Maybe Home is a Thought, Not a Place

Saturday is the day; flying back to the city whether I'm ready or not.  So much has changed since I left New York.  While I probably would have liked to have been back in the city a little sooner, these weeks home have provided much needed time for reflection.  I think, for me at least, I can't be sure where I'm going until I know where I have been.  And you can't know where you have been until you turn around a look back for a minute.

The idea of "home" has been something I've thought about so much over the last few weeks, months even.  For a majority of my life I lived at the same tri-level going to the same schools.  Home was all I knew.  Now, I have many homes.  My first new "home" was West Lafayette, Indiana.  My second was Florence.  Third, (and yes I count it because it was such a moving experience -- no pun intended) Paris.  Fourth, New York City.  Each home has it own scents, habits, memories, friends, and every home I have made on my own.  Building nests of comfort in these cities which I never considered the impact of abandoning each.  Unable to tend for these nests while building a new one.  How can we abandon these homes? These works of art?

There is a song I first heard so many years ago, I believe shortly after I first moved away from home. The one line which caught my attention was the single line which I could empathize with. 

"Maybe home is a thought, not a place; you can move and still be safe."

The idea that my home was a strictly an artistic representation of all feelings which comfort me, comforted me further in a time of misunderstanding. That was all I understood when I first heard this song.  I attached this phrase to my memory like a deer tick and ran it through my mind whenever I felt anxious.

But now, since my home has expanded to so many more faces and rooms and cities, I found that this entire song is my anthem.

"I wanna steal from you only you, make room for you."  I take what I want from these physical homes, to create a room of my own.  As a world traveler, I desire these new boundaries, the expansions. 

"I am the thief who leaves it behind: the moon and the window."  But as a traveler, I can leave it behind as well.  The moon -- the intangibles such as the scents and the memories.  The window -- the tangibles such as the actual physical bedrooms I stayed in, the addresses which once belonged to me.  I'm the thief who leaves it all behind.

I could go on, but I think you get the point.  I'm heading back to NYC to continue mass robberies. 

Here's the full song: "Souvenir" by The Duke Spirit YOUTUBE LINK

FLORENCE

PARIS

NEW YORK CITY

I Left My Heart In Florence

Even now that I'm living in New York City, home of fashion & night life, I still think back to my weeks in Italy as the best time of my life. Firenze is a city with so much personality, beauty, and history. I miss the guitarist at Piazza Republica & Ponte Vecchio, the gelato across the Arno, Marco -- my charismatic professor, the market with the smell of Italian leather, and all the red roof tops.  New York will grow on me, but Florence stole my heart.

Fiesole

The city of Florence is situated in a valley in the heart of Tuscany.  In the summers, as I have certainly noticed, it can get really very hot because of the geographical location, so it was a real treat to take a day to explore a small town just about 5 miles north of Florence in the hills, Fiesole. According to my guidebook, the village was settled around 7th century BC, and there are still Roman and Etruscan remains here.  

I walked up to San Francesco, a friary founded in 1399.  Apparently, the last Pope visited the friary and it was a great big deal because there were signs (in Italian so I only got the gist of what it was about) posted around the area.

I found a great place to take in views of Florence, feel the breeze from being outside of the city, and sip on a Tuborg -- a beer produced in Copenhagen which I've found I prefer over the common Peroni Italian beer.  

From the largest photo you can see the Duomo dome very clearly and get an idea of exactly how huge it is.

End of Program & Rome

There is only one week left in my program in Florence and thinking about this seriously breaks my heart. I can't believe I have been here five weeks already.  I feel as though I am finally feeling at home here and now it is almost time to leave!

I have currently five posts in draft form waiting to be published for all of you.  Not bringing my laptop turned out to be a critical error on my part.  The computer lab at my school is only open a few hours after my classes end during the week and there is only one good computer for uploading photos... so you can imagine the difficulties.

Anyway, I am headed to Rome this weekend! Yes, there will be a billion photos, and YES I will share them with you all if not next week then the week I am back in the States for sure! There is so much to talk about I think I could write a memoir from my summer in Florence!

After my classes end, I have a few special places to visit on my own, which, same as above, photos and stories to follow. :)

Hello to my grandparents who are following my blog now as well! I miss you very much and plan on spending some time at the lake with you when I am back!!!

Now, to Roma!

Wall Art

Found this walking around the city the other day. :)

Photos I

Train ride to Florence

Leaving Pisa on train

Ponte Vecchio & Arno River

A view of Florence from one of our school buildings.