So Little Time So Much DaVinci

So far in Italy we have focused our attention on the masters of the Renaissance, Leonardo Da Vinci specifically. While his works and their significance are hugely important, I think that the “little guys” deserve more recognition. By “little guys” I mean the people who inspired Da Vinci, translated his work, or indirectly contributed to his successes. We have run around Italy admiring Da Vinci’s work, and I want to take a moment to talk about Jean Paul Richter. In the 19 th century when very few people knew of Leonardo’s manuscripts, Jean Paul Richter published them and helped introduce them to the masses (“Notebooks” 7). Without Jean Paul Richter’s work, so much more of Da Vinci’s brilliance could have been tragically lost to history. Today, and especially this week, we take the availability of Leonardo’s ideas for granted. Without the “little guys” in the 500 years since his time, we might not have even had a reason to visit Italy this spring break, or at the very least would have...

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. ...

Written 3/14/18  Today was a beautiful day in Florence. The sun was shining and we saw many incredible historical sights, such as the Duomo and the statue of David. At night we climbed up a hill to an overlook over the city and visited a church where we even experienced a real live gregorian chant. In Italy we have eaten some amazing lunches as a group, as well as phenomenal dinners on our own. I have been thinking about the differences between Italian and American culture and one major difference I see is in the mentality surrounding food. One thing I’ve noticed is that Italian meals tend to take longer and include more courses than a typical meal in America. Today our meal at Za-Za’s took at least an hour and a half. It included bread, an appetizer, a main dish, a dessert, and a coffee. It was a nice relaxing meal with friends and I enjoyed it very much. Above: Much needed espresso from Za-Za's When I compare today’s lunch with my usual habits back home, the...