One day, I woke up and found myself in a Renaissance town. From my window, Brunelleschi’s dome greeted me every morning. I couldn’t believe my eyes! Such a treasure was only a five-minute walk away from my hotel. It was a historical building as well. I woke up in history and went to bed in history. Excitement filled me every moment of the day. Being born in an exceptional country, where beauty is the password, is an indescribable feeling. Dreaming of being in a historical place and pretending to be in a different era was a reality. Every corner and every small detail of the buildings spoke of history. I had all the intentions of enjoying and soaking in beauty. This was Florence. It is one of the most prominent Renaissance towns in Italy. Travellers, artists, financiers, and tradespeople have been invading it since the first building was erected.
Everything interested me, and not only architectural details. I took pictures of designs on street pavement, store displays, building corners and niches. I snapped photos of stairs, roofs, ceiling designs and stores’ entry doors. I photographed patisseries, gelato stores and restaurants. I immortalized statues, windows, balconies, artwork and horse-drawn carriages. Florence is a concentration of beauty that got me to tears a few times.
It was a sad moment when I spotted a tourist yawning in front of the Davide by Michelangelo. Those are the fast travellers. Those are the people who visit 10 countries in a week. They take a selfie in front of a masterpiece just to say they have been there. They buy a t-shirt and go home. During their travel, they learn nothing and don’t even remember where they have been. It was also sad to see Florence turned into an amusement park for tourists. This transformation is happening in all the Italian art cities.
My speaking engagements were well received, and I decided to repeat the experience next year. The talks were on “Color Intelligence” and “House Harmony”. The same subjects for more speaking engagements took me down to Puglia, my native region. The landscape in this region is very different from Florence. The countryside is flat. The coastline of the Adriatic Sea is long. It covers 900 km of many cities and small towns. The air is fresh with sea breeze and all four winds of the Mediterranean. People of this region are happier, friendlier, louder and more creative in the living philosophy. Food in Puglia is lighter than Florentine food. There are no heavy sauces and no creams. There are no braised meats and no heavy stuffed pasta. The cuisine includes fish, a wide variety of vegetables, lightly cooked meats and fresh fruit.
The main city, Bari, was built by a Frenchman, Joaquin Murat. He was Napoleon’s brother-in-law. The city was constructed in the style of French architecture of the 1800s. Later, the fascist dictator Mussolini brought many modern upgrades to the infrastructure. He also refurbished the city centre in the Liberty style. This was a floral, ornate, romantic and appealing style of the early 1900s.
The city of Bari today is no longer the city I left when I emigrated to America. People’s mentality now is open to novelties. Throughout the years, the city managers added many public events that changed people’s lives. Tourists flock to the area as there are more things to do and see. There is more harmony and willingness to keep the city alive. Traffic, I must say, is still chaotic and disorganized.
Walking along the promenade on the Adriatic Sea, I pondered what is there on the other side of the pond. Was it all worth it when I decided to move away from all this beauty? I was in Italy for two months and completely forgot about the world; I didn’t even open the computer once. I was happy to live that life. It was too familiar to me. Despite the changes in society, it is still a society that highly values human personal relationships. I remember one day I walked into a very small family-owned haberdashery store to buy a couple of buttons. After fifteen minutes of conversation, the store owner offered me a cup of espresso coffee. We were conversing as if we had been friends for a long time. I didn’t even know the woman, nor had I shopped there before. Her hospitality was genuine and I ended up buying more than two buttons.
I walked along the promenade on the Adriatic Sea often, pondering. I thought that after two months, it would be difficult to return to a modern society. In that modern world I live in now, buildings all look the same. There are no embroideries on the façade or balconies with flowers. There are no phantasmagorical designs, statues, or antiquities to admire. People are too busy grinding through their day. No one offers me a cup of coffee just because I entered their shop. I created a good life in America, no doubt.
I will never know how my life as an artist might have turned out. What if I had lived in one artistic city? I could have fed my soul with all artistic expressions. In that special place, where even just looking at a building or a panorama could ignite a spark of emotion. Ciao.
Valentina
Copyright © 2025 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved
Valentina Cirasola is an interior-fashion consultant, color therapist, author of 6 published books, a storyteller, and a longtime blogger. She was recently certified as a “Color Analyst.” Her books offer non-fictional, practical ideas. These ideas can be applied in the home, fashion, cooking, and travel.
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Valentina Expressions 