Ciao Firenze (finally)!
After a year of applications, paperwork and planning, I am finally here - in Florence, Italy. Marielle, Patee and I left Charlotte at night on Jan. 14 and, with all of our travels fortunately going smoothly, we finally made it here on the 15th. I (and I'm sure Mom and Dad) am still in shock that I was able to pack two suitcases that didn't exceed the weight limit of 50 pounds. Once I had stepped off of the plane in Florence, I was in awe at how beautiful the scenery was just from the airport. The mountains in the background were just gorgeous, and I fell in love instantly. We had to get our suitcases and find a taxi, which was very chaotic because we had so much luggage! We had to take two taxis between the three of us and our 12 bags to Lorenzo de' Medici, the school we are enrolled in and checked in there. Patee and I, after much debate, tipped the cab driver five euro, and later asked Marielle if we were supposed to, and she said no. Oh well, I guess he's five euro richer now, and I'm five euro poorer. After checking in at the school which we are enrolled in, Lorenzo de' Medici, we got our keys, called yet another two taxis, and rode about three minutes to our street - Via di Mezzo 12.
During this ride, I saw some of the most beautiful sightings ever - especially the Duomo (we also saw a McDonald's... what?!). I asked the cab driver if it was a Catholic church, but he didn't speak English and just responded with "Duomo" (to the right). I later found out that, yes, it is a Catholic cathedral. Patee and I kept saying that this city is exactly how we imagined it - very European and quaint. It's just beautiful. We arrived to our apartment, and, with much hesitation, carried every single piece of luggage up the narrow and steep stairs, one by one (I got out of it though because of my boot). We were in shock at how nice our apartment is because we were told to not expect much out of them, and Jill told me that Teresa's apartment, from her recollection, was "shitty." Hahah, well I guess we are lucky because all of the girls' apartments in our group are extremely spacious and nice. When you walk into the apartment (it has lion door handles!), you walk into the common area that has a couch, TV, big kitchen table, and a very nice kitchen with a laundry room to the side. To the left of the door is Fran and Monique's room, and past the common area are Marielle's "singola" and my and Patee's double room. Our room is very cozy (below, Patee in our room)! 
After unpacking and organizing everything, we went to find a "ristorante" with our roommates so we could eat dinner together. We found out, after walking door to door, that nothing opens for dinner until 7:30, which is what Mom and Grandma warned me about! Finally we found a restaurant that served pizza, pasta and wine -- exactly what we wanted! We had several glasses of red and white wine (below - Patee, Marielle and me with our first glasses of wine in Italy!), while I ordered a pepperoni pizza, which came out to be a pizza with jalapenos on it - ha! I was very confused, but I guess we found out the hard way that a pepperoni pizza is not what we Americans think it'll be. 
Our waiter felt terrible, but I told him it was still delicious. He told us that the pepperoni I had in mind is "salamino picante," which translates to spicy salami and makes very much sense! Patee ordered a calzone, which was bigger than her head. We had a very good time together and loved our first night in Florence. When we left the restaurant at 10 p.m., there was a huge line of people waiting to go in and eat dinner. I guess we've learned that you don't eat dinner until late here -- which is pretty ordinary for Patee anyways (ha). And since that night, we haven't eaten sooner than 9 p.m.!
The next day, on Jan. 16, all of the students on our program were required to attend the LdM orientation, which was from 9:30 to 2. Patee and I accidentally set our digital travel clocks one hour ahead of what the time really was, so we got up way earlier than we thought it was. We didn't realize this until we tried to rush Marielle along when we thought it was 9:25 and she said "but it's only 8:25." Hahah... We would do that. We stopped along the way in two little tiny, quaint cafes that served pastries for breakfast. I got a very yummy plain croissant and Marielle got one with chocolate in it, which seems to be everywhere. While we were at orientation, we received very useful information from counselors at LdM, a police officer about safety, and the field trip coordinators. It was a long couple of hours especially after traveling for two days, but we made it. After the orientation, Patee, Marielle and I went to the Pixell store, which had our cell phones ready for us. The cell phones are very useful for us so we can get in touch with our other friends on the program, and with each other if we need to do so. After a long day, we were very hungry and stumbled upon a panini shop, which was SO GOOD! I got a spinach artichoke chicken and cheese panini, and I can't wait to go back there. It reminded me of the kind of place Mark would love, so I can't wait to bring him there either. We figured out, after eating breakfast and lunch out that day, that customers aren't supposed to pay for their meals until after the meal (even if it's a cafe where you get your meal at the counter and then sit down). It's strange. After lunch, we found a grocery store near our apartment and did our grocery shopping, where we just got lunch and breakfast foods, and some pasta to make at night if we don't want to go out. Later, we figured out how to retrieve our Internet, which is absolutely amazing to have in our apartments - apparently this is the very first year they are doing it for the students. It makes it so much easier to find things out about the city on the Internet, and keep in contact with friends, family and Mark (not to mention and writing this Blog!). Patee and I took a power nap afterwards because we were sooo exhausted and jetlagged. Somehow, Marielle always has the energy we need! Haha. After our naps and showers, we met about 15 other program participants at our friends' apartment, which we figured out was on a very busy street that had a lot of bars and nightlife going out. Marielle, Patee and I stopped in a little pizza and pasta restaurant, which was very delicious. The owner was very nice to us, and we have seen him everyday since then! I have a feeling he will know us by names by the end of this semester - he loves us and we love him! We all went to a bar called Red Carter, which had karaoke. Yes, Patee and I actually sang karaoke after a few glasses of wine - to Bon Jovi's Living on a Prayer. We even had the Italians dancing and singing with us - we were a hit! Anyways, after a long day and night of partying, we walked home (which apparently was very fun and humorous) at 4 a.m. (everything stays open forever here) and had lots of trouble getting the door unlocked - the keys are so different and hard to use here! I also tried Nutella, the native chocolate spread they use here to put on EVERYTHING. It is SOOOO good. Mom would love it and I can't wait for her to have some. I bought a jar of it at the store and eat it on my bread, yummy :).
The next morning, Saturday, Jan. 16, was our first day to sleep! We were supposed to stay in our apartments between the hours of 11:30 and 4:30 and wait for our landlord, Vincent, to come by and inform us on how to use everything in the apartment. Well, Patee woke up to his voice at 12:30 p.m. and woke me up and we went in the common area and all of our roommates had apparently been passed out too! Vincent is a very nice man and very accommodating and wanting to make our stay as accomodating as possible. We were still very sleepy so we went back to bed until 2:30 p.m.! I guess you could say we are still not used to the time, haha. We got up, made some lunch and got ready for Church, which was at 5 p.m. in English at the Duomo - Catedrale di Santa Maria - Fiore, Firenze. Well, we thought the architecture of the Duomo was amazing, but we had no idea it was going to be even more amazing inside.
When we walked in, I seriously almost had tears in my eyes just seeing how beautiful the sight was. The dome (to the left) in the ceiling is a huge mural that is so unbelieveable. The Mass was also beautiful, without any music. Patee, Marielle and I sat in the front row, which I wanted to do so that we could get maybe a little more out of the experience. For some reason, this Mass meant a lot to me, much more than the ones do at home. The priest had an excellent homily and made it very easy to listen to, and since there was no music, it was a lot less distracting. I feel like I can really focus, concentrate and meditate on my thoughts and prayers in there, and I really am excited to be able to go to that Mass every weekend. This week we are going to do a tour of the Duomo, which I am also excited. After the Mass, Marielle, Patee and I decided to walk in the direction we hadn't been down yet so we could see the river that everyone had been talking about. We were shocked at how busy the plaza was. It seems to be the place to be for everyone on the weekends - it has lots of shopping and restaurants (we even ran into a Disney store!). We actually kind of just stood in the middle of the plaza, just watching everything and amazed at it all. This place is just amazing. We also had our first cup of authentic gelato! I got tiramisu, Patee got chocolate and Marielle got mint. It was SOOO delicious. It is so cool how they store the gelato because they decorate soooo pretty. I took lots of pictures of them and can't wait to have more! Anyways, we kept walking and pretty much stumbled upon another Plaza that had a TON of beautiful statues and a big museum and other historic buildings. We stood in that Plaza for another long time and just took a million pictures, amazed at how beautiful it was. 
We continued to walk through it and then we finally came across the river, which is possibly one of the most beautiful sites I have seen here. It was also Ponte Vecchio (to the left), which is the bridge above the river, that has shops and restaurants there. The apartments and buildings lining against the river just made it even more beautiful. All I can think about while I'm looking at this stuff is how I can't wait to bring Mom and Dad and Mark to these sights since they've never been to them. They are going to be blown away, and I know Dad will really enjoy running through this beautiful city. After we enjoyed another dinner (I had pesto pasta, yum!) on the other side of the bridge, we walked back to our apartments and took showers and got ready to go out again with our friends. We have had a lot of fun hanging out with the other students on the program and I am excited to be able to get to know them all better through classes and field trips and stuff.
Today, Patee and I accidentally slept until 3 p.m.! We woke up and the three of us went to the grocery store to get a few little things, and then to the "Nine-t-Nine cent" store (which is the dollar stores) to get another few things. It has been raining all day here and been very cloudy, but somehow it is still beautiful and makes me never want to leave this city. Since the three of us have been craving hamburgers and french fries, we tried to go back to Red Garter, but turns out all the other Americans here wanted hamburgers and french fries - we couldn't even move in the bar because it was too crowded. So, the three of us left and went to a pub down the street, which had amazing cheeseburgers. However, instead of serving french fries as a side item, they served hot nachos with cheese and salsa! Strange combination, huh? Oh well, it was still delicious and hit the spot! We passed by our friend again in the pizza shop we went to two nights ago and stopped to say hello to him. He asked us if we wanted to have some wine, but we were too tired and wanted to come home, so we told him we would see him tomorrow. Since we got home, we have just been lounging around and talking to people on the Internet and I've been writing in here. Tomorrow we start our Italian crash course, which is a four-hour daily class for the next two weeks. I am really very excited to start this class because it has been exhausting trying to talk to the Italians, especially those who don't know English. I feel kind of ignorant and rude coming here without knowing any of their language, but I am definitely going to learn, and I have definitely already learned a lot. I am SO excited to learn it... it's hard being in a country where you don't know the native language.
Well, it is 1 a.m. and even though I have only been awake for a total of ten hours today, I am still very exhausted and need to get some sleep for my Italian class and another full day of touring tomorrow.
This place is so amazing - I could live here forever and tour it every day and still be amazed at the beauty of it. I feel very fortunate to be able to have this opportunity, thanks to Mom and Dad. It is even more rewarding to have this opportunity of a lifetime and get to know my cultural background. Grandma and Grandpa, I know, are ecstatic that I am here. I even saw an elderly woman today outside of the grocery store, and Patee and I looked at each other and were both thinking the same exact thing - she looked EXACTLY like Grandma, it was crazy. I think of Grandma and Grandpa everywhere I go and wonder if they were there. I love being able to see how they lived and how all of my ancestors lived. I feel so at home ... it sounds crazy, I know, but I really do just feel so comfortable and like I fit in so easily. I feel closer to Grandpa than I EVER have before and I can't stop thinking about him. This all just makes me so proud of my entire family and it makes me feel so in touch with my cultural background, and it just makes me so proud in general.
Until tomorrow...! Ciao!
After a year of applications, paperwork and planning, I am finally here - in Florence, Italy. Marielle, Patee and I left Charlotte at night on Jan. 14 and, with all of our travels fortunately going smoothly, we finally made it here on the 15th. I (and I'm sure Mom and Dad) am still in shock that I was able to pack two suitcases that didn't exceed the weight limit of 50 pounds. Once I had stepped off of the plane in Florence, I was in awe at how beautiful the scenery was just from the airport. The mountains in the background were just gorgeous, and I fell in love instantly. We had to get our suitcases and find a taxi, which was very chaotic because we had so much luggage! We had to take two taxis between the three of us and our 12 bags to Lorenzo de' Medici, the school we are enrolled in and checked in there. Patee and I, after much debate, tipped the cab driver five euro, and later asked Marielle if we were supposed to, and she said no. Oh well, I guess he's five euro richer now, and I'm five euro poorer. After checking in at the school which we are enrolled in, Lorenzo de' Medici, we got our keys, called yet another two taxis, and rode about three minutes to our street - Via di Mezzo 12.
During this ride, I saw some of the most beautiful sightings ever - especially the Duomo (we also saw a McDonald's... what?!). I asked the cab driver if it was a Catholic church, but he didn't speak English and just responded with "Duomo" (to the right). I later found out that, yes, it is a Catholic cathedral. Patee and I kept saying that this city is exactly how we imagined it - very European and quaint. It's just beautiful. We arrived to our apartment, and, with much hesitation, carried every single piece of luggage up the narrow and steep stairs, one by one (I got out of it though because of my boot). We were in shock at how nice our apartment is because we were told to not expect much out of them, and Jill told me that Teresa's apartment, from her recollection, was "shitty." Hahah, well I guess we are lucky because all of the girls' apartments in our group are extremely spacious and nice. When you walk into the apartment (it has lion door handles!), you walk into the common area that has a couch, TV, big kitchen table, and a very nice kitchen with a laundry room to the side. To the left of the door is Fran and Monique's room, and past the common area are Marielle's "singola" and my and Patee's double room. Our room is very cozy (below, Patee in our room)! 
After unpacking and organizing everything, we went to find a "ristorante" with our roommates so we could eat dinner together. We found out, after walking door to door, that nothing opens for dinner until 7:30, which is what Mom and Grandma warned me about! Finally we found a restaurant that served pizza, pasta and wine -- exactly what we wanted! We had several glasses of red and white wine (below - Patee, Marielle and me with our first glasses of wine in Italy!), while I ordered a pepperoni pizza, which came out to be a pizza with jalapenos on it - ha! I was very confused, but I guess we found out the hard way that a pepperoni pizza is not what we Americans think it'll be. Our waiter felt terrible, but I told him it was still delicious. He told us that the pepperoni I had in mind is "salamino picante," which translates to spicy salami and makes very much sense! Patee ordered a calzone, which was bigger than her head. We had a very good time together and loved our first night in Florence. When we left the restaurant at 10 p.m., there was a huge line of people waiting to go in and eat dinner. I guess we've learned that you don't eat dinner until late here -- which is pretty ordinary for Patee anyways (ha). And since that night, we haven't eaten sooner than 9 p.m.!The next day, on Jan. 16, all of the students on our program were required to attend the LdM orientation, which was from 9:30 to 2. Patee and I accidentally set our digital travel clocks one hour ahead of what the time really was, so we got up way earlier than we thought it was. We didn't realize this until we tried to rush Marielle along when we thought it was 9:25 and she said "but it's only 8:25." Hahah... We would do that. We stopped along the way in two little tiny, quaint cafes that served pastries for breakfast. I got a very yummy plain croissant and Marielle got one with chocolate in it, which seems to be everywhere. While we were at orientation, we received very useful information from counselors at LdM, a police officer about safety, and the field trip coordinators. It was a long couple of hours especially after traveling for two days, but we made it. After the orientation, Patee, Marielle and I went to the Pixell store, which had our cell phones ready for us. The cell phones are very useful for us so we can get in touch with our other friends on the program, and with each other if we need to do so. After a long day, we were very hungry and stumbled upon a panini shop, which was SO GOOD! I got a spinach artichoke chicken and cheese panini, and I can't wait to go back there. It reminded me of the kind of place Mark would love, so I can't wait to bring him there either. We figured out, after eating breakfast and lunch out that day, that customers aren't supposed to pay for their meals until after the meal (even if it's a cafe where you get your meal at the counter and then sit down). It's strange. After lunch, we found a grocery store near our apartment and did our grocery shopping, where we just got lunch and breakfast foods, and some pasta to make at night if we don't want to go out. Later, we figured out how to retrieve our Internet, which is absolutely amazing to have in our apartments - apparently this is the very first year they are doing it for the students. It makes it so much easier to find things out about the city on the Internet, and keep in contact with friends, family and Mark (not to mention and writing this Blog!). Patee and I took a power nap afterwards because we were sooo exhausted and jetlagged. Somehow, Marielle always has the energy we need! Haha. After our naps and showers, we met about 15 other program participants at our friends' apartment, which we figured out was on a very busy street that had a lot of bars and nightlife going out. Marielle, Patee and I stopped in a little pizza and pasta restaurant, which was very delicious. The owner was very nice to us, and we have seen him everyday since then! I have a feeling he will know us by names by the end of this semester - he loves us and we love him! We all went to a bar called Red Carter, which had karaoke. Yes, Patee and I actually sang karaoke after a few glasses of wine - to Bon Jovi's Living on a Prayer. We even had the Italians dancing and singing with us - we were a hit! Anyways, after a long day and night of partying, we walked home (which apparently was very fun and humorous) at 4 a.m. (everything stays open forever here) and had lots of trouble getting the door unlocked - the keys are so different and hard to use here! I also tried Nutella, the native chocolate spread they use here to put on EVERYTHING. It is SOOOO good. Mom would love it and I can't wait for her to have some. I bought a jar of it at the store and eat it on my bread, yummy :).
The next morning, Saturday, Jan. 16, was our first day to sleep! We were supposed to stay in our apartments between the hours of 11:30 and 4:30 and wait for our landlord, Vincent, to come by and inform us on how to use everything in the apartment. Well, Patee woke up to his voice at 12:30 p.m. and woke me up and we went in the common area and all of our roommates had apparently been passed out too! Vincent is a very nice man and very accommodating and wanting to make our stay as accomodating as possible. We were still very sleepy so we went back to bed until 2:30 p.m.! I guess you could say we are still not used to the time, haha. We got up, made some lunch and got ready for Church, which was at 5 p.m. in English at the Duomo - Catedrale di Santa Maria - Fiore, Firenze. Well, we thought the architecture of the Duomo was amazing, but we had no idea it was going to be even more amazing inside.
When we walked in, I seriously almost had tears in my eyes just seeing how beautiful the sight was. The dome (to the left) in the ceiling is a huge mural that is so unbelieveable. The Mass was also beautiful, without any music. Patee, Marielle and I sat in the front row, which I wanted to do so that we could get maybe a little more out of the experience. For some reason, this Mass meant a lot to me, much more than the ones do at home. The priest had an excellent homily and made it very easy to listen to, and since there was no music, it was a lot less distracting. I feel like I can really focus, concentrate and meditate on my thoughts and prayers in there, and I really am excited to be able to go to that Mass every weekend. This week we are going to do a tour of the Duomo, which I am also excited. After the Mass, Marielle, Patee and I decided to walk in the direction we hadn't been down yet so we could see the river that everyone had been talking about. We were shocked at how busy the plaza was. It seems to be the place to be for everyone on the weekends - it has lots of shopping and restaurants (we even ran into a Disney store!). We actually kind of just stood in the middle of the plaza, just watching everything and amazed at it all. This place is just amazing. We also had our first cup of authentic gelato! I got tiramisu, Patee got chocolate and Marielle got mint. It was SOOO delicious. It is so cool how they store the gelato because they decorate soooo pretty. I took lots of pictures of them and can't wait to have more! Anyways, we kept walking and pretty much stumbled upon another Plaza that had a TON of beautiful statues and a big museum and other historic buildings. We stood in that Plaza for another long time and just took a million pictures, amazed at how beautiful it was. 
We continued to walk through it and then we finally came across the river, which is possibly one of the most beautiful sites I have seen here. It was also Ponte Vecchio (to the left), which is the bridge above the river, that has shops and restaurants there. The apartments and buildings lining against the river just made it even more beautiful. All I can think about while I'm looking at this stuff is how I can't wait to bring Mom and Dad and Mark to these sights since they've never been to them. They are going to be blown away, and I know Dad will really enjoy running through this beautiful city. After we enjoyed another dinner (I had pesto pasta, yum!) on the other side of the bridge, we walked back to our apartments and took showers and got ready to go out again with our friends. We have had a lot of fun hanging out with the other students on the program and I am excited to be able to get to know them all better through classes and field trips and stuff.Today, Patee and I accidentally slept until 3 p.m.! We woke up and the three of us went to the grocery store to get a few little things, and then to the "Nine-t-Nine cent" store (which is the dollar stores) to get another few things. It has been raining all day here and been very cloudy, but somehow it is still beautiful and makes me never want to leave this city. Since the three of us have been craving hamburgers and french fries, we tried to go back to Red Garter, but turns out all the other Americans here wanted hamburgers and french fries - we couldn't even move in the bar because it was too crowded. So, the three of us left and went to a pub down the street, which had amazing cheeseburgers. However, instead of serving french fries as a side item, they served hot nachos with cheese and salsa! Strange combination, huh? Oh well, it was still delicious and hit the spot! We passed by our friend again in the pizza shop we went to two nights ago and stopped to say hello to him. He asked us if we wanted to have some wine, but we were too tired and wanted to come home, so we told him we would see him tomorrow. Since we got home, we have just been lounging around and talking to people on the Internet and I've been writing in here. Tomorrow we start our Italian crash course, which is a four-hour daily class for the next two weeks. I am really very excited to start this class because it has been exhausting trying to talk to the Italians, especially those who don't know English. I feel kind of ignorant and rude coming here without knowing any of their language, but I am definitely going to learn, and I have definitely already learned a lot. I am SO excited to learn it... it's hard being in a country where you don't know the native language.
Well, it is 1 a.m. and even though I have only been awake for a total of ten hours today, I am still very exhausted and need to get some sleep for my Italian class and another full day of touring tomorrow.
This place is so amazing - I could live here forever and tour it every day and still be amazed at the beauty of it. I feel very fortunate to be able to have this opportunity, thanks to Mom and Dad. It is even more rewarding to have this opportunity of a lifetime and get to know my cultural background. Grandma and Grandpa, I know, are ecstatic that I am here. I even saw an elderly woman today outside of the grocery store, and Patee and I looked at each other and were both thinking the same exact thing - she looked EXACTLY like Grandma, it was crazy. I think of Grandma and Grandpa everywhere I go and wonder if they were there. I love being able to see how they lived and how all of my ancestors lived. I feel so at home ... it sounds crazy, I know, but I really do just feel so comfortable and like I fit in so easily. I feel closer to Grandpa than I EVER have before and I can't stop thinking about him. This all just makes me so proud of my entire family and it makes me feel so in touch with my cultural background, and it just makes me so proud in general.
Until tomorrow...! Ciao!
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