GTGL Snippets: Florence, Tuscany, Italy
“MOLEDRO
n. a feeling of resonant connection with an author or artist you’ll never meet, who may have lived centuries ago and thousands of miles away but can still get inside your head and leave behind morsels of their experience, like the little piles of stones left by hikers that mark a hidden path through unfamiliar territory.”
Even before I visited Florence, it already seemed like a memory. Distinctly a memory, not an imagination.
If you've come across The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, John Koenig invented the word "moledro". As I learned about the Renaissance in school, and immersed myself in reading about it, it seemed I had that moledro feeling with every character I encountered.
And then of course, Anne Rice publishes The Vampire Armand, and later the story of Marius de Romanus, Blood and Gold, and introduces the character Bianca Solderini, now I've got myself the Florentine vampire that shares my name. All the fiction just became personal. You could imagine what that did to my psyche 😁. And Anne Rice writes stories like history, hence, moledro.
So in a weird way, setting foot in Florence felt like coming home. Ok, yes weird. 😂
And lately, it was the show Medici that got me longing for Florence. That and it was around this time of the year when I was there. So, when it gets piercing cold, I'm transported.
This shot above of Ponte Vecchio is one of those that you could easily get. If you make your way down from Piazzale Michelangelo towards the Arno, you can't miss this shot, among other magnificent views.
I do wish I can go back to Florence sometime soon. Aside from the English countryside in Warwickshire, Tuscany is one of the regions I'd like to one day spend an extended amount of time in. When my husband and I visited in 2011, it was a quick trip from Rome. I had taken migraine pills and cold medicine, so instead of being able to enjoy a pleasant train ride looking out the window, I slept. But I powered through wandering around the city. I even had gelato from one of the shops on Ponte Vecchio because I still had to have that experience.
But then again, I could always spend time with my authors and artists and my beloved Bianca Solderini when I long for memories.
Bianca is one of the founders of get there | get lost. She is an avid writer and photographer based in Northern California. Her love for history, literature, architecture and food culminate to her passion for traveling and learning about different cultures. She advocates for accessible travel, and continues to explore with her husband and travel partner, Jesús, despite physical limitations. Follow their adventures on Instagram as @gettheregetlost and @coffeeandtherapy.