Italy Imagined Pt. 2

I cannot believe that I have spent six days in Italy and have only one more full day before we leave. It simultaneously feels as if we have been here for an eon yet also for barely any time at all. Some of my preconceived notions of Italy and expectations for this trip have differed from the reality, while others have been met and exceeded.

The first thing I noticed about Venice was the weather. I was expecting shining sun and chirping birds as per Pinterest, so I was a bit shocked by the rainy weather, and the misty gothic island vibes I got from San Servolo. I resigned myself to frizzy hair and accepted it with a good attitude. However, I was completely caught off guard by the first Acqua Alta. When it started, my general thoughts could be summed up in the phrase “Oh heck no”. I was not interested in the dry ground I stood on flooding within hours. I did not enjoy the Acqua Altas at all, but it did give me a unique perspective on Venetian culture and traveling in general.

Everyone in Venice seemed so nonchalant about the fact that there was an impending flood.  They just pulled on their non-leaky, actual rain boots and navigated the narrow platforms to their destination. For the second Acqua Alta, when an alarm went off for it, nobody moved. They continued their conversations and smokes as they waited outside for their dinner plans. I was a little freaked out by the Acqua Alta, but seeing the way the locals reacted clued me in to a difference between Italian and American culture. It seems that Italians tend to be more relaxed about things that really aren’t a big deal, and when it is a regular occurrence, a little water isn’t a big deal. This Acqua Alta also proved a truth about traveling and life that we all need a reminder of from time to time: unexpected things will always happen and it’s a good idea to just go with the flow. Literally.

An expectation I had for this Italy trip was that I was going to learn a lot. I imagined I would learn about Da Vinci and the Renaissance, but other than that I just had the general expectation that I would fly home with a brain full of cool knowledge. That expectation has been met, exceeded, and blown so high out of the water it reached anagogic space. I think my brain is a hygrometric material, see research blog post for more details, because it has soaked up more knowledge from this trip than I ever thought possible.

Before this trip, I had not had any experience with art history and I was not sure what to expect. I have had so many conversations about art during the course of the trip and I really found that I enjoy it. By the end of the week, I made it a priority to think about the historical significance of the artwork and architecture we were seeing. I could analyze my way through man-babies, gold backgrounds, and geometric shapes in a way I never imagined. Enjoying art history was a pleasant surprise.

One thing we talked a lot about in class was the paradigm shift between the Medieval and the Renaissance periods. I was very fascinated by the idea of the paradigm shift and I made it my mission to touch two paradigms at once, which I accomplished in Florence. I kept a keen eye out everywhere we went for the influences of both the Medieval and Renaissance paradigms. I found it interesting when we went into old churches and saw both orthodox crosses from the Medieval period and Latinate crosses from the Renaissance. I was just so awestruck that buildings in use today are that old, and that its visitors today have completely different views on the world than they did centuries ago in the Middle ages when the churches were new.

Above: The brown stone building on the right is in the more gothic style of the Medieval period and the building on the left is more Renaissance Neo-classical/Baroque with lots of "perfect" geometric shapes such as squares and circles. 

One thing I expected in Italy, but was still a bit difficult, was the language barrier. I knew that it would be hard to communicate because I know zero Italian, but it was still a frustrating challenge. It did make me wish that I had done a bit of Duolingo in preparation for this trip. Trying to find anything, from a bathroom to a park for the scavenger hunt, took longer and was more difficult than it would have been if I could say even a few key phrases in Italian.

All in all, I had a great first impression of Italy, and an amazing trip. I was met with surprises and new knowledge at every turn, and I think that these experiences will make be a better scholar and citizen of the world in the future.

--Ally