*Feb. 1, 2016- Adventure time! Today’s the day. Leaving
Washington at 6:40PM and getting into Paris at 8. Connection leaves at 10 and
I’ll be in Florence around 12. My roomie, Shelby, gets in from Amsterdam at the
same time. We booked a private car from the airport because with so many
students coming in the wait for a taxi could be up to an hour.. lol no thanks.
Just taking in some comforts of home the last day- my big queen bed, own
bathroom, my cute puppy, & spending some time with my parents. Oh, and
getting a sweet tea from CFA of course. ;) insert drive to the airport
Per usual getting to DC was a total and complete disaster and aged me about 5
years. My parents both took off of work to drop me off and we said quick
goodbyes (those are the best). Thank goodness for upgrading to premium economy
because 2 checked bags for free and 3 carry ons.. plus priority line for check
in. The other line was wrapped 3 times around and down a hallway… pure
insanity. TSA went quick and I grabbed some questionable chicken tenders from a
restaurant. Air France is always nice for international flights- their food is
actually good. Probably got about 3 hours of sleep, but that’s to be expected.
*Feb. 2, 2016- After 2 uneventful flights (thank gosh), I
got to Florence!! Met with my roomie perfectly fine and our private driver was
my savings grace. 4 overstuffed suitcases, housing orientation, and a crammed
taxi later we got to our apartment. I was preparing myself for those tic tac
sized apartments I always see on international house hunters, but our apartment
turned out to be unusually huge. With 6 girls total, there are 3 bedrooms and 3
bathrooms. Almost cried when I saw 4 floor to ceiling closets in our room and a
dishwasher in the kitchen. There are huge windows in every room that boast
gorgeous views of the city when you unlock and open the shutters. The best way
I can describe it is European pretty. It’s not necessarily what I’m used to,
but it’s a lot of space and very functional and efficient. The kitchen is also
a lot wider than I expected and the washing machine isn’t in the kitchen- which
I was preparing myself for. After unpacking and instagramming the views from our
bedroom, we set out for a quick lunch. We discovered an amazing panini place
right across the street from us. Going to the grocery store was quite the
experience.. it’s kinda hard to grocery shop when everything is in another
language. It was completely packed with people too, learned my lesson about
going at night. A lot of Europeans go to the grocery store 2-3 times a week
because everything is so fresh and it’s more efficient for them then doing big
shops like we typically do. I’ve seriously been like once every other day, just
to pick up this and that. We picked up essentials, discovered vegetables are
cheap and that wine is cheaper than water. Ramen will run you about $2 for one
pack and the smallest box of cereal you’ve ever seen is $3. Shampoo and
basically any health/beauty product will cost you as much as your first born
child. Eggs aren’t refrigerated and canned soup is not a thing here. It was
definitely my first taste of culture shock, but I realized that their pricing
strategies are way smarter than ours. Instead of overpricing fresh ingredients,
they run you 50-70% less than unhealthy options with preservatives. It makes
sense in a country that is renowned for fresh food and cooking. Conad brand is
a generic brand and has become my best friend- although I can’t vouch for the
$2 box wine.. We made fresh pasta with pesto and discovered that fresh pasta
only takes 30 seconds to cook. Sleep was a joke the first night, but again,
that was to be expected.
*Feb 3, 2016 Had my first ever espresso this morning because
8:30AM orientation session.. seriously who comes up with this schedule lol.
Afterwards, I spent the day exploring the city with Shelby, my roomie. We just
aimlessly walked around, got American pizza and SIM cards for our phone plans.
Word of wisdom- Piccell sucks.. TIM is $70 for 4 months vs piccell for $160 + we
got 4gb of data vs 1gb. Let me tell you data is amazing for using google maps
to navigate the city!! For you directionally challenged people like me, this
will become your lifeline.
*Feb 4, 2016 Finally some SLEEP. Our room is a literal black
hole because the shutters are wood and block out every bit of light. So nice to
sleep in and have some time to recover!! Clemson orientation today went over
safety/school basics and we got our final schedules and more important info
like permit of stay guide, which let me just preface by saying it is the
biggest pain in the ass. J
Fancy fancy fancy pants dinner held by our program at a hotel… seriously
chandeliers as big as a small bedroom. Made me laugh that we got a ‘one glass
of wine’ card at the dinner- we all know someone would have gotten beyond
hammered if not.
*Feb 5, 2016 Last orientation at 9, then we swung by the
leather market.. and stayed awhile. Scooped a Hermes birkin bag look alike for
$50 and some gifts for my friends back home. Also ordered custom leather jacket..
so excited for my jacket + gold zippers & not silver. The leather here is
so much better quality and cheaper than back at home. I can’t pass it up!! The
leather jacket was an investment I will not regret- plus who wouldn’t love to
say that they got their jacket custom made in Florence?! I’m probably going to
become a victim to the leather market. I know I wanted to purchase leather
boots, sandals, a satchel, and a wallet before leaving. The shopping here is
just so easy and accessible.. it’s so dangerous. Went to Gusta pizza for dinner
and my taste buds have never been more satisfied.. seriously AMAZING.
*Feb 6, 2016 Day trip to Pisa!! The best part about Florence
is how centrally located it is in regards to popular cities to visit within the
rest of Italy. Before I came, my mom gave me some simple/extremely relevant
piece of advice- while I was rushing to plan weekend trips across Europe, she
said, “Devin, don’t forget about the country you’re in too- don’t discount Italy.”
She was so right, and it really opened my mind to the possibilities of day
trips throughout Italy. The BEST part is it is so cheap to travel within
Italy.. it was only $10 one way to Pisa. Overall, with lunch included, I spent $36
total on the day trip. Pisa is a city that I’m glad I can now check off of my
bucket list, but I was underwhelmed by it looking back. Part of the reason
being that Florence is such an entertaining city to be in.. every corner has a
cute shop, café, or architecture that leaves you speechless. Pisa is really
just the leaning tower of Pisa… and in all honestly the 2 buildings that you
NEVER hear about that surround the leaning tower were actually way prettier and
more impressive. It took about 15 min to take some cute super touristy leaning
tower pics and then it was time for lunch. There’s a tour to go to the top of
the leaning tower- but I’m not sure how worth it it would be. Overall, cute
touristy spot, but I wouldn’t go again and I wouldn’t go if it were out of my
way. On our way back from the train
station we stopped by a cute shawl shop and got handmade cashmere shawls. It’s
so cold here that all the Italians wear huge shawls wrapped over their puffer
coats- and we wanted to be just as comfy chic as them.
*Feb 7, 2016 Well…. We slept in until 2PM oops. The first
Sunday every month in Florence museum entry is free if it’s a public museum. We
figured we’d take up the offer and tried to get into the Gucci museum, but it
was private and so it wasn’t free. I’ll be going with my marketing class in
April so I decided to just take advantage of a free museum instead of paying
for entry. We stopped at the next museum only to discover we had to pay for
tickets to enter.. ok bummer, but we wanted to do something in Florence so we
just went for it. After standing in line for 2 hours to get into the exhibit we
were told we had bought the wrong ticket. Total fail of a day, but it was the
best learning experience because for the first time I actually felt like a dumb
tourist. Needless to say our next museum trips will be researched and planned
in advance.
First week is down & everything so far has been positive
& enlightening! This week is my first official week of classes- blog post
will be up this weekend with details on my classes & what I like/don’t like
here vs in class at Clemson!
Happy Tuesday!
XO,
Dev
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