The four months NYU Florence’s students spend in Italy are nothing compared to the entire life span of a person, not to mention the day trips and weekend trips squeezed out from their busy schedules of coursework and volunteering activities. Yet, it is within these brief interludes that our identities are shaped, our perspectives broadened, and our stories enriched.

As we launch Baedeker’s second issue di Firenze, we invite you to contemplate the intersections of life and travel—the transient moments that shape our identities and illuminate our paths. Like passengers on a train, we pause at different stops, absorbing the sights, sounds, and stories that define our odyssey.

We extend our heartfelt thanks to all the editors and designers of this magazine for their tireless effort and creativity, the dedicated faculty members of NYU Florence for their invaluable support and guidance, and everyone within the NYU community who contributed to the journeys and adventures of this semester.

Jingshan Wu, Creative Director | Lydia Tian, Chief of Design

Through countless trips squeezed out of fleeting weekends, memories made during ‘sick days,' the students of NYU Florence traveled far and wide this fall, all across the Old world, from windswept fjords in Norway to technicolor communes in Procida. In the 52 pages of this debut issue, their writings and photos are spun into adventurous tales and mementos of candor.

This is an old land, a place where villages were capitals of innumerable kingdoms. The shadows of human history can be felt everywhere here, if one is willing to go and hunt for them.

Through Baedeker di Firenze, we want to impart to you the value of this history: the bloody wars and churn of kingdoms that drew the borders and gates you will cross; the ever-changing fortification constructs that produced the labyrinthine cities you will lose yourself in. Perhaps you will be sleepless, but the friends you make along the way will accompany you to a distant shore. Talking in their foreign tongues and grasping rich histories, you will start to appreciate the beautiful cultural tapestry you are a part of. Find solace in your journey.

Shuhe Ma, Creative Director | Kaitlyn Zhu, Chief of Design