18. City Centre versus Suburb
My ideal situation would be to live in the city centre with the school within walking distance but not in the centre. The last thing one wants to do is commute, especially when an Italian evening bus-schedule in some cities can prove a daunting challenge. I did live close to the centre in Perugia, but it was just too bad that my experience of the university was less than satisfactory. [See Blogs 4, 5, 6, 9, 10]. At Siena I commuted from the outskirts by bus – a mere 15 minutes, but it was long enough to separate me from the evening life of the city. I never did work out the evening schedule, or which bus to take to return home after 8 p.m.!
On the other hand, there could be a drawback if you choose to study at a "tourist" city like Florence and to live downtown. During my two brief visits to Florence I stayed at hotels by the Duomo, which made it wonderful for touristy activities. On my first visit, which took place at the end of May – early June, I did manage to find some restaurants that seem to cater more to Italians than to tourists. Perhaps it was early on in the season, and so I was spared the experience that I was to have on my second trip.
On my second visit in late September –early October, the tourist season – to my surprise – was still in full flight, and I failed to find a restaurant that was not catering to tourists or where the waiters did not insist on speaking English. One of the two restaurants I had enjoyed on my first visit seemed to have increased its prices while dropping its standard. English was the language of the day. Probably because of my poor sense of direction, I never found the other restaurant that I had marked as excellent. I’ve since learnt my lesson and keep addresses of restaurants whose food and ambience I enjoyed! Perhaps if I had been a student in Florence I might have discovered "local" eating places as I did for both Siena and Perugia. And what a pleasure it was to eat at these places – good food and good service. In contrast, I cringe when I think of some of the restaurants I ate at in Florence .
On the other hand, there could be a drawback if you choose to study at a "tourist" city like Florence and to live downtown. During my two brief visits to Florence I stayed at hotels by the Duomo, which made it wonderful for touristy activities. On my first visit, which took place at the end of May – early June, I did manage to find some restaurants that seem to cater more to Italians than to tourists. Perhaps it was early on in the season, and so I was spared the experience that I was to have on my second trip.
On my second visit in late September –early October, the tourist season – to my surprise – was still in full flight, and I failed to find a restaurant that was not catering to tourists or where the waiters did not insist on speaking English. One of the two restaurants I had enjoyed on my first visit seemed to have increased its prices while dropping its standard. English was the language of the day. Probably because of my poor sense of direction, I never found the other restaurant that I had marked as excellent. I’ve since learnt my lesson and keep addresses of restaurants whose food and ambience I enjoyed! Perhaps if I had been a student in Florence I might have discovered "local" eating places as I did for both Siena and Perugia. And what a pleasure it was to eat at these places – good food and good service. In contrast, I cringe when I think of some of the restaurants I ate at in Florence .
posted by Toby1939 at 10:46 AM
