We Have Arrived

We are four days into our stay in Florence, and I am in love.

Milan was a good intro to Italy, but Florence represents what we're really here for. It is a far less industrialized city that still has an air of Renaissance about it, as if untouched by time. Walking down the streets it sometimes feels like we're in disneyland because everything is so quaint and colorful. But the significance and sheer enormity of the historical landmarks instantly pull me back to reality. So many landmarks are within walking distance of our apartment. Each one has a story to tell, and I cannot wait to hear them all.

View of the Palazzo Vecchio from my bedroom window

Our first day in Florence we hauled ourselves (and our enormous packs) to pick up our apartment keys from our professor. He is an Italian, born and raised, who is currently a grad student at UC Davis. Our original instructor broke her ankle no more than a week before the trip, and with the insane amount of walking we are doing in this city (seriously, so much) there is no way she could have come.
Our apartment, which is conveniently located directly between a gelato shop and a pizzeria, is more modern and spacious than I expected. Our bedroom window looks out at the Uffizi gallery and the tower of the Palazza Vecchio, and is located about 300 feet from the Arno River. I could not have asked for a better place to live during this trip.
We spent the day exploring the city on foot. We were specifically searching for a place to buy inexpensive wine so we could celebrate our arrival, as well as Kelcey's (our roommate, and one of my very best friends) birthday. When she arrived close to midnight we hit the streets again, each with a glass of wine in hand. It was a really beautiful first night in Florence.

A gorgeous evening

On Friday we had our program orientation where we were able to see our classroom, meet our fellow classmates, and get to know the professor a little better. He informed us that he would be allocating some of the program funds to buy us all museum passes (!!!). After discussing the syllabus and other details he took us on a little introductory walking tour of the city. It was brief, yet informative. We ended up at the San Lorenzo market for lunch, and boy was it good! We sat next to our professor and got to pick his brain about Italian culture over delicious food. They brought out cedar planks piled with proscuitto and regional salami, along with bread, sun dried tomatoes, and fresh mozzarella balls. We made little mini sandwiches, and they were delicious. They also brought out two different kinds of pasta, one with a meat sauce and the other with olive oil and veggies, and I swear the veggie pasta was one of the best things ever.

We got to know some of our classmates a little better over wine and limoncello. 

We also took a day trip to Pisa!

I have yet to get a full night's sleep, but Sunday morning that actually worked to my advantage. I woke up promptly at 4:30 a.m., and thought of the advice Taylor (Luke's cousin, who also did this study abroad program last fall; aka our Florence Guru) gave me about going to see the Piazzale Michaelangelo early in the morning before the hoards of tourists arrive. Luckily, Luke woke up shortly after I did and we followed Taylor's advice. It was the absolute best time to go and such a beautiful way to see the city. 

Arno River against beautiful Tuscan hills

One of the many re-creations of Michaelangelo's David

 Breathtaking view

Just in time for sunrise

After watching the sun come up we did a little more exploring on the other side of the river.

 

Overall it was a wonderful weekend and a great introduction to Florence

And since I know that my audience mainly consists of my older relatives, here is a rather dorky photo of me striking a pose. Enjoy : )

Miss you all!

Milano, pt. 2

Let me just preface this post by saying that I am an untalented, worthless human being.

At least, that's how I felt after going to the museums inside the Castello Sforzesco.
We woke up bright and early for our second day in Milan and headed out to see the sights. Our first stop was the Castle, and it did not disappoint. We walked around in the drizzling rain for a while admiring the beautiful brick exterior of the castle and all of its little courtyards.

When it started pouring we headed inside, and waited a few minutes for the ticket office to open (like I said, we were up early). I attempted a little bit of italian- "due biglietti, per favore" and then we were free to explore the museum. I was in awe. I couldn't believe how incredibly beautiful and carefully crafted each piece of art was. I could tell you all about it, but I think I'll show you instead.

The photos really don't do them justice though. I couldn't believe how beautifully detailed every piece was. It made me feel the severity of how little I have created in life so far. We spent hours meandering through the galleries and tiny corridors of the castle and soaking up as much as we could. My feet even got a little sore from walking for so long. But the trip was well worth it because Castello Sforzesco was definitely my favorite part of our trip to Milan. It was my first European art gallery, and I am looking forward to seeing more. 

That evening we got the chance to go out for "Aperitivo" which is basically an Italian happy hour, only ten times better than we do it in the states. We went to a little restaurant with a great atmosphere and each ordered a drink (a somewhat expensive drink, mind you) and with it came a free buffet of delicious Italian food. Essentially, we spent 8 Euros each on drinks and dinner. It was marvelous. 

Milan treated us well, and we are looking forward to more fun in Florence!

Milano, pt. 1

Saying goodbye to mom at the SF Airport

After a very long day of travelling we settled into our hostel in Milan and promptly showered off the smell of airplane and took nice long naps. After the much needed rest, we decided to go walk the city. We found the Duomo (it's gorgeous) and walked around town. We got a little lost, but we didn't really care. Around the city center Milan is pretty beautiful, especially on all the little back streets. Then we found a little hole-in-the-wall gelato shop, I got coffee gelato and Luke got lemon. They were delicious.

The Duomo

Mmm, coffee gelato...

We promptly followed it up with pizza at a little nautical-themed restaurant. It was also delicious, but I was used to ordering pizza at american restaurants (aside from actual pizza places) where you order a pizza and when it comes out it's only a 4" mini personal pizza. So I ordered us each a pizza.... and they were enormous. Like, we each had an ENTIRE pizza to ourselves. We didn't finish them, which was disappointing because apparently Italians don't do take home boxes for leftovers.

First Italian Pizza!

But while we were at the restaurant it started raining outside, followed by lots of lightning. By the time we got out to walk back to our hostel it was POURING. Like, little lakes in the street, golfball-sized raindrops on your face kind of pouring. And it was warm out. So we pretended to love being soaking wet and ran through the rain screaming and laughing. Luckily, our Hostel was only a block away but by the time we got there we were positively drenched. Everyone inside the hostel was nice and dry and they all gave us funny looks when we walked in. Oh well, it was worth it.

We're going to explore the city more tomorrow, but we're both really excited to get to Florence and unpack our things in our very own apartment.

But mostly, I am excited to get a hair-dryer.

More tomorrow. Ciao!

T-Minus 9 Hours

This last week has been a blur. An insane, sometimes fun, blur filled with cleaning, packing, quality time with family, and as many snuggles with the kitties as I could possibly fit in. I have never travelled abroad so this upcoming trip will be quite an adventure. For those of you just tuning in, I will be studying abroad in Florence, Italy for four weeks, followed by four weeks of backpacking through the Czech Republic, Germany, France, England, and Ireland. I am incredibly excited, and incredibly lucky to have some wonderful travel companions (shout-out to Luke Roberts and Kelcey Joyce). Our program will focus on Renaissance Italy, and what better place could I ask to study this topic than Florence! I took a Renaissance Art History class last year and it was one of my all-time favorite classes. Many of the pieces we studied were created in Florence and I cannot wait to see them up close and personal. Our apartment is in a great location, right across the street from the Uffizi Gallery and within walking distance of many popular sights such as the Duomo, Santa Croce, the Ponte Vecchio, and the Boboli Gardens. We will attend classes Monday-Thursday, though most of our classes will involve exploring our new home. We also plan on traveling to other parts of Italy on the weekends.

As much as I am looking forward to this trip, I am also feeling incredibly homesick (already). We had to say goodbye to our kitties today and I am nervous about leaving them for eight weeks, especially since one of them seems to be sick. Not the best timing, but isn't that always the way it goes?

Our flight leaves at 7:30am tomorrow morning, and we are currently staying at a hotel near the SF airport. My lovely mother was kind enough to drive us to SF, and her company was kind enough to put us up in a hotel for the night (she's working tomorrow, I swear). We had a lovely dinner at the hotel and sat at a table overlooking the water and the lights of the SF International Airport. We got to watch planes land and take off, and I am anxious to be on one tomorrow. Hoping for safe and motion-sick free travels.

Arrivederci America!