Getting Comfortable

La dolce vita! 

Buongiorno from beautiful Florence! I've finally settled in and I'm beginning to feel as though I'm part of this incredible place. I'm also getting harassed less at the leather market so I must be looking more like an Italian each day! I didn't think that I could love a city as much as I loved New York but I have to say that Firenze is a very close second. After walking along the Arno River with the sun shining this weekend I truly began to appreciate what will be my home for the next three months.

My roommates and I are beginning to discover all of our favorite restaurants and coffee shops. We're becoming regulars at last, which is a great feeling. Mia (my roommate) and I don't even have to say our order anymore. The barista knows that it's "Due cappuccini" for us, something that we look forward to every morning.

Chocolate disks filled with nuts

Chocolate "tools", so cool!

We spent this weekend walking around Florence, visiting the local markets and shopping at some fabulous vintage stores that were recommended to me by my good friends. I made one of my final (hopefully!) purchases of the trip, a vintage Chanel tote bag, which I absolutely adore. To make the day even better, following my purchase we stumbled upon a chocolate festival that's taking place in one of the Piazzas not far from our apartment. We ate and photographed our way through the event, it was my idea of the perfect day!

Sunset at the NYU campus

The view from one of my classroom windows

I guess I should put in at least one paragraph about school since that's what I'm here for after all! I still can not get over my amazing campus, I have to pinch myself every time that I walk to class. We've finally figured out the bus system here and have found it to be pretty reliable, despite what other students have told us. Our apartment is only two blocks from the bus stop and it's about a 20 minute ride to our campus, which is right outside of the city. This week for my Italian class we went on a field trip to see an exhibition of a local artist who specializes in scagliola. Scagliola is a technique that's used to make art that resembles marble. The artist's name was Bianco Bianchi and his work was beautiful, you can visit his website here. There was one piece at the exhibition that had seashells and sea creatures that I wanted to buy for the shore house but I think it was a little bit out of my price range. Alessandro, Bianco's son, told us that their family's artwork was used as inspiration for some of Gianni Versaci's menswear ties.  

One of the best views of The Duomo

After the field trip we stopped by a local public library that used to be an old cloister. This is the view of The Duomo from the top floor of the building, one of the prettiest views that I have seen thus far.

Dried fruit at the Mercato Centrale 

Dried raspberries, blackberries and blueberries at the Mercato Centrale

One of my favorite discoveries thus far has been the Mercato Centrale, which is a big farmer's market that's held in a warehouse in Florence. The market is open every day of the week except Sunday and it closes at 2:00PM so you have to be sure to go early! It's absolute heaven. Imagine any kind of meat, homemade pasta or vegetable you could imagine, all in one place. My favorite vendor is the guy in the back who sells dried fruit. He has everything from dried mangoes to dried dates and bananas. I'm slowly becoming a regular here as well. 

Piazza San Marco lit up for Venice Carnevale

My roommates and I spent last weekend in Venice for Carnevale. We took a bus to the city, which was about a 3 hour drive, and arrived from Florence at 1:00PM. We then took a water taxi to the islands of Murano and Burano (Burano is one of my favorites! The island is famous for its colorful and picturesque houses). Finally, we headed back to the main part of Venice to experience Carnevale, which I must say is not all that it's cracked up to be. Venice was, as expected, insanely crowded and touristy. It was difficult to walk anywhere and to make matters worse it was snowing. We made a quick stop at Piazza San Marco where the main celebrations are held and then made our way to a restaurant to get warm. I was so glad to have visited Venice before because this trip would have tainted the city otherwise. It was a great experience to see Carnevale but next time I go back to Venice it will be in May when the weather is warm and the streets are less crowded! To learn more about this beautiful city visit my previous blog post, A Customized Italy. 

On another note, my roommates and I have planned all of our weekend trips and once the weather gets warm we're off to the French Riviera, Croatia and the Almafi Coast! We're also going to visit Cinque Terre in April to go hiking for the day. In March I'll be visiting London for the first time to stay with my best friend, Ryan. I can't wait! And this weekend my parents will be visiting me in Italy. We're going to spend three days in Tuscany seeing the countryside, eating and drinking wine! My roommates will be coming along as well. We're then going to head back to Florence for two days so that I can show my Mom and Dad all that I've discovered since living in the city! 

Stay tuned for updates from my time spent in Tuscany! I'll also be posting soon about today's trip to Pisa (it was great!).

Thank you all for following. Ciao for now!

Firenze, Italia!

The Duomo 

Ciao a tutti! I've arrived in Florence, Italy where I'll be spending the next three months. Last summer was my first time in the country and I quickly fell in love with it, although this trip marks my first time in the city of Florence. My New York University dorm is incredible. It's located two blocks from The Duomo in one direction and two blocks from The David in the other direction. The room is spacious and we have three beautiful windows with old shutters against one wall where we overlook a quiet street and beautiful Florentine apartment buildings. I'm living with three of my friends and we're all very happy with how our situation turned out! It's great to be so centrally located.

The NYU campus is stunning as well. It's hard to believe that NYU has all of these resources, and I'm definitely very lucky to be able to experience this place. Our campus is about a 15 minute bus ride outside of the city. It's complete with olive groves and old Italian villas where we have our classes. It's straight out of a dream, I swear. It's definitely going to be hard to return to Washington Square in September!

The New York University campus

One of the villas where my classes are held

I have to say that Florence is much bigger than I had expected. Then again, that could be because I have no idea where I'm going half the time. All of the streets look exactly the same, and the names of the streets change so rapidly. I have a feeling that I'm going to appreciate New York City and its grid system much more when I get home.

It feels as though time has stopped here. It's very dreamlike, there are tiny alleys everywhere that lead you to stores and restaurants that you never would have known existed. I love that there is so much to explore.

Chitarra pasta with tomatoes, basil and garlic... Amazing!

Carb heaven

I spent my first week settling in, trying to learn my way around the city. I still have a long way to go, but I am finally beginning to feel more comfortable here. Today we shopped around the San Lorenzo Leather Market and I bought a leather jacket and a fur and leather vest, both of which I absolutely love! I have a feeling I'm going to come home with a lot of (expensive) souvenirs, good thing I have an extra duffle bag with me!

I have five long city guides that were given to me by good friends, and I'm doing my best to cross things off. There are so many amazing restaurants to try and vintage stores to visit, I hope that I'm able to fit it all in. The semester already seems to be going by so quickly. When you factor in weekend traveling four months doesn't seem like such a long time.

I have only had two of my classes so far, but both of them seem great. I'm a little bit intimidated by my Italian class. There are only four of us in it, and our teacher does not speak any English. One thing that I love is that we have a lot of site visits. This means that instead of sitting in a classroom during the day we are out experiencing life in the city and seeing all that Florence has to offer. That's something that I've always loved about NYU, they truly make the entire city feel like your classroom.

After living in Florence for less than a week, here's what I've learned so far:

1. The Ribollita, or Tuscan Bread Soup, is phenomenal. It's a mixture of vegetables, potatoes and bread and is more of a stew than a soup. It's the ultimate comfort food and is in season at the moment so I've been taking advantage of it as much as possible.

Ribollita

2. Florence is very humid and we have not yet bought a blowdryer, so I've been wearing my hair in a bun everyday. Be sure to bring your Moroccan Oil when you come to visit... Sorry Mom!

3. There are a lot of pick pockets here and they're especially present in the small convenient stores. One guy will come up and act stupidly in an effort to distract you. Meanwhile, his partner is behind you hoping that he'll have the opportunity to reach into your bag. I've been very careful so far and am lucky enough to have noticed this early on but I still find myself walking around clutching my bag to my chest like a true American.

4. There are a lot of mosquitoes here, which I assume is because of the river. We haven't noticed them too much but our friends have told us that they're around, unfortunately. Hopefully they stay away from our room!

5. Anyone who visits Florence, or Italy for that matter, has to become accustomed to having garlic breath. Luckily my roommates and I all go out to dinner together, so we never notice it on each other. I don't mind so much it as long as it helps to keep the pick pockets and the gypsies away!

Hope all is well in the United States! This week will be my first full week of class and my roommates and I are hoping to finally have our schedules so that we can get some weekend trips planned. It looks like we're heading to Venice for Carnevale next weekend, so stay tuned for updates and photos from that trip! Ciao and thanks for reading! Goodnight from Firenze.

The Arno River by night