Getting the butterflies out!

I'm here! Officially a resident of Florence, Italy. There is still a lot of adjusting to do, but so far I am loving being here. Currently it is 12 noon and about 5 huge church bells in our area are ringing all at the same time - it sounds insane! 

The trip here was long and getting to my apartment was a dream come true. My place is close to all of the university buildings, about 10 minutes. Today I had orientation so I got to make the walk over there and I didn't even get lost. Palazzi doesn't have a traditional campus like in the states; instead the buildings are situated within the city in old buildings. For instance we found out that the student life office and Ganzo are next door. Student life handles lots of trips and events on campus so that will be convenient but more importantly, Ganzo is one of the cafes run by Palazzi! It is operated by students and serves meals inspired and cooked by the culinary program. Yes, I might have to go to an extra work out class or ten. Speaking of my apartment, my roommates have all finally arrived! My roommates are from all around the world: Amber is from Holland, Maria is from Taiwan, Renee from the Philippines, Kay is from India and Katherine is from Canada. Amber and I are sharing a room. We are all studying different things and are at different points in our education it is an eclectic mix. 

The group of Palazzi students that met at the airport.

Camera  da letto. I think my bed is made of straw... 

There are 2 other bedrooms also. They basically have 2 beds and a dresser like mine.

Salone

Cucina

Terrazzino. Below is part of Ganzo. 

Last night a few of us went on a little adventure. We found out that there are about 100 delicious smelling restaurants in a mile radius packed with Italians (a sign of a good find). Also, the Duomo is just down the street. It is HUGE! We checked out some super markets around the house where we're going to shop later today for groceries. We of course got some gelato. I wasn't crazy about one of the flavors that I got but I'm positive I will find a few favorites before I leave.

First meal in Italy. Split a vegetarian pizza with the roomies for 5 Euro. Very tasty.

Gelato :)

Walking with the roomies (left to right) Renee, Amber, Maria.

Il Duomo

Here are some pictures, I will upload albums on facebook with more when I have more to share!

One love, VA

I've never blogged before.  

Phew, I'm glad I got that off my chest. If you know anything about me though you'll know that I've written my whole life - little books and stories at first, then turning into an avid poet and journal author. I used to take time to sort out my problems and paper and examine my life through words. I remember when I mastered the transformation of feelings to words. I was liberated. 

Upon my departure in August, I will have a more challenging task. Not only will I attempt to share with you my thoughts and feelings about my experiences, but I will also be trying to recreate scenes and surroundings to you in type that you may barely have anything to compare to. I shall do my very best. Oh! I will have the capabilities to share videos and pictures as well. These will certainly aide in the descriptive process but I'll still need to bring them to life for you. 

So I'll be posting once or twice a week while I'm gone. You have the option of subscribing to the blog, which will give you email notifications when I post. And for those of you that aren't sure, I'll be there from the end of August until mid December. So if you're looking for something to do online, come check out what's up in Florence :)

Stay tuned. One love.