“ Every aspect of living is carried out under a punishing, direct light from which there is no escape. I now understand why Dante found it so easy to think so vividly and elaborately of Hell.”
Oh my god this had me cracking up as a Spanish!!!! I feel at home whenever I go to Italy, while I get a sense of crankiness in Paris or London. Having to walk 30 minutes to a shop? Of course! The pleasure IS the walk, not the destination! Having to hop up on a bus that leads you who knows where? You just hope you end up a little closer to where you were! Having to take a taxi because you are late??? NEVER! I am NOT spending 20 euros in a taxi because I am a little late!!!! 44 minuted up a hill? Let me grab my water bottle!!!!
I suffered and got quite unfuriated reading your piece while at the same time adoring it for its frankness and portrayal hahahahaha I have to say, for us the First World is being able to walk everywhere and stopping for a café midway without having to rely on Uber ;) (which is foreign to me! Having Uber ask like a chauffer!).
Please come to Barcelona next because I want to read your impressions!
Barcelona is the BEST city and I will hear nothing else about it! :) (That said, I will read anything Brandon writes.) I really left my heart there and it's another place I'd love to go back to at some point.
I've never been to Florence but as I read I started feeling like I was there with you. I became very warm & sweaty & was trying to smell the food. I felt the long walk downward and the frustration of not having a mode of transportation besides my tired feet. I was completely immersed in your writing. Thank you! I'll definitely return!
I almost hate to say how much I loved this piece because it was mostly about your pain and suffering. Sorry. But it takes a good writer to turn those sufferings into prose and to make me feel the blood in your socks and the awful pain of dragging each suitcase separately down the staircase. Savonarola indeed. But do be careful who reads this....you know what happened to him. :{
This piece hit me so hard. I love Florence. But I would never be able to handle it in summer. NOT AT ALL. I cannot handle sunlight, seriously, I have an actual light disorder. And heat makes me cranky or sleepy. Your essay reminded me that the first time I stayed in Florence in college I took the train to Paris and cried out of gratitude for its modern conveniences and civilized practices. Later when I lived in Paris I took a train to Rome with my cute boyfriend and his bike. In AUGUST! When we arrived I was so overwhelmed by heat and light and dust and people I turned into the worst kind of crybaby and took the next possible train back to Paris. Finally, the part of your essay with the luggage and the rules and the shitty, gravely paths at the villa (where my university had its program was pretty close to the NYU campus) that story is too too familiar. I am so sorry about the indignity of falling. I could practically feel the sting on my skin from the way you described it. I've had such a fall. Not in Florence, but still...I am really glad you wrote this. I am going back to Florence in Winter and I hope it won't be hot or too sunny
How pointlessly correct not to take responsibility for your luggage for an hour or two or at very least help you drag it to and from your classroom. I suppose there was no firstaid kit suffed with anitbacterials, bandages, and bandaids in this office, either. How mindlessly indifferent we can be at this level of official interaction. I hope your days in Paris make up for it, hope you're lucky in your everyday locations and interactions. May the way to your book be paved with all variety of kindnesses and may it quickly and painlessly go to press.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who absolutely hates Florence: it’s a city colonized by American college sophomores. It’s a museum shop. It’s not a place at all.
Spectacular writing. I’ve enjoyed my times in Florence but I’ve only been for brief visits and stayed in the city center where getting around is easy. But, the heat and sun… your description is so on point. Lawd. Did the Medicis hate trees? So much art, so many grand buildings, nary a tree. A city fit for late spring and autumn only.
Oh, Brandon. You poor, tortured being. Let me make you a nice gin and tonic with tons of ice and an oversized cloth napkin to mop your brow as you sip. Please, take off your shoes and make yourself comfortable.
Brilliant, brilliant piece. I love Italy (have a house in Umbria and spend a lot of time there) but a fair bit of this chimes. More importantly, your wonderful writing has lifted my day.
This is a divine work of Higher Jamesian Crankiness. I wish there were a photo of the Florentine stationery vendors' hideous linen smocks.
“ Every aspect of living is carried out under a punishing, direct light from which there is no escape. I now understand why Dante found it so easy to think so vividly and elaborately of Hell.”
I burst out laughing 😂 a great read
I was just in Florence during the longest days of the year. Sunset was at 9 pm. Completely unreasonable.
I went to florence once, many years ago, and had forgotten (until now) the relief i felt upon arriving Rome immediately afterwards.
Oh my god this had me cracking up as a Spanish!!!! I feel at home whenever I go to Italy, while I get a sense of crankiness in Paris or London. Having to walk 30 minutes to a shop? Of course! The pleasure IS the walk, not the destination! Having to hop up on a bus that leads you who knows where? You just hope you end up a little closer to where you were! Having to take a taxi because you are late??? NEVER! I am NOT spending 20 euros in a taxi because I am a little late!!!! 44 minuted up a hill? Let me grab my water bottle!!!!
I suffered and got quite unfuriated reading your piece while at the same time adoring it for its frankness and portrayal hahahahaha I have to say, for us the First World is being able to walk everywhere and stopping for a café midway without having to rely on Uber ;) (which is foreign to me! Having Uber ask like a chauffer!).
Please come to Barcelona next because I want to read your impressions!
Barcelona is the BEST city and I will hear nothing else about it! :) (That said, I will read anything Brandon writes.) I really left my heart there and it's another place I'd love to go back to at some point.
Is this a prelude to an eventual essay on Forster and Italy? Fingers crossed….
I've never been to Florence but as I read I started feeling like I was there with you. I became very warm & sweaty & was trying to smell the food. I felt the long walk downward and the frustration of not having a mode of transportation besides my tired feet. I was completely immersed in your writing. Thank you! I'll definitely return!
I almost hate to say how much I loved this piece because it was mostly about your pain and suffering. Sorry. But it takes a good writer to turn those sufferings into prose and to make me feel the blood in your socks and the awful pain of dragging each suitcase separately down the staircase. Savonarola indeed. But do be careful who reads this....you know what happened to him. :{
dsaiojhdlkashdsa HAHAHAHA. 😭 I hope they don't do me like they did him.
This piece hit me so hard. I love Florence. But I would never be able to handle it in summer. NOT AT ALL. I cannot handle sunlight, seriously, I have an actual light disorder. And heat makes me cranky or sleepy. Your essay reminded me that the first time I stayed in Florence in college I took the train to Paris and cried out of gratitude for its modern conveniences and civilized practices. Later when I lived in Paris I took a train to Rome with my cute boyfriend and his bike. In AUGUST! When we arrived I was so overwhelmed by heat and light and dust and people I turned into the worst kind of crybaby and took the next possible train back to Paris. Finally, the part of your essay with the luggage and the rules and the shitty, gravely paths at the villa (where my university had its program was pretty close to the NYU campus) that story is too too familiar. I am so sorry about the indignity of falling. I could practically feel the sting on my skin from the way you described it. I've had such a fall. Not in Florence, but still...I am really glad you wrote this. I am going back to Florence in Winter and I hope it won't be hot or too sunny
How pointlessly correct not to take responsibility for your luggage for an hour or two or at very least help you drag it to and from your classroom. I suppose there was no firstaid kit suffed with anitbacterials, bandages, and bandaids in this office, either. How mindlessly indifferent we can be at this level of official interaction. I hope your days in Paris make up for it, hope you're lucky in your everyday locations and interactions. May the way to your book be paved with all variety of kindnesses and may it quickly and painlessly go to press.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who absolutely hates Florence: it’s a city colonized by American college sophomores. It’s a museum shop. It’s not a place at all.
Spectacular writing. I’ve enjoyed my times in Florence but I’ve only been for brief visits and stayed in the city center where getting around is easy. But, the heat and sun… your description is so on point. Lawd. Did the Medicis hate trees? So much art, so many grand buildings, nary a tree. A city fit for late spring and autumn only.
Oh, Brandon. You poor, tortured being. Let me make you a nice gin and tonic with tons of ice and an oversized cloth napkin to mop your brow as you sip. Please, take off your shoes and make yourself comfortable.
Tuscany cities in winter only. A hard lesson of ca 1999.
I WOULD like to see more about how the locals lived. Did they all drive, everywhere?
Either way, a magnificent piece of writing, less melting and more falling apart in that relentless light, yet with a spine of sorts running through.
Rookie mistake on my part. NEVER AGAIN.
Day 1 of being in Italy (South). Your post came at the right time.
GOOD LUCK
I lived in Florence for four months and it was the lack of trees that eventually got to me.
Brilliant, brilliant piece. I love Italy (have a house in Umbria and spend a lot of time there) but a fair bit of this chimes. More importantly, your wonderful writing has lifted my day.