Waking up in....Florence!
Wait, so did I really just wake up this morning in FLORENCE? Well, it's day one, and I'm finally sitting down. Florence is beyond beautiful. The streets are rich with history and beauty and it seems at every turn that Florence only gets better. After waking up to a beautiful blue sky and my kind of temperature (oh, probably about 94 degrees), we had a delicious breakfast and our housing orientation before being bused off to our apartments. I have to admit, our apartment is pretty large, open, and so much more than I expected. Coming to Florence, I was prepared to live in a box, but this apartment is beautiful, and I love that we live among the locals of Florence. After unpacking and getting settled it was time to tackle the internet issues. Believe it or not, not every country in the world has amazing internet connections quite like we have back in the U.S.. So, everyone take a moment to appreciate your internet a little more these days. Lucky me, I seem to be the only one who's laptop doesn't feel like it wants to cooperate. Sigh. Can't I catch a break?!
After giving up on our attempts to get my laptop to connect to the internet, me and the girls in my apartment decided to take on Florence...and what an adventure that was. We wlaked around and found a local supermarket where we can get most of our groceries, and I'm pretty sure we just arrived back at our apartment much more confused about how to navigate the streets of Florence than before we left our building. First day of Florence, and it's only natural that we get lost among the streets, right? I suppose it's sort of like an initiation: in order to make it here, you first have to get utterly and completely lost...for hours. Mission accomplished.
By 8 PM we had still yet to eat dinner... welcome to Italy, right? By 9:00 it was time to head down to dinner. We went to this adorable place just outside the front door of our apartment. Talk about a three course meal! They started us off with the best plate of Bruschetta that I have ever tasted and some bread with balsamic vinegar. Then, for our main meal, they brought us out a plate with three different types of pasta on them. One was penne with a cheese sauce (my personal favorite), the second was Gnocchi in a mushroom sauce, also pretty good, and finally, tortolini with prosciutto. Needless to say, we were pretty content after that meal. (I think the Gnocchi is still settling itself).
Today has certainly been a whirlwind first day. Thankfully, tomorrow we are taking a "survival walk" around Florence, with the API company for two hours where they will show us the most important places we should know. Everyone say a prayer for me tonight that I can remember all the locations!
Ah, yes! Just got a brief window of opportunity! Our internet is working (who knows for how much longer!) so that's all I have for you...for now!
Stay tuned!!
After giving up on our attempts to get my laptop to connect to the internet, me and the girls in my apartment decided to take on Florence...and what an adventure that was. We wlaked around and found a local supermarket where we can get most of our groceries, and I'm pretty sure we just arrived back at our apartment much more confused about how to navigate the streets of Florence than before we left our building. First day of Florence, and it's only natural that we get lost among the streets, right? I suppose it's sort of like an initiation: in order to make it here, you first have to get utterly and completely lost...for hours. Mission accomplished.
By 8 PM we had still yet to eat dinner... welcome to Italy, right? By 9:00 it was time to head down to dinner. We went to this adorable place just outside the front door of our apartment. Talk about a three course meal! They started us off with the best plate of Bruschetta that I have ever tasted and some bread with balsamic vinegar. Then, for our main meal, they brought us out a plate with three different types of pasta on them. One was penne with a cheese sauce (my personal favorite), the second was Gnocchi in a mushroom sauce, also pretty good, and finally, tortolini with prosciutto. Needless to say, we were pretty content after that meal. (I think the Gnocchi is still settling itself).
Today has certainly been a whirlwind first day. Thankfully, tomorrow we are taking a "survival walk" around Florence, with the API company for two hours where they will show us the most important places we should know. Everyone say a prayer for me tonight that I can remember all the locations!
Ah, yes! Just got a brief window of opportunity! Our internet is working (who knows for how much longer!) so that's all I have for you...for now!
Stay tuned!!
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