I'm here! Finally, we've arrived in Florence after many, many hours of plane travel and waiting in terminals.
After Philly yesterday, we spent seven hours on a plane to Frankfurt. I thought this international flight would be more comfortable than the first, but it wasn't. It was cramped and I only got about an hour of sleep. And, my little TV for in-flight movies died about 45 minutes into watching "The Help."
So all in all, that was not a great flight, but the one to Florence from there was much improved (given that it was little more than an hour). I was even able to get some sleep, until the guy next to me woke me up to point out that we were flying over mountains.
At the baggage claim, I met up with my two roommates and, after receiving instructions for tomorrow and a packet containing maps, important phone numbers, four different keys to our building, and 25 Euros for the taxi and any other expenses during the day, we headed to our apartment.
That cab ride was the first big adventure of the semester. Our cabbie talked on his cell phone the whole time, using his hands more to gesture extravagantly than to hold the steering wheel. He didn't stop for pedestrians, and the three of us in the backseat feared for more than a few lives in the twenty minute trip.
When we finally arrived outside #11, the cabbie took out our bags, took our Euros, and drove off, leaving us to sort out how to get into the apartment.
We tried every key and rang for assistance, with no luck. We asked a stranger if we had the correct address and, although she assured us we did, we did not feel very assured.
Finally, we managed to wiggle the key around enough to shove open the door and head inside just as our apartment guide Claire arrived.
She showed us the rules and showed us around, then left us on our own in our cute little three bedroom apartment.
The door opens into a large living/dining room/kitchen/laundry room. There is a dishwasher under the sink (it takes between 45 minutes and three hours for one load depending on the day, according to Claire). The dinner table is between the couch and the toaster oven. The ironing board and laundry racks are under the TV mounted high up in a corner of the room.
We live on the second floor (we took an elevator that looks more like a glass phone booth to get our luggage up here) and we have a video intercom to see and talk to people on the street.
Instead of having two bedrooms, like we were told, we have three: one double and two singles. We drew papers from a colander to see which of us got the master bedroom with a private full bath.
Erika was the lucky winner, but Bethany and I will each get a turn in there later in the semester when we rotate rooms.
My room is the smallest, but it's still very cute, with a night table and lamp, desk, and large wardrobe. Also, a GORGEOUS view of Firenze.
Of coures the first thing the three of us did when we got here was update our Facebooks and Twitters, then nap until dinner at 6 p.m. We decided to walk around the neighborhood until we found somewhere that looked promising, and we ended up in a pizzeria down the street. We had margherita pizza and gorgonzola with pineapple pizza. Both were very good and hit the spot, especially after our last meal was dinner on the plane to Frankfurt.
Our waiter was
molto bello and obviously very amused by our poor attempts to order in Italian.
After dinner, the three of us went in search of Il Duomo Catedral, our rendezvous point for tomorrow's activities. Since it's only the largest and most beautiful building in the city, it wasn't hard to find.
And along the way we got to appreciate just how huge and magnificent this city is. The architecture is breathtaking, but it's mixed with graffiti and small hole-in-the-wall novelty shops. You can order
gelato in an open-air restaurant (the tables are literally out on the street at many of the fanciest cafes) across the street from McDonald's (which did, in Italy's defense, look nicer than any American Mickey D's I've ever seen).
I can see why Florence is one of the top 25 places to visit in the world this year. It's unbelievable. The mix of quaint charm, Renaissance power, and modern feel is fascinating.
On our way back to our apartment, we ran into our two guys from Kent CCI and their two roommates from other schools. Their apartment just down the street from our's almost puts ours to shame, I think. It's huge. It's like a real house with a full kitchen, dining room ("wine room"), and just a lot more space in general. It's not as cozy as our little apartment, though.
It is freaking cold though, like ours. Seriously, it's freezing in here. We've all been wearing coats, gloves, and scarves since we walked in the door, and I'm still shivering.
It's an energy saving thing in Italy, but I don't know how they do it. Even Niccolo, our neighbor across the hall (who thinks we're idiots) is bundled up, and he's the landlords son. I just hope my internal temperature adjusts soon.
Yeah, in just this one day, Niccolo has suffered through our pathetic attempts to speak Italian with him, witnessed us going to the wrong floor and wondering why our key didn't work, attempting in vain to remove our key from the front door lock where it got stuck again (he did come to our rescue after we asked nicely), and has most likely overheard our squeals and giggles over the fact that he is also
molto bello. So I feel he has plenty of reasons to judge us.
I think that's everything important for now. That and I made my first two purchases with Euros today (a bottle of water and half of the pizzas and drinks), and I still think Euros just look like Monopoly money. They're so clean and colorful. I like them.
Anyhow, I really need to go back to bed, so I will continue with the updates after our adventures tomorrow with the full group.
Buona notte!
