Fourth day in florence; first blog post since arriving in Florence. As you can tell, I've already been super busy- even though classes
don't start until tomorrow!
I (finally) got to the Florence airport on Thursday night around
5:30 pm (11:30 am NC time). I found the huge line of taxis, put my luggage in
the first one, and told the driver my address. About 20 minutes later we
arrived at my new home for the next 3 months and I rang the bell labeled
"Ricci" in order to be let in the main door. Francesca (my host
mother) and her daughter Sofia met me basically as soon as I got inside. We
took the "lift" up to the second floor with my luggge; which is
really the 3rd floor since they start with "ground" and then 1st.
Sofia is 11, so she opted for the stairs instead of the elevator and made it
there before us. Once we went inside the Ricci's apartment, I was given the
grand tour by a very enthusiastic Sofia followed by some easier to understand
explanations by Francesca.
A little later I met my new roommate, Jackie, who is from Cedar
Rapids, Iowa and goes to Iowa State University. Then we had supper: pasta with
tuna, tomatoes, spinach, and some other unidentified vegetables and spices. I
was just thinking of possibly getting another spoonful, when the second course
was served. Oops. That included rosemary chicken and a potato dish. (Dinner is
served around 8:15-8:30 every night, which has taken some getting used to since
I usually eat much earlier.) At dinner I also met Francesca’s husband,
Giancarlo, along with her other children: Lapo (8, boy), and Yeabsira (5, boy, adopted
from Ethiopia, and full of SO much energy).
On Friday, we had breakfast at 7:30 which was struggle city
because 1) I was exhausted from flying the day before and probably jet lagged
and 2) I woke up at 3 am and couldn’t go back to sleep until 4 am. But it was
good- I had muesli with warm milk; basically oatmeal. J After
breakfast I took a 30-ish minute nap and then headed to the Uffico Postale
(Post Office) to buy an Italian SIM card.
I had orientation at 11:45, where I received a lot of papers and important
information about the school and my time here in Florence. Directly afterwards
I ran off to take my Italian language placement test and found the building on my 4th
try. I’m super happy to report that I was able to place into the class that I
was signed up for- intermediate 2!!
That night for dinner we had a traditional soup from Tuscany with
Kale and turkey. The dish is unique because bread is also added and allowed to
absorb the water and then dissolve. I wouldn't have known there was bread in
it, if Francesca hadn’t told me!
Saturday I slept in until around noon, although I woke up very briefly
at 11 to flip the switch to heat up the shower. If you don’t do that about an
hour or 2 hours before you take a shower the water will be…not warm. So then I
showered around 1, before going out to explore Florence a little with Jackie
and walk to the buildings our classes are in. Later we found lunch at an
adorable (and tiny) panini shop.
Since we don’t receive meals on the weekends, Jackie and I ate
dinner at a small restaurant near the apartment with Marina, Shelby, and Lynde.
I had gnocchi with mushrooms and prosciutto, minus the prosciutto. We split a
liter of wine between the 5 of us, basically because it’s cheaper than water
and well, when in Rome… (or Florence)
Sunday I had great plans to wake up early and get a cappuccino as
you will apparently receive odd looks or may even be refused if you order one
after 10 am. Buuuutttt, I ended up waking up around 11.
Along with Francesca and Giancarlo, Jackie and I, and the 3
children, there is also another lady staying here for a short time from France.
Her name is Nadège and she works as a flight attendant, but has also been
taking classes for the past week or so in Florence. She leaves next Friday.
Nadège wanted to show us around Florence some, so Sunday, as soon
as I woke up I got dressed quickly and we were off! On the first day of every
month in Florence, the museum fees are free! We went to Castle Vecchio and
climbed to the top of the bellower (well, not the top, but as far as the public
is allowed to go). This was an amazing view of the city of Florence. So
beautiful. Next we crossed over the Ponte Vecchio (basically the city landmark)
to the other side of the river. The Medici family used to live in Castle
Vecchio before they moved across the river to another castle, and they would
use a tunnel located above the bridge to walk across the river and see what was
going on in the town without having to be seen.
We found a pizzeria for lunch; I had Magherita, which is basically
the equivalent of American “cheese pizza.” After lunch, we had small bowls of
gelato (possibly the best part of Italy), even though I was already pretty full
from lunch! So then we walked back across the river to the Uffizi museum where
Nadège thought the David is located. Even though we found out that the
sculpture is instead at the Academia (a different museum), the Uffizi
Gallery was quite impressive. I found several pieces of art that I had
previously studied in my interior design history class.
Jackie and I decided to let lunch hold us over, instead of getting
more food for dinner. So we snacked a little before winding down for the night.
Classes start tomorrow, although my first class is not until 6 pm.
So, that’s my (very long), first post from Italia. More to come
soon! J
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