Firenze

I’m clearly awful at updating my blog.  However, I have a good reason.  I have been having too many adventures to find the time to sit down and write an entry, and I am perfectly okay with that.  About a month into my study abroad experience I took my first weekend trip out of Rome.  My destination?  Florence.

Florence was beautiful.  I actually liked it better than Rome while I was there, but I imagine that living there for a while would lose its appeal and there is consistently much more to do in Rome.  It was small enough to walk everywhere; there were tons of lovely shops and restaurants, and so much to see.  It was freezing the weekend we went, but that hardly makes a difference when one is having such a surreal experience. 

Here are some highlights from my trip:

The Duomo

This was a great experience.  I am not religious but I literally stopped in my tracks when I saw the church.  The exterior was colorful and detailed.  The paintings on the ceiling were vast, and it taught me an important lesson that I have been learning all semester.  Always, always, always, remember to look up and down when inside a building, church, or museum in Europe.  There is always something phenomenal to see that you might miss if you’re not careful.  We then paid eight euro to climb to the top which was WELL worth it.  I believe it was about 420 steps and it even became quite steep near the end!   It was the best decision of the trip.  

The David

On the whole I preferred the Uffizi to the L’Accademia; however, the David was everything I was told to expect and more.  The facial expression, the veins on his hands, and the fact that it is seventeen feet tall is unreal.  

Ponte Vecchio

This is a gorgeous bridge lined with expensive jewelry shops and gelaterias.  What more could anyone ask for?  The view is beautiful and the area is great.

Also, my friends and I  went to a lovely restaurant that kept giving us food and drinks.   

The Verdict?  This trip was a success and anyone who is in Italy and has the opportunity to travel to Florence should go.  

Seven Things I Didn’t Expect from Rome

Until the start of this semester I had never been abroad.  I had no idea what to expect from the Eternal City and no idea what the culture shock would entail.  As of yet the culture shock has not been very extreme, but there have been several surprises that I did not anticipate.

The Drivers Here are Crazy

The drivers here are literally insane.  I come from a city where the drivers are considered reckless.  Once in Chicago I took a cab ride with my family and our driver actually hit a pedestrian and kept driving.  Prior to arriving here, I watched Angels and Demons as part of my preparation for the semester. (Very serious preparation, I know)  The entire film I kept wondering why Tom Hanks and his crew were driving on sidewalks, speeding, and abandoning their car in the most inconvenient places.  I soon discovered that this is the social norm here.  Now if only Ewan McGregor was actually the Camerlengo and the distance between us was really just under three miles…

Stray Dogs and Cats

There are stray dogs and cats everywhere!  Particularly at tourist sites…

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3. (That last picture might not actually be a picture of a stray...but it was a really great ginger cat!)

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Slow Eating

I knew that the food here would be amazing.  I didn’t realize that eating slowly and that long and luxurious meals, whether they be in Mensa or out in the city, is the norm.  Maybe it’s because I’m frequently the “on-the-go” mess running around Lakeshore Campus with a coffee and bagel in hand, but this surprised me.

Coffee Culture

I’m a caffeine addict.  It’s my biggest vice.  So adapting to the coffee culture here has been tricky.  It’s only been a month, but many a time I have been in Rinaldo’s trying to order what I think is one espresso based drink, but turns out to be another espresso based drink entirely.  At any rate, my body is still adjusting to the concept of lots of caffeine in small doses.  However, I am happy to say I have now fully embraced the Italian cappuccino. 

Purple is Unlucky

 While doing a worksheet in My Italian 102 class, Italian professor extraordinaire James Schwarten informed everyone that purple is an unlucky color in Italy.  Weird, right? 

Strikes and Public Transit

Maybe this makes me an “uninformed American,” but I had no idea that strikes were so frequent or that the buses were so unreliable.  Don’t get me wrong-when it is running the Public Transit here is great!  I love the Metro!  It’s just like CTA in Chicago!  However, when you wait eighty minutes for the N6 or your bus driver pulls your bus to the side of the road and stops to read the paper before the next run, there is part of you that thinks, “Only in Europe…”

Italians are Wonderful

I came here and thought that every person I met who was not American was going to hate me.  In retrospect that sounds stupid.  However, all my relatives and friends who had been to Europe focused on how much Europeans hate Americans, they had me convinced that not knowing the language at all was going to hinder me in more ways than I could ever imagine.  I thought I was going to have to lie all semester and say I was Canadian.  The reality?  As long as one is a level headed human being, attempts Italian, and is friendly, Italians, or at least the ones I’ve encountered, are willing to help and attempt conversation with you.

Ciao!

P.S. Please forgive the fact that I STILL cannot format my entries properly.