A Room with a View

Getting to Florence from Milan was so much easier than I’d anticipated. From the time I left the plane until the moment I was sitting on the bus that would take me to Milan’s Grand Centrale Station was just 50 minutes.  An easy bus ride into the city took an hour followed by another hour waiting at the station for my train to Florence.  This was done over a coffee and pastry, tucked away in a quiet corner of the station where I could video call my daughter and grandsons to tell them I was finally in Italy! My grandsons were lucky enough to spend six weeks in Europe a few years ago and were very excited to see where I was … even if it was just a train station. Next came a two-hour train ride, mostly through tunnels, and then I was in Florence, where I would be living for five of the next six weeks.

I’m feeling very fortunate to be spending so much time in what is arguably one of the world’s most beautiful cities. I’m here to learn, explore and spend time with like-minded people, who also love travel, art and Italy. 

For the first week I will be taking part in a photography workshop run by the New York Film Academy, at their Florence campus. For the last four weeks I will be learning to speak Italian at the Istituto Michelangelo and taking some art history classes at the Accademia D’Arte. In the week between the two courses, I will spend some time at Agriturismo Podere Consalvo, a small farm near San Casciano, about 20km south of Florence.

When I booked an apartment for the first week, I knew I was close to Florence’s main attractions. But I didn’t realise quite how close until I woke early on my first morning and peered out a window to take in the sunrise, and to my surprise, a glimpse of the Duomo. I flung it open and leaned out further to get a better look. Even in the early morning darkness it was a magnificent sight. Just like in the film, also set in Florence … I had a room with a view.

For the last few years I’ve mostly taken photos with my iPhone, but recently I have felt the need to reacquaint myself with my camera as well as learn how to use Lightroom for editing my photos. While I had played around with it in the past, I knew there was so much more I could do. 

On Sunday evening I attended an introductory session at the Academy where I met my classmates.  There were six of us in total … from Australia (me), the US, Israel and the UK. Following a discussion with our teacher about how the week would unfold, we were taken on a tour of the city with a professional guide. I was still jet-lagged and struggling to stay awake but by the end of the tour had learnt so much about Florence, its culture and history.

Our college is a 10-minute walk from where I was staying. Some days I stopped at a café near the school to enjoy a cappuccino and pastry with my new friend and classmate, Liat. We chatted about our lives back at home, our passion for travelling and where we should visit while here. We’d both seen a Pasticceria on Instagram that served Affogato (vanilla ice-cream and espresso) in a cup, which was coincidentally just across from our school. Unfortunately, it was also one of those places that had gone viral and we saw long queues outside whenever we went for lunch. I wouldn’t normally eat Affogato for breakfast but decided the only way to avoid the queue was to go early, on the way to class. It was very nice … but definitely not worth queuing for.

Over the week I fell into an easy pattern of attending class by day and enjoying the sights and food of the city by night. Most mornings were spent in the lab learning how to use the editing software.  Some afternoons we went on walks around the city, taking photos that we would edit the next morning. Others were spent learning about light and perspective and how to use these when framing our photos. 

One morning I woke early and strolled through the city enjoying the empty streets and soft morning light.  I found my way to the river and across the beautiful Ponte Vecchio bridge, where I was able to enjoy the view and take photos without the crowds. Many of these were included in my final group presentation.

On Thursday we took a train to Siena.  It was 1 May, a public holiday to celebrate the beginning of summer, as well as International Workers Day. The city was filled with local and international tourists. There was a large, peaceful anti-fascism march and many tour groups walking around the fan-shaped Piazza del Campo. The streets behind the piazza were also busy, giving us many photo opportunities. Siena is a beautiful city and we all had a great day, despite the crowds.

At the end of the week, we each presented a selection of our best photographs to the group. It was a joy to see each class member’s work and evidence of how much we’d all learnt over the course of the week. This was my selection.

On Saturday morning, I joined Liat for breakfast and a stroll around her neighbourhood. We also visited the Santambrogio Market, where mostly locals go to buy food, flowers, antiques and clothes. It is a fabulous market and I’ll be visiting again to buy my own food when I’m back in Florence.

I said goodbye to my new friend with promises to stay in touch and catch up again somewhere, sometime in the future. I then went home to pick up my luggage and head to the bus depot for the next stage of my journey.