Week 1: Adapting to Florence

8/27/19 – Today I arrived in Florence, or Firenze. The last time I was here, I was about 12 years old. I was only here for about a day that trip, and it rained the entire day. All I can remember really was the incredible old structures, and the lady serving me gelato that got mad because I wanted more than one sample. It is so much more stunning than I even remember. The warm colors of the buildings make the city seem so inviting, and the cobblestone streets are like stepping into the past. In fact, the entire city is like stepping into the past. The apartments and shops are housed in small, unique buildings probably over 400 years old, easily. While my luggage didn’t arrive with me (ugh), it is supposed to arrive tomorrow. I met my roommates and we took a short walk around the city to get pasta and gelato (of course).We headed past the Duomo, across the Ponte Vecchio, and finally ate in the Palazzo Vecchio. I got the spaghetti with wild boar for lunch, and strawberry gelato for dessert. Food here is so good, I’m in heaven, but also in trouble. I can feel the weight gain already. Feeling both nervous and excited for what is to come here in Italy. I’ll keep ya posted.

8/28/19 – I got my luggage Wednesday, thank god. I slept for like 12 hours, I was so exhausted and jet-lagged. Just settling into my apartment.

8/29/19 – I stayed inside most of day on Thursday because I got sick, which was an unfortunate way to start my semester here. Luckily it cleared up in a couple of days.

8/30/19 – Nothing too exciting happened Friday. I accidentally overslept for my orientation at 9am, so I will be triple checking my alarm is set correctly from now on (lol). In the afternoon I took walk around Florence by myself to see parts I haven’t yet. I’ve said it before, but this city is so beautiful. I don’t think there’s one street that not photographable. At night my roommates and I just walked around for a bit, too. We came across a fountain of a boar that's supposed to give you luck. We didn't really know how to do it, so we watched others. I guess you are supposed to put the coin in the mouth of the pig and let it fall into the grate below? My coin didn't go in, even after trying multiple times, so I ended up picking it up and lowkey putting in the grate myself. I'll probably have like 40 years of bad luck now, oops.

8/31/19 – On Saturday, my roommates and I headed to the Il Mercato Centrale. It’s so authentic and everything looked delicious. We stopped by a stand inside to grab a plate of freshly cut salamis. It was also the first time I got a glass of wine, which is absolutely crazy, since I had been in Italy for 5 days! I will definitely be back to grab some cheese, wine, and salami for home in the future. That night when we got back, my roommate put in a load of wash. I decided to make some pasta for dinner and turned on the stove. About 5 minutes later the power went out. We went down the breaker to turn it back on, but 10 minutes after we did, it went out again. Turns out in Italy you can’t use the stove and the washer at the same time (oops). So since none of us could make dinner because the washer take foreverrrr, we decided to go out. We went to get panini’s from Il’Antico Vinaio because they are supposed to be a local favorite. When we got there, the line was stretched down the road. I got the Boss, which had prosciutto, truffle spread, and cheese. OMG it was amazing and totally worth the wait. We headed to the Piazza Delle Signoria and watched street performer. Honestly, I could have sat there all night the guitarist was so good (plus he had a great setlist).

9/1/19 – On Sunday we took a bus to Bologna, the birthplace of Bolognese (my fav). We spent a little time on a short tour of the city highlights, then headed to FICO Eataly world in the suburbs. There I got an amazing bowl of Bolognese, and even got a small jar to take home, which I am personally pumped about. I also picked up some super delicious pesto and unique pasta. It’s safe to say I’ll be looking like a literal noodle when I get back to the states. Still on the hunt for that truffle oil though, so stay tuned.