So I have officially been in Florence for 2 and a half days and it feels like I’ve been here for week! The jet lag is wearing off (although my sleep schedule is a bit messed up), I am so excited to be here finally.

The Travels:

From Detroit to Paris (CDG) was lovely, although I did not get much sleep. The food was very good and the sun setting over the world as we ascended into the air was beautiful. CDG was very clear to navigate (follow the yellow) and the guy at customs was very kind and moved quickly! I did have a bit of a scare as I could not find my phone, but all was well as it was in my backpack. Our hour and a half layover was the perfect amount of time to get to our terminal for the next flight (we even waited by our gate for another 20 minutes!)

From Paris to Florence was a bit more rough, the plane was tiny (ran through Endeavor Air) and the turbulence was a bit much, BUT the sights were AMAZING. Those Alps (Maybe French? Swiss?) really brought perspective to how small we truly are. The landing of this flight though had NO warning, and the pilot definitely slammed on the breaks! But once we landed, all was well once age. We retrieved our luggage and the FUA staff was waiting for us to shuttle to our homes.

The First Moments (or So)

When we first arrived, all 8 of us girls claimed our beds and then wandered about to find a bite to eat! We met this really nice older Italian shop owner just around the corner. He started talking in Italian so fast and we all starred straight ahead… he then burst into a laugh and asked us what looked good to eat in English! Now we weren’t there for much time so most of us had no European change (2 euros, 1 euro, and so on), so this nice older man gave us food for free! I had a panini type sandwich and it was delicious! We then walked to see the other apartment of students from CMU- they are right on the river and near the main office building for FUA- a great location!

After bonding over the history and architecture of the city, 14 of us headed out for a sit down meal. I ordered Ravioli with Ragu and it was delicious and fresh! The waiter was super nice and helpful and even catered to our request to sit outside (it was warm for us Michiganders but apparently not for the Italians). The glass of Chianti wine to accompany was just as great. Our waiter gave us Limoncello shots at the end of the meal to “cleanse” our palettes. As students we also get 20% off every time we eat there! We finished the night with a quick stop to Conad (a grocery store around the city center) and headed home to rest after the long day of travels.

The Next Day? Thursday

Thursday we started with orientation at another FUA location which is less than 10 minutes walking from my apartment. We learned about the resources offered, class buildings, and other important info! We then took a walking tour of all of the facilities- stopping at a bistro for lunch. Our guide (an FUA staff member) recommended Pugi by the Duomo, but some of us gals went next door instead for a faster lunch! I had a roll/panini/pizza thing with eggplant and mozzarella and it was tasty! The rest of the walking tour was a blur as I had no point of reference- but we did reach 20,000 steps by the end of the day 🙂 We headed back for the adjustment to Florentine life at 4 pm and learned about what we should and should not do while we are staying here! After the meeting, we walked around the Duomo to find SIM cards and let me tell you, these American students were pouring out of Vodafone and TIM trying to get a card, and low and behold, TIM was sold out! We decided against the SIM card until the next day and explored a 99 euro store which was actually pretty awesome!

We headed back towards Borgo La Croce (our apartment street) and found nearly a hundred of young Italian adults lining the streets with a glass of wine and an appetizer. Now the ladies at FUA told us this is called aperitivo where it’s custom to gather with friends and share a glass of wine and a snack for the pre-dinner warm up around 7-8 pm. So, like any good study abroad students- we partook in the events. Directly below our apartment (and to the left) are two fabulous shops both offering wine and appetizers! I bought a glass of red house wine for 2,50 euro and 8 of us shared 2 loaves of freshly made bread for 3 euro. We chatted and got to know each other while sitting on the streets of Florence, it was a wonderful time.

Near 8:30 pm we were all ready for a real meal and headed to Gonza which is FUA’s culinary program’s restaurant. On Thursday nights they offer themed dinners for 8 meal swipes (or 28 euro). During other nights of the week, there are various events we can use our remaining swipes at as well. The theme for the night was locally sourced (how cool). Although we messed up and didn’t make a reservation, the nice (and cute) waiter took us in anyways. The five course (set) meal also included a glass of wine… with EACH course! I had no idea what I got myself into, but wow was it a blast.

We walked our friend back to her apartment and then went home to sleep! Although I slept only 4 hours that night, I woke up ready to take on the next day.

Friday has been a day of errands. We started at the Post Office at 8:15 am to complete our permit of stay, then (2 hours later) went to Wind to find out about their phone services. A few of us decided to go with Wind and received our Italian SIM cards. We then grabbed a panini and coffee to go and ate back at the apartment. We then ventured to Coop (a recommended larger market) to get some groceries! The place was huge and prices were low… but the translating was very difficult! We carried the groceries back (.4 miles) and took a nap (which is a cultural norm to do during the hours of 1-4 pm, many stores shut down!). Now I am sitting with my roommates, listening to an Italian guitarist through our shutters… bellissimo.

Ciao for now!