My second day in Italy is coming to a close and I am actually awake enough today to write a blog post. I'm hoping to blog enough that I'll have every memory locked in this page.
I got to the STL airport at 8:30 AM yesterday morning after Frances drove me there in the rain. It was hard to say bye to my little Carbonator and Bacon Bit! We took a 45 minute flight to Chicago in which a creepy man sat next to me and informed me that if the engine blew up, I'd be the first to die due to the blades being right next to my seat. Thank sir, FML.
Next, a 2 hour layover and then 9 1/2 hours to rome! I thought it would be horrible and take forever, but I had hardly slept the night before so I fell asleep off and on throughout the flight. When I was awake, I played video games like a 4 year old boy or I read "My Horizontal Life" by Chelsea Handler. It made me literally LOL way too many times.
We got a meal on the plane which was scary and bland.We got to Rome and I was just SO excited that the biggest leg of the trip was over and we didnt crash and burn (blades in my face.) The Rome airport felt like a crazy train station and was FULL of high brand stores. It was SO packed and exciting. We went through customs to enter the country and all they did was glance at our passport and move on. I was like... seriously? I could easily terrorize you right now. The flight from Rome to Florence was only 30 minutes long. The flight there was beautiful. We saw islands and Florence from above. So green and gorgeous!
We all were freaking out about how terrible it'd be if our luggage got lost, but my roommate and I got our bags within the first 10 suitcases out. What a relief. 2-3 girls didn't find theirs though, I feel bad for them. We took a line of taxis that the school had set up for us to our apartment. It was absolutely crazy. The city was beautiful speeding by us as the driver went 60 mph down roads that felt 5 ft wide. Taxis here will stop for NOTHING to get to the point that they want.
We got to the apartment and it is so great! Apartments and schools here are just hid in like a huge building with a door on the front. The only way we know its our door is the number next to it. The apartment is 4 stories tall with apartments on the 2,3 and 4th. Originally, we had an apartment on the 4th floor. It was hell getting our suitcases up there. We had 2 bedrooms for 4 people and it was amazing. Out of nowhere the old ladies from downstairs who are chaperoning come up and say "we dont want to be in a room all together so we're switching with you" we had no choice. So we repacked everything, dragged the bags downstairs to our new room and all 4 of us are in one room! We were soo pissed! But then we found out we have internet and the old one didnt. So we decided it was definitely worth it.
After unpacking, we went to our first lunch. It was so delicious and cheap! Next, Carmen and I roamed around downtown Florence and then we got ready for our special welcome dinner. The welcome dinner was held at a restaurant owned by the school and ran by students. All the courses were so amazing and we all got as much wine as we wanted. The wine was super dry and I had a hard time swallowing it. Even the girls who liked wine said it was super dry. All of us had to get really dressed up because the restaurant was really fancy. Lots of us (including me) made the horrible mistake of wearing heels there. It was like a 20-30 minute walk and the streets here are COBBLE STONE. I literally looked at the ground the WHOLE TIME. No more heels for me ever. We finally went to bed after about 32 hours of not sleeping. I fell asleep the moment I hit the pillow.
Today, we woke up and Carmen and I walked around the corner to a tiny little coffee shopped owned by a very old Italian man. We went when school was getting started so we got to see tons of little kids and moms stopping for croissants on the way. We ordered lattes and chocolate croissants in Italian and stood at the bar area to eat/drink it. No tables at coffee shops in Italy! It was SO DELICIOUS.
We went to the school where we will be taking courses and had orientation. They walked us around all the buildings we would be in. It started raining, which a lot of people were upset about, but it was OK. We had a 2 hour break where we went to a underground restaurant and I got really delicious pasta. It had prosciutto mixed in! Delicious. We got gelato for dessert. I got coffee flavor and it was amazing. Then we went on a walking tour of Florence. We got to see all the historical buildings, it was really cool.
When we were done, we got more gelato! I couldnt pass it up so I got some strawberry kind. It was AMAZING. We were done with school led stuff for the day, so we sat around awhile, then went out to walk around Florence and had dinner in a huge beautiful square. We all tried some amazing pizza. Mine had basil, tomatoes and lots of cheese. Ill upload pictures tomorrow, but it was fantastic. Carmen and I shared a bottle of white wine. It was SO much better than the one we had last night. I loved it.And now I'm FINALLY caught up on my two days.
Other than that, there are lots of dogs here. Most of them look pretty rough. Some seem well taken care of, but I've seen A LOT with homeless guys. Its really sad. There is also absolutely no grass in this part of florence, so I wonder where they poop. I see a lot peeing everywhere.
Euros are starting to get really easy to use. Its the talking part that we're trying to catch on to. Luckily Carmen has a phrase book and I have a dictionary from Tara, so we've been doing OK.
"Dont married people know that the last thing a single person wants to do on a Friday night is play a nutty game of Yahtzee? I'd rather take a bubble bath with my father."
Good night friends,
Bridget
i could so easily terrorize.
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