It’s been two weeks since I arrived in Italy and without a doubt this experience has been the best two weeks of my life. I’m so genuinely happy here and already feel like a completely new person as cliché as it sounds. Currently I’m in Florence sitting in the kitchen of my apartment on Via Toscanella. I live in Oltrarno, which means south of the river and most of the city. In my opinion, it’s the most beautiful residential area of Florence because it’s on the wealthier side of the river. It’s right around the corner from the Ponte Vecchio and so many nice wine bars and shopping. I live on the top floor and climbing up the steep stone steps actually leaves me out of breath. My roommates are all great. They are five girls from the University of Alabama named Sarah, Hailey also known as Bop, Caroline, Lauren, and Brittany and I immediately fit right in with them, which I was so relieved about. Everyone I’ve met here including them is so awesome and chill and we actually act like we have known each other forever.
Roomies at San Lorenzo
So I’m going to do my best to try and recap these last two weeks for everyone at home that might be reading this. I flew into a rainy Rome on May 6th, jetlagged and exhausted from barely getting any sleep on the place. I flew out of Dulles the evening before and had an hour transfer in London Heathrow, which was the most stressful hour of my life. I nearly missed my flight because of course I got stopped by security and my carry on bag got searched and then the gate for my flight got posted ten minutes before my flight was scheduled to take off. So I was relieved when I arrived in Rome in one piece and they hadn’t lost my luggage in the transfer. My program had a cab ride to the Hotel Mayfair organized for me already so I got to see a bit of the chaos that is Rome from the car window, with Whitney Houston singing on the radio in the background. I think its hilarious that Italians listen to American music all the time, even the ones that don’t speak any English. It’s like having a slice of home with me. Once getting to the hotel, I met my roommates for the week Hannah, Caroline M, and Nicolette along with some other friends Steph, Matt Thornton, Matt Hall, and Danielle. The roomies and I bonded at dinner and then crashed hard.
The next day we had to wake up early for our walking tour of Rome. We walked the entire city multiple times and I thought my feet were going to fall off by the end of the day. We began at the Spanish steps by the church of Trinita dei Monti and then continued on to the Trevi Fountain, which is so much bigger in real life then it looks in a textbook. It’s the largest Baroque style fountain in the world and really is quite impressive. In the little piazza there Caroline, Hannah, and I got our first piece of Italian pizza, which was delicious, and then we stopped for gelato before going to the Pantheon. The Pantheon might have been my favorite thing in Rome that we saw, especially the inside of it. Built by the ancient Romans as a temple for all their pagan gods, the building is now a Catholic church and its decorated beautifully on the inside. I was in awe of how large the dome was and will never understand or be able to fathom how this was built with no modern day technology. After the Pantheon, we made our way to the ruins of the Roman forum of Trajan and the column of Trajan. It was amazing to see the ruins of the ancient city right among the fast paced nature of the modern Rome and at times it was overwhelming for me to think about how long Rome has been in existence. No wonder Romans have so much pride in their city. How could you not feel that way about a place with so much history? Finally after the Forum we went to the Coliseum, which is incredible. Its absolutely massive but the view provides a great opportunity for touristy picture taking and its definitely a must see for anyone ever in Rome. This marked the end of our walking tour and we had some free time to shop and explore the city before going to dinner and this cute restaurant called Lelulo. At some point during this day I met my closest friend here Matt Thornton. We immediately clicked because we are the same person and he's probably my soulmate.
Later that night we went out with our new friends Hannah, Caroline, Nicolette, Steph, Matt and Danielle at Piazza Campo de’ Fiori for a few drinks and to celebrate being in Roma. After this night all of us became inseparable and its crazy how I feel like I’ve known these people my whole life.
Steph, Hannah, Caroline at the Coliseum!
Celebrating in Roma!
The next day (Tuesday) we had a bus tour of Rome, which was great because we got to see everything that we missed while on the walking tour. Despite being massively sleep deprived, I had a good time sitting on the double-decker bus in the sun and enjoying the city. The highlight of the bus ride for me was seeing the façade of St. Peter’s Basilica and driving through the Vatican City. At the sight of the façade my gut reaction was to immediately burst into tears, true to form. The sight of it is absolutely breathtaking and I can’t wait to return to Rome just to spend a day at the Vatican and the Sistine Chapel. After the bus tour, we had to rush back to the hotel to check out and depart for Tuscany. We experienced out first Italian truck stop which Matt and our little group were less than thrilled about but the food was nothing like American gas station food thankfully. We spent the majority of the bus ride bitching and complaining because we were all cranky and tired but the day turned around as soon as we got to the Giardino del Tarocchi in Capalbio. Designed and constructed in the 1980s by Niki de Saint Phalle, this amazing sculpture garden overlooks the rolling green hills of Tuscany. I loved this mesmerizing place because it was unlike anything I have ever seen. The 22 huge sculptures in the garden represent characters from the tarot cards and they are made of steel and brightly colored glass. It was awesome going here because I would have never known about this place and these incredible works of art. Each sculpture was unique and so thought out by the artist, who dedicated many years of her life on this project even furnishing one of the sculptures as an apartment for herself. It was definitely interesting to see the vision and genius of Saint Phalle manifested in these sculptures. We spent a couple hours exploring the garden and the gift shop and afterwards got back on the bus to go to Poggio All’Agnello, a Tuscan resort hotel in Baratti that was beautiful. We had a fabulous dinner of bruschetta, prosciutto, pasta, and lemon cake for dessert. Exhausted from the day before we once again crashed hard, this time gaining Matt as a new roommate.
Wednesday was one of the most memorable days of the trip from this week. We went to Tenuta Di Vaira vineyard in Bolgheri for lunch and a wine tasting. We got learn about the grapes and see the fields and then see the furnaces in which they ferment the grapes to make some of the world’s best wine. Our tour guide Alessandro is hottie Italian soccer player who makes wine. Can you say my dream man? He was so nice and taught us a lot about how to taste the wine and how to identify flavors in the wine. By the end of the tour Matt and I were sharing a glass of wine with him and one of our group leaders Francesca aka Franny, who we also got close to on the trip and having a grand old time.
Wine Country!
Alessandro and Franny
After the winetasting we went to Versilia to check into the final hotel (Hotel Eden), which was in Cinquale, a cute beach resort town. We stayed here for four nights until going to Florence. This hotel was the most fun because we got to settle in and relax at night and bond with the friends we had made on the trip. The rest of the week included a visit to the marble quarries at Carrara and a trip to the town of Pietrasanta, as well as trips to Viareggio, Tonfano, and Forte dei Marmi. I adored the town of Pietrasanta and while in the town I had a revelation of how much I actually want to learn Italian and move here. I’ve never felt so at home and so at ease even though I’m so far away from home. The lifestyle here is simpler but the happiness of the people is evident in everything that they do. In America, everything is always planned, rushed, and we are constantly thinking about the future and the next step. But here people work to live instead of living to work and they take things day-by-day, savoring the moment for what it is and not worrying about a plan. There’s something refreshing in that for me and I like that it’s opened my eyes to how things could be. Here I don’t have to worry about the future for once but I can enjoy the present as silly as it sounds. Some highlights from the rest of the week included a bike ride to Tonfano and Forte dei Marmi where we saw beautiful Tuscan villas belonging to wealthy Italian families and a beach day. The beaches here are stunning because you can see the high mountains and then the water is right there also and I’d never seen anything like it. These trips were a nice way to end the week before going to Florence.
One night of that weekend a bunch of us went out in Cinquale and Matt and I ended up meeting these wonderful young Italian students who study in Pisa named Marco and Caterina. Sono belle persone! We ended up going to a club with them and getting along really well and now we talk to them all the time and they even came to visit us in Florence a few days ago. They are the most wonderful and interesting people and we are so lucky to have met them!
I know this is the longest thing ever but I just have so much to say. I guess I will talk about Florence now. We arrived on May 13
th and moved into our apartments. Mines awesome and I love my roommates, which I know I already said but I am just so lucky. Classes began on Tuesday and they are Tuesday thru Thursday for six weeks so its nice having four day weekends. I’m taking two classes here called “The Renaissance Artist’s Workshop” and “History of the Italian Renaissance.” They are both incredible because I basically go to a different historical site in Florence every class and get to see everything in the city. It’s nice being in these classes because I don’t have to worry about planning visits to any of the museums because I get in free with my museum card and can cut the line and I get to go with my class. It’s an extra stress taken off of my shoulders because I hate having to plan things. In my opinion, there are no words in the English language that can correctly sum up the beauty of Florence. This place is unreal and everywhere I go I’m constantly staring up at something and in awe. I’ve tripped over the cobblestones a few times because I honestly am never watching where I’m going because I’m distracted by the beauty that’s in front of me. I’ve only been here a week and it feels like I know my way around pretty well. It's an extremely walkable city and most people just walk in the streets until a car comes along and you have to move. I’ve seen so much already but there is still so much left to see. So far I’ve been to the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore (il Duomo), the Campanile, the Baptistery of San Giovanni, Orsanmichele, San Lorenzo, San Miniato al Monte, Santa Croce, Santa Felicita, Museo Gucci (so amazing), Michelangelo’s House, and Dante Alighieri’s house. Every church I walk into I want to cry because I’m so overwhelmed by the amazing beautiful art and architecture. It's one thing to study these things in a textbook but to see them in person is life changing. I’ve also walked the entire city multiple times and pretty much know where everything is. I think that Florence and me are meant for each other. The food is wonderful here (I’m trying everything) and I get gelato twice a day, which is a recipe for happiness. There is a place here called Vivoli’s close to the Piazzi dei Peruzzi, which is the best gelato in Florence and is very small and family owned and it's become one of my favorites. I go to class by day and then I night I usually go out to a bar or a club with my friends that I’ve made here. Florence is a fun and wild city by night and laid back by day and it’s honestly the perfect balance of everything for me. I’m so happy that I’ve gotten to experience this so far and now that I’m kind of caught up with journaling I will update things more often. I miss everyone at home so much and wish you could be here with me and I will write again soon. Love to all, ciao!
Love these kids
Cathedral Complex
