"The carousel never stops turning.." {florence files}

“The carousel never stops turning…” repeated over in my head, as I passed what I didn’t know at the time was Piazza della Repubblica for the first time. As one of my first sights of Florence, it’s maintained a place in both my heart and head as what this city has grown to mean to me. Life, work, youth, innocence, adventure, culture, and beauty are splashed across this square in a matter of fact, yet effortless fashion. Like most things in Florence, it’s possible to discover a new beautiful sight after every corner. The sense of adventure, of encouraging exploration, and of independence is inherent to the city’s core existence.

In the culturally rich and historic centers of the city, it’s easy to find glimpses of frivolousness and spontaneity. The carousel in the square represents the Italian love for life. It’s so common to find carousels at home in malls and amusement parks, but to stumble across one in a busy square? That’s not common at all- you could go as far as to say it’s not American. Americans tend to squeeze adventure and spontaneity into small, forced, and acceptable locations. Whether it’s an amusement park, mall carousel, playground, or beach vacation we only allot a certain amount of time in our lives for preapproved ‘fun.’ I never realized this until coming to Florence, because, for me, it was all that I grew up knowing.

My love of Florence, and this square in particular, comes from the way that the people go about life. Instead of parading around cautiously waiting for the right time to adventure and explore the Florentines attack life in a purposeful way. Life, like most things here, is an event and an experience. Here, life is constant. There seems to be no roadblocks whether it is work, family, or money related when it comes to new experiences. The Florentines carousel is life; it is a constant and directed movement of experiencing everything around them. At home, a carousel is distraction; it is preapproved, premade, and accounts for short-term happiness.

I suppose it would be easier to appreciate the carousel for exactly what it is- a carousel. But for me, it’s a tangible item that contrasts the differences between the culture I grew up with and the culture I’m immersing myself in. The only question left is- when will I choose to get off the carousel?

XO,

Dev

PS more bday weekend pictures here on my VSCO http://vsco.co/devinost