Ciao Bella!
3 hours in the Atlanta airport + 8 hours flying over the Atlantic to Frankfurt, Germany + 9 hours in the Frankfurt airport + 2 hours flying down to Florence + 20 minutes in a Florentine taxi + 10 minutes trying to get a hold of our landlord outside our apartment + 5 minutes to lug all our baggage up the stairs
The trip went more smoothly than I could have hoped for. We completely lucked out with 3 seats in the middle of the plane to ourselves, so Mary and I took turns sleeping. It was amazing. The layover in Frankfurt went by really fast—then again, I slept through a bunch of it. I honestly have no clue what I ate for lunch—some kind of meat that was almost like really wide bacon, yet not. The cashier only spoke German so there was no real communication going on.
20 hours after leaving the States, we finally got into our apartment, dropped our stuff off, and set out for an internet café and a grocery store. We were both exhausted though, so we came back soon to shower and sleep in a real bed for a change.
We slept in late today and then went out exploring. We wanted to find the San Lorenzo market, but definitely took wrong turns. About an hour after leaving our apartment, we decided to just do away with maps for a bit and see what we could figure out on our own. And then we stumbled right onto the piazza. We were going to go to a pizzeria our guidebook mentioned, until we saw a couple locals coming out of a tiny shop with really good looking bread in their hands. The shop was run by a very sweet older woman who taught us some Italian (we taught her some English). So, for our first real meal in Florence, we both had a huge slice of pizza. It was very good and I can guarantee we’ll be going back.
We then found the market—which would have been easier if we’d realized it was inside. We wandered around a bit, but we’d gotten there right at closing time, so we didn’t do any shopping. Heading back to our apartment, we realized that we’d passed the market—several times—and just hadn’t realized it. It’s about 2 blocks from our apartment, so that’s probably where we’ll do most of our grocery shopping.
Right across the street from our apartment is the Medici-Riccardi Palace—where the Medicis lived in 1444. Just down the street is the Church of San Lorenzo, the Duomo’s “little sister.” A long block and half away is the Duomo—Florence’s Gothic cathedral built in 1300-1435, more or less the heart of the city.
Today, we pretty much just explored. There are so many shops and stands—and tons of leather goods (which is one thing Florence is known for). Already, we’ve had many little adventures—like getting locked out of our building because for some reason my outdoor key doesn’t work. A couple of very nice policepeople helped us out, though. I had my very first gelato—mint chocolate chip—and it was pretty amazing. The city is beautiful—so many old stone buildings and so much art. We found a park today, so I’ll be able to get my tree fix. I think it’s finally beginning to sink in that I’m actually here. We’re already starting to get a basic understanding of the city around our apartment. It helps that we have 2 very large and visible landmarks (San Lorenzo and the Duomo) so close.
Right now, I am sitting in my apartment listening to someone (probably gypsies) playing music down the street. We have 2 weeks before classes start, so we’re planning on exploring the city for the next week, and then maybe getting out and seeing more of Tuscany. I’m really excited about that, but I’m also looking forward to my classes. Granted, that’s probably because only one of them is really “academic” (Beginning Italian Language, Art History, Basic Sewing Techniques, Video Production and Intro to Italian Philosophy).
