We apologize for taking so long to update our blog with our travels! After a week of harassing the internet man, we finally received internet. Now, we’re all up and running!
Here’s a play by play of our adventures in Italy thus far!
Last Tuesday, we touched down in Zurich airport. During our grueling 8 hour flight to Switzerland, I slept half of the time, while Pam closed her eyes for 45 minutes and proceeded to watch “Thelma and Louise.” After touching down, we found a café in the Zurich airport to have “Welcome to Europe” mimosas and did a much needed wardrobe change. Upon boarding our connection flight to Florence, Pam looked out the window and noticed that our bags were not being put on the plane, but were just hanging out on the tarmac. As we pulled away from the gate, we said “Arrivederci” to our luggage and couldn’t stop thinking what we were going to do without our 200 pounds of luggage. The second we touched down in Florence, we went straight to the luggage counter (thanks dads for making us smart travelers) and put in a claim for our “lost” luggage. Boy were we lost in translation. Our bags were going to be put on separate flights that evening and the next morning. All we wanted to do was take a cold shower with our own towels and shampoo. Pam wouldn’t be doing that until 2 days later. Yet, I couldn't wait until then and used my T-shirt to dry off.
We boarded a bus that took us to check in and received our welcome packets and keys. A cab then dropped us off right in the middle of the street in front of our apartment. Thank god we didn’t have our 4 huge suitcases, because not only were we not on the 2nd floor, as we were told, but we were on the 4th floor, up 11 short flights of stairs. We met our 6 other roommates, 2 of which go to Furman with Pam, and decided to grab a quick bite across the street at “The Red Garter,” an American restaurant. How ironic. We got into bed at 9pm and were awoken by “Dynamite” blasting on the streets at midnight. Apparently, we live on the party street of Florence. For those of you who know how light of a sleeper I am, this is an issue. Where was this music coming from you ask? The “House of Sizzle,” partnered with “The Red Garter” of course! We climbed out of bed and opened our window to see a huge party flooded out on the street. Knowing we had orientation the next morning, we got back into bed and put pillows over our heads, eventually falling asleep when the party died down (3am) before waking up to the street cleaners (6am).
Wednesday was our first day of orientation. It basically lasted all day- everything they said; however, was online and in our packets, so Pam and I played brickbreaker on our phones for a while (I beat my high score!!) and tried to track down our luggage via bbming and emailing our moms and calling numbers that didn’t exist. That afternoon, we heard a rumor floating around that our luggage was downstairs in a room. Pam and I ran downstairs only to see our luggage awaiting our arrival! Instead of waiting in the line for a cab (we’re so impatient), we decided to drag our luggage down the street to our apartment and unpack! That evening, we had a welcome reception with our program at The Palazzo Borghese. There were lots of Italian foods to sample in this gorgeous building!
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| Jenny, Pam, Noelle, and I at the Palazzo Borghese! |
On Thursday morning, Pam and I went to the market called “Meta.” This is no Village Market, but it will do for our months here. We walked around analyzing every item in the store, using our Google translator to help us decipher body wash from dish soap. That night we went to dinner at a local place down the road with our roommates. I got a great tomato and mozzerella salad and Pam got tuna (nom)! We told the waitress we were new on the street and she absolutely loved us (we think its also because she works with our program)!
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| Girls of Via dei Benci |
Friday was another day of orientation, including sitting in a room filling out our “Permit of Stay” forms. Talk about another language barrier. What could have been a 5 minutes process was a 2 hour long ordeal. That long day called for a night of Sushi! Pam and I went to dinner on our street at a restaurant called Kome. Sushi is really big over here (thank god). The restaurant had a revolving conveyer belt that had all different kinds of sushi going around, usually 2-3 pieces per plate! They have the system down: every plate is a different color and has a different price. While Pam and I each had 5 or 6 plates, the couple next to us had a record 22 plates stacked up. Who knew these skinny Italians could eat THAT much!
On Saturday we crossed the Arno and went to the Pitti Palace and Boboli Gardens. After asking a local woman in a linen shop for a recommendation for lunch, we grabbed a bite to eat and wandered down the street to the Gardens.
Yesterday, Pam, Jenny, and I took a day trip to the beach, Viareggio. We woke up bright and early, put on our swimsuits, and headed over to the train station. After passing several McDonalds (supposedly they’re nicer over here because of the standards for meat, but no family, I still refuse to eat there), we got to the train station. Pam and I both agreed that buying tickets here was even easier than Metro North! There was a touch screen kiosk in English that was fool proof. After validating our tickets (shout out to Chandler- thanks for telling us!), we boarded the hour and 45 minute train to paradise. Upon exiting the train, we decided just to follow a group of teenagers our age, assuming they were going to the beach. Sidenote: we were told that when Italians wear flip flops, its only when they go to the beach or shower, and therefore should not wear them to avoid looking “American.” We came across a beach club called “Balena 2000” aka an amazing beach club with 5 pools, a rooftop sunning deck, beachside service, and a restaurant (see our vacation pictures below). For 15 euros, this was quite the deal. We knew our parents would definitely approve of this place and went straight to the beach. We pulled up 3 chairs under an umbrella, put on our shades, and got our ipods out. All of the sudden, a shadow came over me and I heard someone saying “Excuse me!” Assuming it was a beach vendor trying to get me to buy a fake Gucci bag, I didn’t open my eyes until the a woman’s voice said “Where’s your ticket.” Supposedly, we were led in the wrong direction and our wristbands that we were given were only good for the pool area and didn’t include umbrellas on the beach. We didn’t want to make the Italian woman or the 2 Italian lifeguards she dragged over mad, so we got up and walked to the rooftop deck and got our tan on. Midmorning there was a water aerobics class in the pool (Mom- remember the one in the Dominican Republic? Well, this one was worse). We watched from above, deciding not to join in because of the Italian regulation that you must wear a swimcap in the water. We laid out, literally “under the Tuscan sun”, until late afternoon, before making back to our beloved Florence to get a goodnight’s sleep before the first day of class.
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| Study Abroad? |
Today was our first day of classes! We were anxious to start classes, as we both knew zero Italian before coming over here. We only knew our favorite words (Pam’s: scusi and mine: arrivederci). These two words weren’t going to get us very far! Plus, when we would try to speak in Italian, people would immediately speak back to us in English. I guess I don’t look very Italian. Pam, on the other hand, has the Euro look down. On our first day, the Italian professor taught us 14 common questions and responses, rapidly firing them at every student. Our hearts couldn’t stop beating, not knowing if he would call on us next! Our professor has an odd method of teaching (including playing music in the background, such as “Build me up Buttercup” and other American oldies), but this class was just what we needed to gain more confidence in attempting to speak the language.
We’re off to dinner! More to come on our euro adventures! Ciao!
xx Britt
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