Day One...The Adventure Begins

I call today day one because yesterday was too crazy and exhausting to consider. I got into Florence yesterday at around 2:30pm and didn't get to my apartment until 7:30. Those lovely five hours were spent sitting around doing paperwork/orientation at the campus. I guess I met tons of people during those 5 hours but it was so hard to remember names because I was so tired from tavelling.

I decided to study abroad in Florence as an Art History major. Colgate University doesn't offer a program here so, determined to find something, I decided to go through NYU's program. So far, it's been great. I'm living in a cute little apartment in historic Florence, about 2 min from the Duomo. There are two bedrooms, a bathroom and a kitchen/living room. We're at the top floor of a three story apartment and our windows look onto the cobblestoned street below. The walls in one of the rooms and in the living room are exposed brick and stone with niches randomly placed. It's very rustic and seems very authentic.

This city is fabulous. Literally right out our doorstep is a cute little ristorante called Ristorante Natalia. My three roommates (Nami, Shelly and Jenny, all NYU girls) and I ate there for our first meal last night. It was great! Three of us had pear stuffed ravioli with gorgonzola sauce. And, of course we shared un bottiglia di vino rosso (bottle of red wine). We definitely have to come up with a game plan because we're not going to be able to afford eating out all the time...

Today we got up and wandered over to the bus stop at Piazza S. Marco. Bus #25 is the only bus that goes up to Villa La Pietra (NYU Campus) and unfortunately it has yet to prove it's realiability. There doesn't seem to be much consistency in its timing and figuring out the commute to class every morning is going to be an interesting feat. We spent from 10:30-3:30, with a lunch break, attending orientation sessions. Afterwards we attempted to get internet in our apartment. We stopped at several places and finally decided to just go for one. Our apartment had no internet so we had to pay quite a bit to get it! Finishing up the day, we realxed at the aparment for a bit and then grabbed a late dinner in the Piazza de la Republica down the street. I tried my first true Italian pizza and for dessert we got gelato! Yogurt nutella...which I think is sort of like frozen yogurt gelato. It was incredible. Tomorrow we have more orientation and who knows what else. I suppose we need to get our lives organized...but I'm really in no rush. Florence is here for four months and I'm already having an incredible time. Every hour I get more comfortable and excited about what's going to happen next...