Day Two

When we arrived to Paris we were about 45 minutes late due to weather conditions. No we did not see the Eiffel Tower but we did get to speak some French. The flight to Florence was rather quick and more exciting than the flight to Paris- it wasn’t as crowded, and he didn’t have to worry about falling asleep on the person next to us cause everyone on the plane was either an architecture or ID student. For about half of the flight we were able to see an overhead view of Florence- red roofs dominated the terrain. The skyline was amazing, and the excitement was progressing as we landed the plane.

Upon arriving to Florence we were directed to a bus and then a taxi that took us to our rooms. The taxi driver knew little Englush- we had to point to our address on a piece of paper in order for him to understand us. The drive to our apartment was crazy- people in Italy don’t drive like Americans. The drive fast and careless it seems- they don’t waste their time with stop signs and red lights- instead they merge into oncoming traffic and cut in front of people- but it seemed like everyone was doing that. Tommy and I looked at each other in shock. What was going on? We just laughed and let the driver take us to our apartment while we sat in the back seat trying to take everything in. When we finally arrived to our apartment on Vei Del Servi 45 we were immediately greeted by a lady “who worked for the agency.” After handing the taxi driver 25 euros and carrying over 90 lbs. of luggage up 4 flights of stairs, we arrived to our room “Banti” on the 4^th floor.

Our room is just short of incredible- not one room is square or identical- instead, solid plaster walls make up the hallways and rooms- the kitchen is perhaps my favorite: the ceilings are high and lit, and the woodwork and cabinetry is modern with marble countertops. Tommy and my room is the biggest- two single beds and two floor to ceiling closets make up the space, with a dresser in the middle of the room. The lady then began explaining how to use the appliances and basic rules and procedures for the apartment: how to use the washer, the stove, and “don’t collect wine bottles on the shelves-it’s not decorative.” Haha

After she left, Tommy and I sat on the couch in shock and amazement. Now What? We didn’t have anyone’s number, we didn’t have the Internet, the TV was in Italian, and we didn’t know but a few words of Italian so we really couldn’t speak to anyone. We just started laughing until we came to realization that all we could do was unpack and walk around. So after we unpacked our luggage and re-arranged some furniture (our beds were way to close to each other), Mel, Ashleigh, Zanna, Jen, and Jackie came over for a little to see our place- soon we left to go out downtown where we grabbed some amazing pizza from ‘Yellow Bar’ which is right down the road from us- and we got 5 pizzas for 5 euros each- a good deal for great food!

On the first night in Florence our water went out. Little did we know that our toilet was running for hours and it used up all the water we had. We had to call for help-which was a challenge in itself. The wine in Italy is very good- I got red wine on the plane and we bought some chianti at a local market. On the first night we visited the girls place on Vei Pucci which is one block away from our place. When we got back we found Bryce hanging out with Bobby, Dan, and TJ. Later on we went out (around 2 or 3) only to find the streets were still busy with people- something that is very unusual in Green, Ohio. I found an Italian bar with 2 Italians playing guitar. It was a small brick and plaster bar with arched barrial vaulted ceilings and plaster walls. The only light was candle light on each of the tables. We ordered Sangria Wine and listened to the small band play music (the only song I knew was Johnny Cash which they played in Italian!) The environment was very calm and friendly- there must have been no more than 10 locals and us. I was the best experience of Italy thus far.