Revisiting an Old Enemy

Today is my second of three days in Florence and so far it has been wonderful. I have enjoyed the warm heat from the Tuscan sun, walking the aged streets and just being back in Italy. This is strange for me though Florence has not always been my friend. Looking back to when I first met Florence this past May I absolutely hated it the only peace that it provided me was the hour on top of Santa Maria Fiori and another hour looking at Michelangelo's David, but those were the only two out of the eight I spent in Florence that day. So what caused this great conflict between me an Florence? Well...I really do not know because after the last forty eight hours that I have experienced in this city, it is hard to think that I had such hard feelings for this place. I think, looking back at who I was and what I had experienced up to my visit in May, Florence was just overwhelming, like most Americans are to Europeans when they first meet. I had not lived or visited a big city in Europe yet, was just getting used to be over seas, and other tourist who are not studying architecture just get in the way and become very annoying. So I have matured, visited many other places and have become familiar with life as a Nomadic Student in Europe who to the untrained eye looks like any other tourist from the States, but I am used to that and can live with it. So after these fives months of being apart, and experiencing some more of the world I ahve been prepared to see Florence again and live in it with more confidence and see it through all of its distractions or faults. Now that I can see past these things Florence has become one of the richest cities I have visted, home to so many great names: Medici, Michelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci, and Brunolleschi. It is a city that I can now call my friend a place I can visit again and feel comfortable, Florence is definitely an old enemy in my Europe experience.