Ciao! Abito en Firenze!

Buona Notte gli amici! For those of you who are unaware, I've chosen to venture to the rolling hills of Tuscany this fall in order to study art history and architecture. So, as the autumn progresses, I'll be posting frequently about my Italian rondezvous and adventures!


I arrived in Florence three days ago and have been in a state of Disneyland-esque shock ever since. I find myself awestruck all too frequently and I can't help but wonder if this overwhelming feeling will ever dissipate.....I sure hope not. Walking the streets is walking through thousands of years of history, art, culture, life. Embracing the cliche, I feel truly blessed to be fortunate enough to have such an experience.


Okay, enough of the happy-go-lucky feelings. Let's talk about some of the things I've been up to! The first two days were spent completing orientation for my school, the International Studies Institute at the Palazzo Rucellai, an Alberti-designed pre-Renaissance palace. I've also completely moved into my apartment, located just two blocks from the renowned Duomo of the Florence Cathedral. It seems as though we spend most of our time walking, especially considering we live approximately 20 minutes from school and we have an all-too-frequent tendency to get lost, and eating/drinking. The food and wine is just as delicious as everyone said it would be. The wine is also blissfully inexpensive, resulting in an inevitable continuation of American-college-student drunken evenings.......of my classmates, naturally.

The beautiful terrace at the back of my apartment.

I think I'll end this blog by recapping my first encounter with the infamous gypsies of Florence. For those of you who haven't heard of these manipulating people, gypsies are bohemian-adorned travelers who are known for thievery. This morning, as my friends and I were walking to class, we noticed an elderly gypsy woman approaching us on the sidewalk. We suspiciously glared at the woman as we frantically clutched our purses and wallets, only to witness her abruptly halt next to Nate (a fellow student). She grabbed the banana he had been holding (intended to be his breakfast), began to pull it away, and in a shrill, raspy tone, screamed "BA-NA-NA!" Now, to say that I was frightened would be entirely misleading, as I found myself initially yelling at the woman, "Se ne vada!" but then stopping to laugh at this absurd situation. Eventually, the gypsy won the banana and scampered-off, but the rest of us succumbed to laughter as we walked away from the fruit-stealing gypsy of Florence.


Well, that's all for now. If you'll excuse me, dear readers, I have a bottle of Chardonnay and a discotheque calling my name. Arrivederci!