First Week in Florence

Arno River, Florence Italy 

Benvenuto! I have decided to share all of my adventures and experiences across the pond with all of you in a blog! Warning, if you read this blog there is a chance that the things I say are spelt wrong, contain incorrect grammar, or are extremely boring. Now that you have been properly warned, you may continue reading at your own risk…

Waiting for a taxi with all our bags

            If you are still reading, and want to read about my trip across the big pound, then ciao!  So far I have been across the pond for five days, and within those five days I have realized that I am completely in love with Firenze. If the thought of it taking 24 hours to travel to home doesn’t make you want to stay, then the surreal beauty of the city surely will. The first thing I learned while traveling to Florence is NEVER over pack. I had packed over 140lbs of stuff in two gigantic duffel bags, one carry on, and a backpack filled to the maximum capacity. I was luging so much stuff thought the airport that I knew that everyone that was staring was judging me and though I was a typical American white girl, which at that moment, I could not disagree. Between two of my roommates and I we had to have two taxis, because no taxi driver could fit all our stuff. After arriving into the city and checking in, I learned that we would have to hull our luggage up three flights of steps in order to get into our apartment. If I have ever regretted over packing, at was at the moment I had to carry a 50lb suitcase on my back up 100 steps. I decided to leave one suitcase and come back for it, forcing me to take two trips through the city looking like an absolute tourist. Finally, after trekking 100 steps with over 140lbs of stuff, I walked into our amazing apartment, which come to find out, is the same apartment that the cast of Jersey Shore stayed in…You can form your own opinion about that one.

Gusta Pizza, Our first meal!

            On our first night in Italy, the roommates and I decided to get our first taste of Italian pizza. We set off to find a place called Gusta Pizza, which is typically a 5 minute walk through the city, however for us, it became a 30 min lost wander through the city. It was worth it, because the pizza was amazing and the wine…..well its Italian wine, I’m sure you can imagine how amazing it is to a girl that thinks barefoot is good wine. The next day after orientation, we decided to go to a panini shop called Nobile Bistro. I had an amazing Panini with prosciutto, brie, and pesto with a fresh shot of espresso on the side. However, Meg and Erin decided to try a “Italian favorite” called Lampredotto, which we later discovered is considered peasant food and is the Italian word for cow stomach. Needless to say Meg finished the other half of my Panini after forcing down about four painful bites of her own sandwich.

Nobile Bistro, Panini Time!

Meg and Erins Cow Stomach
Panini            

Looking over the Arno River with Mega

        Later that night Megan and I decided to go to the center fresh market. This turned out to be the best adventure I have had thus far. After an hour of wandering the streets in pouring rain, Meg and I discovered that the fresh market, which we later found out is 10 minutes away for our apartment, closes at 2:00pm. At that point it was about 8:00pm and we were completely drenched because we had not brought an umbrella or rain jacket. However, this adventure was not miserable or dreadful, because a night “lost” in the streets of Firenze with one of your best friends can be the time of your life. I mean, we are in Florence, Italy! How can you get upset?! While wandering a waiter standing at the front door of a small restaurant asked us if we were hungry. Meg and I decided that we probably should eat, considering the only thing Meg had eaten all day was cow stomach and half of my panini. The waiter sat us down at a table next to the manager, Franco, who was finishing his meal. He looked at us, completely drenched, brought us a towel, and started to ask us where we were from. He spoke perfect English and even sang the Eagles fight song with Megan. Our idea of a one-hour meal quickly turned into a two and a half hour conversation with Franco over amazing Italian food. Franco brought us complementary champagne; we then ordered the house wine. Meg and I decided to split the gnocchi with pesto, and the ricotta and spinach stuffed ravioli with truffle sauce. We then finished our meal with homemade tiramisu and complementary cappuccinos and lemoncello, thanks to our new “Italian dad”, Franco. Franco informed us that he had a daughter who was studying abroad in France and he knew the worry our parents probably had about us studying abroad. He also answered all of our questions about Italy and Italian customs. We learned that when in Italy, there is no such thing as a to-go box, you eat it all or leave it behind because the food is not considered “fresh” the next day. We learned that when you sit down to drink cappuccino or eat a pastry, you have to pay about 6 euro, but if you drink and eat while standing at the bar it is about 1.40 euro. We learned that you never should buy all your household items from the dollar store, all your packaged foods and the supermarket, and all your fresh foods from the fresh market. We learned that you are never to buy your food in bulk, and that it is Italian custom to go the fresh market everyday to buy your grocery’s. I asked Franco how Italians stay so thin while eating pasta everyday. He told me that pasta won’t make you fat, it all depends on how fresh the pasta is and the ingredients that are in the pasta. He said that it is custom for Italians to wake up and drink a cappuccino, then around 1:00pm they eat a pasta dish for lunch, and around 9:00pm for dinner they eat a dish filled with protein, such as steak or pork, and throughout the day drink about 4-6 shots of espresso. Meg and I decided to live like Italians and adopt their methods of eating, which not eating breakfast has been very difficult so far.  After the meal, Franco asked Meg and I to meet him and his wife for cappuccinos at 10:00am the next morning. We were skeptical at first that it could be a trap and Meg and I might become the new stars of the movie Taken, however we decided to go. The next morning, once again Meg and I became lost and arrived at Franco’s around 11:00am. Franco gave us complementary cappuccinos and chocolate cake, as well as a hard time for arriving so late when we live 10 minutes away. We met his wife and his American friend and learned more about the Italian culture.  So far our conversations with Franco have been one of the best parts of the trip. Other than finding one of the five secrete bakeries, where we got fresh chocolate croissants and chocolate filled donuts out of the back door of a bakery at 3:00am for only 1 euro.

            So far I have learned never to over pack, I have explored the streets of Italy, I have had some of the best food and wine of my live, I have made friends with some locals, I have learned some of the do’s and don’t’s of the Italian culture, I have drank a bottle of wine a day, I have made new friends with the best roommates I could have asked for, I have learned my way around some of the streets of Florence, I have watched an Italian sunset over the Arno river, and I have fallen completely in love with one of the best cities in Italy. I am excited to see what the next 13 weeks hold!   

            Well…That’s about it. Sorry this blog was so long, I am going to try to post every Wednesday and Sunday so that they are shorter and more enjoyable to read. Hope you this post wasn’t to boring and unbearable. Miss you all! Ciao!