The class focused on the paradigm shift from medieval to Renaissance. At first, I thought that medieval societies didn’t have the means to achieve what was done during the Renaissance. It would have been more difficult for information to spread before the Gutenberg press, but the way people perceived the world dramatically changed during the Renaissance. This shift in perspective made room for rapid advancements in the arts and in science. For example, people used to consider the senses very differently than we do today. Before the Renaissance, “hearing was passive, discontinuous, and disconnected and took place over time. Seeing was active, continuous, and connected, and took place immediately” (Nelson, p. 155). People thought of senses in an emotional context; today, people think of senses scientifically.
In addition to what I learned in class, I learned from my experience as a tourist. Tourists are almost always at a little bit of a disadvantage. They know the places that are the most famous, but that doesn’t mean that they know the best places to visit. I probably missed seeing some really special places that aren’t famous enough to be known by tourists. I really enjoyed the scavenger hunt because I got to visit Scala Contarini del Bovolo, which is a beautiful staircase that isn’t as well known as some of the other buildings in Venice, like Basilica di San Marco or the clock tower. The tower isn’t easy to find, but it’s worth visiting. I had a lot of fun searching for and finally finding the tower. I didn’t get to visit many places like Scala Contarini del Bovolo because I only had a week in Italy. Hopefully I’ll get to go back someday and try to find some other lesser known places in Venice.
I got to explore a lot as a tourist. One of my favorite things to do in Venice was to wander around without any real destination. I found some pretty interesting places, like a Venetian post office and an old church the class didn’t visit. I discovered that the best view, in my opinion, is from the middle of a bridge overlooking a canal. It’s so different than anything I can ever see at home. The water is so blue it looks fake, and the buildings are gorgeous.
“Heterotopias are most often linked to slices in time” (Foucault, p. 26). Whenever I took a second to pause in Venice and look around, it felt like the city had been frozen in time. Everything has been there for so long that it has accumulated history. Venetians have contributed to the heterotopia by protecting their history. If something has been recently repaired or built, it was done with the intention of preserving the integrity of Venice’s history.
Because Venice feels so permanent, it was easy to forget how short my visit was while I was there. As a tourist, I wasn’t anywhere in Italy long enough to learn about and adapt to the little quirks that every place has. At Purdue, I know that on my walk to class from my apartment the sidewalk on one side of the road doesn’t get salted when it’s icy. I’ve been able to adjust to that this year. I experienced the Acqua Alta few times in Venice, but I was never prepared for it. I never remembered that I needed to check the tide when I was checking the weather in the morning to decide what to wear. I would have liked to spend enough time in Venice to recognize the quirks that I need to prepare for.
Living in a place creates a sense of permanence. People care about the place they live in a way that a visitor can’t. I’ll never really fall in love with any part of Italy unless I’m able to visit for a longer period of time, or if I visit multiple times. I made amazing memories, saw unforgettable art, and had a ton of fun. But I didn’t have enough time to truly care about the place I was in. At home I have a certain amount of pride about where I live; I want to improve it and leave a mark. As a tourist, it’s best not to leave any mark. Tourists aren’t in one place long enough to have a lasting positive influence. Normally, the marks tourists leave are detrimental, such as writing on walls of historic buildings, so it’s best if visitors leave no mark at all.
Tourists don’t have a sense of permanence. It’s fun to be transient every once in a while because it creates opportunities to explore and fosters independence, but I like to be able to come back to a place of security and predictability. I like having a schedule and knowing the people I see everyday. I like having a place that’s mine.
I loved this experience, and it was ridiculously fun. I never thought I would have the opportunity to visit Italy. I wish I could have spent more time there to get a better feel for the cities and the culture, but hopefully I’ll get a chance to go back someday.
Sources
Foucault, Michel, and Jay Miskowiec. “Of Other Spaces.” Diacritics, vol. 16, no. 1, 1986, pp. 22–27. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/464648.
Nelson, Robert. Visuality Before and Beyond the Renaissance. Cambridge University Press, 2000.
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