Beyond Monuments and Museums

The Art of the Unscripted Experience

The first time I visited Italy I was eighteen. For nearly ten years I had poured over art books, particularly those focused on  the Renaissance. Now, at last, I would see these paintings, frescoes, and sculptures in situ. While books and reproductions had opened the door, the sheer magic of seeing the art and being in the cities where it was created was irreplaceable.

Yet unexpectedly, a portion of that magic emerged  through the simple act of wandering. The stonework of an ordinary building could catch my eye as easily as the winter sunlight bouncing off the marble facade of the Duomo. These small fleeting moments become as special as standing before glorious masterpieces.

When everything is clickable, why leave home?

Today, a simple click can provide information about virtually anything. A variety of perspectives, from the scholarly to the irreverent, opens new avenues of exploration instantly. 

So, why would we ever leave the comforts of home?

While I could offer a catalog of  reasons for travel (and probably about as many not to), I wish to focus on just one - the experience.

There’s that word, experience. For many years now it has supplanted the acquisition of things. The paradigm has shifted.  Instead of buying a throw pillow for the sofa or a beautiful set of  dishes, we choose to trek through the Andes snapping selfies amidst the ruins of Machpichu. 

I am a champion of experiences. Get out there and see the Eiffel Tower of the Grand Canyon. Visit the great museums of the world or that acclaimed restaurant.

But what exactly do we mean by experience? It is more than a consumable, packaged with photos to check off a list. Are we sacrificing something as we stand among strangers orchestrating that perfect  photo along the Amalfi Coast or the Great Wall of China.

Experience is also a powerful verb encompassing the actions of exploration, discovery, and learning. To grant your surroundings your fullest attention is to experience the world in a fundamentally deeper way.

Each Time Reveals Something New

Thinking of the eighteen year old in Italy, or even the more seasoned traveler, that I am today, how should I approach Florence? Lose the list, wander the city. Pause and breathe. What textures do you see? What scents and sounds fill the air? What memories do they awaken? How does the low winter sun slice across buildings that are centuries old? How does this moment in this space make you feel? 

Each time I visit Florence a new aspect of the city reveals itself to me. At eighteen I absorbed the art, architecture and geography of the city. Postcards of Art and trinkets from market stalls filled my bags when I came home. 

Photographs and videos can capture a mere instant. While you will always have that picture, it can never convey the visceral triumph of reaching the tops and gazing out over Florence’s sunlit, terracotta rooftops.


Each time I return to Florence, a new aspect of its spirit is revealed. At eighteen I absorbed the art, the architecture, and the geography, returning home laden with postcards and trinkets.

That first trip was also marked by an unseasonal cold snap and even snow. As a New Englander, watching the Florentines attempt to clear the streets passable using cardboard, boiling water, and even pick was a memorable, slightly comical spectacle.

My return years later in August, found buildings shimmering in a scorching heat. Piazzas were flooded with light, but shadows provided a welcome respite in the narrow streets. Wandering these narrow side streets, revealed new quadrants of the city. Each turn of a corner brought the fragrant promise of hidden enotecas, bustling restaurants, and gelateiras. Mid afternoon often found our family engaged in a now essential ritual of sampling yet another flavor. After all, is there anything better than cold ice cream on a sweltering August day?

Now, during the shortened days of December, Florence reveals yet another aspect of itself. With temperatures in the forties and fifties, the Italians are bundled up for winter, but poinsettias and cyclamen brighten the streets in front of shops. As dusk settles, twinkling  light displays twinkling emerge overhead festooning one neighborhood after another with glowing warmth.

Although it is December, the rich scent of leather spills from open doorways and beckons shoppers. As we wander in and out of these shops, we chat with artisans and sales people happy to share their rich heritage. While some of these stores are firmly planted in traditions of generations of skill, others offer contemporary styles created with the same care and artistry.

Become a Wanderer
You can never predict what you will discover by stepping off the well worn path. By choosing the back streets over the main thoroughfare, you can glean a richer understanding of an area than any tourist spots can provide. 

Once, while in search of a specific shop, we were enveloped  by the most enticing scent. Suddenly,the pursuit of the shop vanished; all that mattered was locating the source of that glorious aroma. 

We soon found ourselves standing before an unassuming restaurant securing a dinner reservation. That spontaneous discovery and the subsequent meal remain one of our most treasured travel memories. We have recommended the place ever since. 

Oh, and that original store? We never did get there. But the trip was all the richer for the unexpected detour.

Traveling with Children: an Opportunity for Unscripted Moments

Children are fundamentally wired  for adventures, but weaving them into an adult itinerary need not be painful. When my daughter was ten we visited Italy, and her singular focus - thanks to Percy Jackson - was the Coliseum and the Roman Forum. 

While the Vatican failed to captivate her, the numerous fountains of Rome did. In the summer heat, we were constantly grateful the ancient Roman waterworks were still in working order. Traversing the city became a perpetual hunt for the next spectacular fountain. Photo opportunities and the necessity of refilling our water bottles became our daily rhythm. Every evening we made a point of stopping at a particular fountain adorned with stone lions before returning to the hotel. 

Years later when my daughter returned to Rome on her own, she searched for and found that same lion fountain. The unscripted moment had become a ritual.

Wait a Minute, Isn’t This Supposed to Be About Art?

Of course. But what, truly, is art? It is an act of creation,  a way to convey ideas, feelings, and experiences that transcend words. Every moment, good, challenging, and even seemingly mundane, impacts. The crucial difference lies in how we assimilate these adventures. 

Experiences can remain a cold checklist of photo-ops, broadcast for all and sundry. 

Or they can be so much more. 

They can be exhilarating as we reach a mountain summit, or quietly reflective as we sit in the timeless presence of a painting within an ancient church. Perhaps the experience  is the simple comfort of smelling freshly baked bread or the rich sensory memory evoked by the scent of  leather and paper, even as a new journey begins.

As much as I love high art and culture, the unscripted moments are as essential to my memory as seeing the Sistine Chapel, Monet’s Water Lilies, or any other masterpiece. It is those unexpected, off-book experiences that you will remember and recount years later.

Each of my four trips to Florence is held distinct in my mind by singular memories of light, color, sound, and scent. 

Every day presents an opportunity for discovery. It is easy to see that when everything feels new and exotic, but the unexpected can be found in more ordinary places as well. 

The Daily Magic of Home

As I sit here writing this, I find my eyes wandering to a certain corner of my dining room. On this early December day, sun and clouds are in a perpetual struggle, and winter’s presence is undeniable. There is something, indefinable yet persistent, that tugs at my awareness. So, I simply stop, sit, and look.

After all, you don’t need to travel far and wide to cultivate experience. Sometimes there is an abundance of magic to be found right at home.

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