Benvenuti a Firenze!

Disclaimer: This post is kind of all over the place, as I started in Monday afternoon once we finally got internet, then held off until Monday night, then still didn't finish, then lost internet Tuesday, and now have it back today, Wednesday. And of course, as I'm writing this, it appears to be freaking out again, so maybe you won't see this post for a while. Bear with me.

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Wow. Where to begin? I arrived safely in Florence obviously, even though we lost our professor and one of the 8 students in Chicago (they got here the next day, no worries) and had to navigate the airport on our own in Switzerland.  We took taxis to our apartment, and the Florentines are CRAZY drivers. They aren't the fast driving yet  structured drivers I saw in Germany last summer, the lanes in Florence have no meaning, nor do the speed limits (are there even Speed limits? Not sure) And the roads are packed with cars, vespas, and Italians peddling away on rusted bicycles, which are also locked onto every dumpster, road sign, jutting pipe, or to other bicycles so nobody can ride them away. Our apartment is in the heart of old Florence, right next to the Duomo/Brunelleschi's Dome  (can't quite see it from our windows, but it's our reference for everything). The first day we relaxed, unpacked and walked around a tad bit before completely crashing from the flying/jet lag. Then we met the other schools and our professors/tour guides at 9am the next morning at the Train station, to learn how to use it, then walked to other places we would need to know about, such as the open market and the studio.

The open market was quite the experience. Huge stands selling everything from pastries to peaches to pig's brains. We had learned a little basic Italian and practice ordering lunches. I bought "Un Panino" and "Due etti celiegie" (A sandwich and 200 grams of cherries). The studio is beautiful on the outside, plain on the inside. You must be buzzed in at giant automatic green wooden gates, walk through a path of flowers, and through a small hall to the studio. After we were in the studio we were given a safety lecture, which continued on to the next day. The lecture taught us to cross the street in groups, not go out at night, not to buy anything from vendors without stands or shops, keep our valuables safe, and not believe beggars.

It's hard not to believe the beggars. I see people in layers of clothes, sleeping on the sidewalk in the dead summer heat with paper cups clutched in their hands. I saw a man with his knees bent completely backwards, holding a bowl, saying "help, help, help". I saw a man bowing in the middle of the sidewalk, unmoving as people almost stepped on him and kicked him. A woman with a puppy and "4 bambini". They are one of the most interesting parts of the city to me. My first drawing in Florence was of the woman with 4 bambini.

I think I also had my first Italian cannolo that day. It was incredible. All of the food here is incredible. I had pasta with no sauce, just vegetables, and it was one of the most delicious things I've ever tasted, that wouldn't happen in the US. The old man who sells the cannoli is very nice and very close to our Florence home, so we've tried to go to him as much as possible for water/etc. You can't drink the water from the tap here, as it may have lead (hasn't stopped me from chugging a glass in desperation a few times, it's very hot here and the bottles of water don't always last). And of course, a lot of wine is consumed. Someone always brings a bottle to dinner if we make it, and it's usually the only option other than tap. We learned that wine became popular in Italy during the dark ages when they found one didn't get ill from the water if they mixed wine with it. I don't know if this works for lead poisoning too, but I have tried. 

That evening, we took a bus (Horrible, hot, packed like sardines, and standing trying not to fall, to sum it up in a few words) to the countryside, to a fair where they had vendors selling handmade goods, and livestock. I fell like it was our first real Italian experience, because other than the ones of us from the program, it was pretty much all Italians.

Monday was our first "real" day. We had Art History lecture at 8:30, then walked to the Church of Santa Maria  Novella and the Church of San Lorenzo. Both were incredibly beautiful. It's such an odd feeling being able to see pieces you've learned about years ago in person, and many memories were brought up. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take photos inside of either, but the architecture is beautiful enough on the outside that it made up for it. I saw a fresco inside Santa Maria Novella that I had to research in high school art history. In fact, a lot of things from high school art history came flooding back to me as we toured. 

Tuesday we had a free day for the first time since arriving, and we (I and the other 7 IUP students, as well as 4 New York students) decided to take the train 1 1/2 hours to the beaches at Viareggio. We arrived, walked about 1/2 of a mile to the coast, only to find out that the beached were all private there. We walked along side the coast for about a mile (all private beaches) getting not so helpful advice along the way. Finally, we found a Coast Guard station that pointed us to the small end of the beach (Literally about 15-20 feet across) reserved for people who are not staying in the hotels. It had a fair amount of people in it, especially considering we saw less than 10 people on the entire mile of private beaches.  There was a small area of water in front, right next to a wall of sharp rocks, so we stayed out for a while, laying on the beach. While sitting around, we were harassed by 3 men carrying boxes of sunglasses, bracelets, and purses, trying to tell us about their "special price, just today". Our replies started with "No, grazie" (no thank you), to "No, Basta!" (No, enough!), to "No! No! VA VIA!" (No! No! GO AWAY!). Eventually an Italian ran over when he saw 11 girls all screaming in broken Italian at three men who were yelling back "Special price!!!" and told them to leave. We eventually caved and decided to go swimming, and found out we are allowed to swim in the water in front of the private beaches (thank goodness, because the public beach water was black and murky and the private was green and clear enough to see down to our feet). We soaked up the incredibly salty water of the Mediterranean ocean, with a beautiful view of mountains and Viaraggio in the background. I grabbed my camera and told everyone that I would take pictures of them in the water. I did, when two Italian men noticed, and as I was taking a picture of one of the New York girls, came up, one asking if he could get in the picture. When the girl gave him permission, he jumped in, and hoisted her up in his arms. Four of the IUP students headed back to Florence, and I and three others stayed in the water). When back on the beach later, the two Italian men who spoke English and their friend who did not, came and talked to us and the NY girls, eventually "proposing" to two of the girls with rings made of beach trash, and then discussing Bachelor parties with the one American male student with us. Eventually, we left back for Florence, arriving at close to 8:00pm (or 20:00 as the Italians so efficiently call it).

Because we arrived back at 8, and still had to change and shower, we (the four IUP students who had decided to stay later at the beach) had our first true late Italian dinner (the Italians eat late, and so far we've eaten around 7 or so, an early dinner for them). We got lost looking for a restaurant we'd eaten at before, and by time we arrived at 10:15, they were closing up. We looked around a bit, and stumbled upon a cafe, and I'm glad we did. The waiter was super friendly, often coming out to talk with us and give us advice on the city.   We all split some Bruschetta for appetizers, then two had potatoes tortelli in meat sauce, and I and the other had Spinach and ricotta Gnudi in cream sauce. I had a glass of the delicious house wine as well. The waiter asked if we wanted Dessert, to which the three girls said yes, and the one guy said no. The waiter to him instead offered a shot of "Grappa", a liquor made with residue from making wine, to which he accepted, the waiter then told us about the best Grappa shop in town, and what other liquors he recommended, writing them all down for us, and telling us funny stories about times he and his friends had overdone the Grappa. I had the best Tiramisu I'd ever eaten, which probably wrapped up one of the best meals I'd ever eaten. We talked to the waiter some more, when at 12:15 (I've noticed it's much easier to eat slower here, as the food is so good nobody wants to scarf it) the restaurant was closing, and it was time to go.

Some pictures to sum it all up:

The Duomo, right by our flat and our landmarker for every direction

One of many people begging for money on the streets of Florence

Me at the country fair we went to

The Church of Santa Maria Novella

The beach and the Italian man

The best Italian dinner yet