Ciao ciao! This is the first blog I’m writing from Florence, or as the natives call it, Firenze.
Living with four of my friends in a beautiful apartment in Italy still feels completely surreal. Not to mention, my “classes” are elementary Italian, wine tasting, cooking Italian cuisine and a communications internship, so with the exception of writing weekly articles (which I enjoy) my classes are just a fun way to further immerse myself in the culture.
Thus far, the most stressful part about studying abroad is planning weekend trips – should we book a day trip to Venice Saturday or spend the weekend in Amalfi Coast or Barcelona – ahhhh! So as you can tell, this semester is a vacation full of other mini vacations.
In Florence, everything is so beautiful that it seems like every building is a mini museum. Since it’s a small city, you walk everywhere, and all distances are gauged by how far it is from the Duomo, the huge, gorgeous cathedral smack in the middle of the city. It seems as though I have confused my ability to read a GPS with actual directional proficiency because despite Florence’s miniature size and obvious landmarks, I had a lot of trouble finding my way around.
After three weeks, I’m finally getting the hang of things, but I still feel a sense of relief whenever I see the ornate green and white monstrosity standing before my eyes.
Despite my usual loathing for being lost, there is something amazing about walking aimlessly through the streets of Florence and just soaking in the beauty. Without a British voice instructing me t
Even with my drenched ballet flats, long skirt , and the crappy umbrella I got for 3 euros turning inside out, I smiled as I strolled down the street. Picture beautiful shops lit up along the Ponte Vecchio, couples huddled under awnings, daughters kissing their fathers after buying expensive purses, and the happywet dog (aka me) wandering aimlessly through the streets.
Don’t get me wrong, I do miss the hustle and bustle of Manhattan – people speed walking down the streets, headphones in ear, exchanging dirty looks with passerbys; but in Florence it’s like people are in slow motion because they just want to soak up all the beauty – almost as if they have no where to go because no where in the world could be better than this place.