Ciao!! I am finally kick starting this blog, a little something that I can store photographs on, upload art, and generally keep a log of my travels while I'm studying in Italy! I have been here over a week so far and am loving every second of it, which is mainly the reason it's taken so long to begin a travel blog. Florence has been too incredible to sit down and talk about it--there's too much to see!
I am in my second week of Italian classes and am slowly starting to pick up a bit of Italian. At the very least I can order "un panino con pomodoro e mozzarella" in a café without having to switch to English. The classes have been good, very few college students are in the beginning class aside from my roommates and me, though that may change as the next two weeks progress. The teachers are not fluent in English and only speak to us in Italian, which, more than anything, I believe is helping us learn! I wasn't sure what to expect walking into class originally but they have been going extremely well, aside from realizing day after day just how much goes into a language.
Our apartment is just behind the Arno!!! Abitiamo a borgo San Frediano vicino molte barre piccole. (Yeah, I need to show off my Italian a little bit here! :P) The street is very cosy! There is a produce store just next door and a beautiful little bar not too far away that sells pizza and biscuits and pastries! Two blocks down we have a bridge that connects San Frediano right to the center of Florence. The architecture in Florence is stunning! It is a very condensed city and I can't get enough of it. It seems strange there are people who live here all the time, it is so so gorgeous, my roommates and I will stop every now and then and look around and say, "We actually live here." It's something out of a fairytale! As much as I love the city itself the Arno so far has won my heart. We walk the bridge every day to get to La Scoula di Leonardo de Vinci (our language classes) and I get to see the Arno in every sort of lighting you can imagine. Just beyond the Arno (no matter which way you look) you can see the mountains beyond Florence. As cheesy as it is, it really looks like a painting. Studying all of the artists from Florence for years and knowing their paintings well, it really seems like we're living on their canvases because this feels like such a dream! It's a bit mind blowing to know we're standing where these masters once stood!!
We also walk just past the Duomo each day which in itself is incredible!! I've yet to go in, but it is massive... moreso than I think I've ever believed it would be. We've found most of the museums and we are waiting for our student passes to the Accademia before we go for the free admission. I've also found the Uffizi which is huge... Even outside the museum are many, many statues... Much larger than life! I'll be blogging about that too once I finally visit these museums!!!!
I've still got loads to explore in this city (not to mention the rest of Italy!) so I'll call it quits for this entry! Arrivederci!
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