The Arno River with the Duomo peeking thru in the background

First day of classes today - it was A LOT of info to cram into 2.5 hours but the most amazing part was taking the last 10 minutes to walk down the street and see a fresco we by Ghireldi we were just talking about!  The Strezzi Chapel had been on the same street as our apartment the whole time and we had NO IDEA!  That’s the most amazing thing about Florence…you can talk about a work in class and literally walk ten steps and there it is!  First visit to the Uffizi Museum is on Wednesday & I’m so excited.  This art history class seems like it’s going to be intense but sooo worth it!  Our teacher Katarina is fabulous and so funny and really passionate about what she does.  We even get to make our own fresco! 

After class we went shopping at an H&M (I know, so Italian) to get some essentials and then stopped at GROM, a gelato place where they use all natural ingredients and absolutely nothing artificial.  I got Limone e Cocco (lemon and coconut) and it was to die for!  Then we stopped at a market down the street and bought cherries, figs, and strawberries yum :)  They were so fresh!

For now it’s siesta time…then homework maybe.

Ciao for now,

Flo

Hey readers! Sorry I’ve been bad I just went to my first discoteque last night and I didn’t get in til 4am so I didn’t have time to post…

Anyway, yesterday our program provided a practical walking tour of Florence, so we went around with one of our teachers and saw a little bit of everything. She apologized at the beginning for her accent, and told us that she is originally from Austria but has lived in Florence for the past 9 years as an art historian. It’s so cool how many ex-pats are living here - most of our professors and program administrators were actually not born in Italy, but like me, it was love at first sight…

After the tour we found this great little hole-in-the-wall pizza place - even smaller than La Creperie if you can imagine that, PC readers - and I had my first Italian pizza.  It was absolutely divine, and needless to say my mouth is watering as I type this.  The crust is so thin and can barely hold all the juice from the sauce and the fresh tomatoes - the cheese tastes like it was just delivered from the farm, and I’ve never tasted anything like it.  It’s just so different from what we’re used to in the U.S.  After the pizza shop my roommate had the brilliant idea to climb this hill nearby in the hopes that we’d have a great view of the city.  Although we wanted to kill her on the way because all our calves were on fire, the climb was WELL worth it.  We ended up walking through this enchanted fortress-like place will family villas passed down through the centuries and their private gardens.  As we came down the hill we journeyed thru winding streets and alleyways with spectacular views of the Duomo and the Arno River. 

I went to mass at the Duomo at 5 and was a little disappointed that it was in English (but it turned out to be the American mass) and the artwork inside the church was breathtaking.  We were shuffled out quickly after mass as the church was closing, but I’m definitely going back soon! 

As we waited for dinner we shopped on what I like to call “Pinocchio Row” - a little street where everything is all about the Italian tale, which is similar to Disney but not cartoon of course.  We ate dinner at a Trattoria called “Cinque Amici” (5 friends) which happened to be across the street from the Jersey Shore pizza shop.  The rambunctious crew wasn’t working that night, however.  I was the only one who ordered the 3 course meal option, but go big or go home, seriously. 

I also went to my first discoteque!  Unfortunately the rumors are true; the Italian men were quite aggressive and had no problem walking up and touching your face and some other places :(  But overall it was a great experience and Italians are obsessed with American music so we actually knew the words!  There was also this techno version of Rolling in the Deep which I have to find b/c it was surprisingly really good. 

Easy Sunday today - slept in, went to the market for some spaghetti & wine, and came home and had a traditional Italian family meal.  It was nice to just have a chill day!  Well, first day of classes tomorrow so wish me luck!

Buona notte,

Flo

The night life here is amazing!  I think it’s because of the heat, but nothing starts until like 10 PM.  Or should I say everything starts around 8am, and continues til about 4am.  There’s this crazy cool piazza that I can see from my window and it’s ALWAYS hopping at night.  It’s one of my goals to go there and see what the heck is going on all the time. 

Tonight was so chill and such a great time.  We had our official “welcome” dinner tonight at a ristorante called “Il ristorante pizzeria il gatto e la volpe” (The pizzeria restaurant of the cat and the vixen).  It was delicious.  We started off with pane con l’olio, of course, then had several anitpasti (appetizers) - pomodori e mozzarella (tomatoes and mozzerella - the BEST cheese I’ve ever had btw) and prosciutto and salami, and bruschetta with an olive paste.  YUM.  Then we ate 3 dishes family style, penne alla vodka, tortellini con funghi, e gli gnocchi.  Everything was molto bene!

OMG I almost forgot - on the way to the ristorante, we saw the Jersey Shore pizza shop.  Ronnie was sitting outside with a megaphone, looking really bored.  Film crews were inside and outside.  I would’ve taken pictures but we were caught so off-guard by the whole thing!  (Definitely creeping and going back there…)  Anyway Ronnie thought my friend was hot, and Italian apparently, because as she walked by he said “Ciao” into the megaphone.  He was SO thrown off when she answered “Hi Ronnie.”  He looked at the film crew as we walked away and said “How does she know me?!”  We were at the end of the block by that point and my friend just yelled “I’m from Jersey!”  He was stunned.  hahaha I don’t know about you, but in my opinion THAT’S how you great a celebrity.  I think she put that guido in his place :). 

After dinner we walked to the Piazza della Signoria, aka the Plaza with the fake David.  There were statues all over the place!  We saw the fountain of Neptune, the civic building, and a bunch of other pieces of art that I’ll definitely know more about after our art history walking tour of Florence tomorrow.  There were lions EVERYWHERE and all of the statues looked soooo angry!  Maybe something was in the water back then in Florence…

One of the best parts of the night was just hanging out with my roommates next to the Palazza Pitti.  We got “Gelato Cocktails” as part of the Gelato Festival that’s going on and just chilled in the piazza.  We saw a huge group of men and women performing a Brazilian form of fight-dancing called Capoeira - it’s really cool, definitely worth youtubing or wikipeding (haha just made that up).  It was awesome just getting to know everyone and doing some major Italian bonding. 

Sorry for the long post!  Hope I’m doing okay at this blog thing for all my readers - give me feedback pleaseee it’s my first time and I’m probably being boring haha. 

Ciao mi bambini,

Flo

Magnifico magnifico magnifico.  I don’t know why everyone says to stay away from the Italian men, every single one I’ve met has been so amazingly fabulous and so excited that I am here studying and want to learn about their culture.  Granted they were all over the age of 30 and pretty sure their hormones have calmed down a bit…

But seriously Italy is absolutely BREATHTAKING and I don’t know how anyone can come here and then leave.  (I almost got hit by approximately 5 mopeds today because I was so busy taking everything in - gotta work on that). 

So today was a day of Italian lessons.  First I got a Florentine history lesson from a guy on the tram to the airplane in Munich (I wish I knew his name he was sooo nice!).  I was talking with one of my roommates and saying that that is one of the things that makes Europe so unique - people actually care about where they come from and they put so much effort into celebrating who they are and welcoming others into that celebration.  My second lesson was from Mossimo, who dealt with my shoddy Italian and pointed out every city, river, and highway to me on the flight from Munich to Florence.  He was such a wonderful person and I learned all about his family and he even pointed out his house from the plane.  When we were getting our luggage he whipped out a business card and told me if I need anything in Florence to give him a buzz.  Wow.  I could get used to this. 

Sorry for positively gushing but I’m so grateful that I missed my connection this morning and then my plane’s engine had problems because I got to spend more time with those lovely people! 

Last lesson of the day:  Sean was totally spot on when he said to order gelato everyday.  I think I died and went to heaven when I had my first bite.  America, get on that.

It’s 1 am, I’m sitting here at my computer for the last time in America - can’t believe it.  My head is spinning, my legs & back are absolutely aching, and I feel like I’m already experiencing culture shock. 

Everyone made their last minute goodbye visits today, and I know it won’t hit me til I’m on that plane…

Mixed feelings at this point.  Don’t get me wrong, this is going to be a FABULOUS adventure, but I’m going to miss everyone :*(

Can’t wait to make my next post from ITALY!!!!

Ciao for now,

Flo