I’ve successfully been in Florence for 2 weeks and although there’s been a few bumps in the road overall it’s been a fantastic time. I’ve already learned some tricks to the city and I’ve been forced to learn some things as well.
- I am so thankful to have picked Florence as my city to live in while abroad. It’s the perfect size; you can walk anywhere within about 30 minutes. And, everywhere you turn is beautiful.
The Ponte Vecchio – I get to see this beauty every single day. My apartment is right on the river, one bridge down.
- I’m thankful for the Duomo. There are no words to describe its beauty; it’s so detailed. Along with this, if I ever am lost or am trying to figure out how to get home, I look up to the sky, find the Duomo and go from there.
The Duomo
- Three words: Florence is cold.
(I had to buy a coat because I did not expect it to be this frigid.)
- I will never take free water at restaurants for granted anymore. Having to pay 3 euro for a small glass of water is the worst.
- I never knew there were so many ways to sort through garbage. In America, there is garbage and recyclables. In Italy, there is organic (waste), clean paper, plastic and all the other recycled items. And on top of this, you can get fined if you accidentally put a plastic container in the organic garbage, for example.
These are the typical garbage bins on the side of the road where you take your garbage to.
- I never thought I would ever get sick of Italian food but here I am saying where is the Mexican food? As much as I love pizza and pasta and caprese salad, I already miss some quality Mexican or Asian food.
My first cooked meal in my apartment (note: it’s not Italian.)
- I have learned to dress a lot nicer. Italians always (and I mean 100% of the time) look nice and put together. You will never see them in leggings and a sweatshirt walking down the street.
- I stick out like a sore thumb here. Why? My blonde hair.
- I have an obsession: Italian oranges. I have never had such good oranges in my entire life. There are incredible here; perfectly sour and sweet at the same time. They look weird too; I think they may be hybrid between a normal orange and a blood orange (my favorite!).
my new obsession
- Vespa drivers have absolutely no patience. They don’t care about pedestrians; they will drive in the middle of the road if they have to and they go about twice as fast as cars.
Vespas, vespas and more vespas.
- I’m not sure if I’ll ever be able to order a $5 coffee from Starbucks ever again. I can order a coffee or cappuccino for about 1,30 and its twice as good as Starbucks.
What a beautiful cappuccino!
- And on that note, never order a cappuccino after 11am here. As my professor said, “it screams tourist!”