces in Florence

Ponte Santa Trinita 

During World War II, the bridges across the Arno River were bombed and destroyed, save for the Ponte Vecchio (“Old Bridge”). Among the ruins was the bridge most beloved by Florentines, Ponte Santa Trinita. The people of Firenze so adored this bridge that following the war, they set out to comb the bottom of the river for the pieces and put it back together. In 1958, they succeeded. And now I walk across that bridge every day to get to school.

Italians: Romantic even in the face of city planning and reconstruction

These people of Florence saw a feature of their city they had loved for centuries, and rather than abandoning it to the will of war and time, they were obstinate with their loyalty to the landmark and their hope for its resurrection. They patiently put her back together, piece by piece. Because that’s how you treat the things you love. And this city will teach you nothing if not about love—love for people, for history, for food, for life. That’s how I know that my time here will be more than an "experience." It will be a relationship, a story of Banicia and Florence, Firenze e me. And as I travel more and create more stories, I think I’ll discover more pieces of myself through those relationships.  

Maybe that’s what wanderlust really is: not simply a desire to see the world, but the pull you feel from actual parts of your spirit that are scattered across different lands, resting in the hands of new people and on the shoulders of historical legacies; at the bottom of bowls of fresh food and beautiful desserts; floating among a few of the seven seas; waving at you from across a stretch of rolling hills; revealed to you in different languages, in old paintings and candid pictures. 

Oh hey, there you are. 

It’s like you become more you as you discover and unite with these aspects of yourself. I guess you can call it one hell of a souvenir.