Ugh, Tourists

Written 3/14/18

In class we asked “What is a tree?”, but today I ask “What is a road?” What delineates a road from a sidewalk? From my experiences traversing the city of Florence today I am inclined to answer that a road is anything you can drive on and a sidewalk is anything you can walk on. The city sidewalks were unfamiliarly narrow and looked so similar to the road. Pedestrians filled the streets and cars encroached on the sidewalks. I’m almost surprised that I made it through the day without being hit by a vehicle, because I could have literally reached out and touched a car at any given time. This is so different than my experiences in America. At Purdue, the sidewalk is clearly differentiated from the road and is wide enough for two-way pedestrian traffic. While most students don’t always cross at the marked crosswalks, the majority of pedestrian traffic stays on the sidewalks. In Florence on the other hand, it almost seemed as if there was an “anything goes” mentality.

I do not think that this phenomenon stems from Italian culture, but rather is a side effect of the reality of Florence being a city that tourists flock to. That said, is being a tourist problematic? I actively contributed to the congestion of the streets of this beautiful city. I was one body in a sea of people walking down the street, making it near impossible for locals to drive on. Is this ok? My answer is probably no. This is not my city, this is not my history. What right do I or any outsider have to come and walk in their street?

So if this tourism is not ok, what is to be done? I personally don’t know. I have had an absolutely amazing time here and every day I am more excited than the last to see the priceless art and architecture that we have been learning about. I think the only thing to do is to be conscious of the effect that I, as a tourist, have on the city and its residents. I try not to stop in the middle of the street to gape at the view, but do I still forget my surroundings in the face of one of the most famous dome in the world? Yes. I am only human and I think that learning about the history beforehand definitely helped me to be less clueless.

Above: One of the most famous domes in the world, Brunelleschi’s Dome

I think that this roadway congestion and saturation with tourists is one of the trade-offs the residents of Florence must make. They live in a city with incredible works of art, architecture, and global significance, and the rest of the world wants to see them too. Venice appears to be just as crowded as Florence, if not more. In the area surrounding Piazza San Marco, it seems as if the vast majority of people are tourists, walking around lost and stopping to take photos at every turn. I am someone who likes calm and serenity and I would not enjoy the experience of living in such a bustling tourist hotspot like the cities we have visited. However, from a tourist’s point of view, I think that learning about history and culture first hand is an important experience that cannot be discounted.

--Ally