The Institute at Palazzo Rucellai - Study Abroad in Florence, Italy

In Italian class one day, we had been talking about the towns we were born in (“Di dove sei?”), and he mentioned he was born in Pistoia, which is a town not too far away from Florence. Some of us had just traveled to Lucca over the weekend, and were talking nonstop about how beautiful and peaceful it had been. David wasn’t so impressed. He, to be blunt, hated Lucca because he was from Pistoia. There was a long-standing rivalry between the two cities; like football teams or universities in America, the rivalry was kept alive for little reason besides as an excuse to BE rivals. David decided we should see for ourselves which city was better – all to increase our cultural understanding, of course.

Barely two hours after we finished our last midterm, we were on a train from Florence towards Pistoia. It took a little more than an hour and a half to arrive, but that was taking the slow train. We had tickets for the fast train – we just boarded the wrong one! Always make sure to triple-check the time and station of your transportation. David was surprised how we were able to get lost on a train, but we arrived with plenty of time to explore.

   As we walked through the streets and cobblestone walkways of the park, he gave us a brief review of the monuments and history of his hometown (tutto in italiano). Compared to the narrow roads, busy streets and tourist-filled city of Florence, this seemed like a different world. The streets and sidewalks were twice as wide; the sun was shining and there were no tourists. There was an atmosphere of simple tranquility and unhurriedness that struck us as instantly reassuring. Sure, there were still people ranging from purple-haired punk teens to ‘living statue’ performers to old couples on afternoon strolls, but no one seemed rushed to get anywhere. Despite the open space, it was much smaller of a community than Florence as well: it wouldn’t be difficult to speed-walk from one side of the Pistoia to the other in 20 minutes – but one Italian truism remained: navigating the streets is impossible!

David gave us a list of tasks as a way to have us explore and speak Italian to the people of the town. We first hunted for a bookstore (libreria) called EDISON. We asked for directions three times before we found someone who first knew of the store and could direct us there; we still had to ask a fourth time on the way. Between alleys, streets, piazzas, and roads that split and curved in three directions, it’s difficult to decipher in a language you know let alone a foreign one! We finally found it and read the backs of the new novels, then rewriting the back cover’s synopsis in Italian. I smiled when I saw a copy of Eat Pray Love (“Mangia Prega Ama”) on the shelves. I wonder what Italians think of her ‘Mangia’ part of the adventure?...

Our next target was a small produce market in Piazza della Sala, one of Pistoia’s oldest squares, built back in the beginning of the ninth century! We interviewed one of the fruit vendors – a woman named Anita. She wasn’t Italian at all, but Albanian! She told us that she moved to Pistoia to raise her family, and has lived there now for 10 years. Anita’s favorite fruit (cherries) wasn’t available, but we each bought a peach in appreciation for her time.

We accomplished our last two goals by total accident. We were hunting down l’Ospedale del Ceppo, which depicts the Seven Works of Mercy and the Cardinal Virtues. We asked for directions and walked every alley but couldn’t find it. At the end of the town, we turned around, defeated, and asked in Italian for directions yet again how to get to the church where we were to meet David. Two italians told us entirely different directions. Fortunately, the ones we followed happened to walk us right through the Ospedale!

As we still didn’t know the right direction, I ventured into one more shop to ask for how to get to San Giovanni.

  “La Chiesa di San Giovanni?” the ceramics shopkeeper asked.

“Si! La conosci?”

While my rudimentary Italian left others we asked confused or unsure of how to explain, he surprised us with a big smile as he walked outside and into the street with us to give us proper directions. His shop’s employee even ran back into the shop to get us a map! As he explained our path, she drew us the proper course for us to follow as well – and gave us the map for free! We told him we were Americans studying in Florence, and he told us how to get to every place on our list and answered any questions we hadn’t yet solved – why one statue was titled Il Globo (I won’t take all the fun away, you’ll have to find that answer for yourself!). It’s too bad we met him at the end, but meeting them was the highlight of my trip. With many ‘grazie mille’s and a map, we quickly found our wawy back. In fact, we were the first group to complete the tasks!

After our adventures, we ate in a small cafe that David used to go to with his grandmother as a young child. We sipped on ‘acqua naturale’ and ‘caffe’ as we spoke of our day and Kim Kardashian. Three fresh pizzas came out of the oven towards our table and vanished within minutes of the wooden plates being placed on our tables. It was delicious! We meant to leave a slice behind as a sign of respect, but I couldn’t resist! Old habits (and hungry stomachs) die hard. :)

David grinned as we walked back to the train station. “Now you understand why Pistoia is better than Lucca?” It was certainly a memorable day... I still like Lucca, but I wouldn’t tell that to a Pistoian.

 Submitted by Nicole O'Block. Fall 2010