Settling In!: Orientation & Exploring my New Home

Ciao, Firenze! I began my Florence adventure on Friday morning bright and early with orientation for ISI! I walked over the Ponte Vecchio for the first time & got the first look at my new city in the daylight! At orientation we covered all the basics for the program & I got to feel settled for classes starting on Monday! We concluded orientation with a walking tour of the city center where I caught up with old UVA friends and met a bunch of new people on my program! I met Diana and Coco for lunch at Pizza Napoli 1955 and got the 1955 pizza with fresh cherry tomatoes, spicy sausage, pesto, and burrata! Still without luggage, we briefly shopped around at Zara, H&M, and took our first stroll through the leather market where I got myself a new green suede shoulder bag for class. We crossed the Ponte Vecchio back over to Santo Spirto and got the chance to admire this wonderful yellow umbrella on the bridge contrasted with the rainy weather. Diana, Coco, and I made notes of the cool vintage shops and leather stores we wanted to try later on & made our first stop at Conad, the local grocery store in our neighborhood. For Dinner, we went to the famous Alla Vecchia Bettola in Santo Spirito to try the slightly overhyped Penne alla Vecchia (a take on homemade vodka sauce) which was delish but has been beaten by other dishes I have had. Their house Chianti, on the other hand, was a delicious red to have with dinner. 

Our next stop of the night deserves its own paragraph. Still reeling from long flights and layovers, we weren't quite in the full going out spirit. Yet, on our windy way back from dinner, we ran into a small guitar bar, Chiodo Fisso, with all signage inly in Italian. In a city that draws so many study abroad students, I have found the most enriching experiences thus far the ones interacting with locals. We stopped in and grabbed a table, the only three people there at the beginning of the night. The bar belonged to Andrea Ardia, a local guitarist from Capri who moved to Florence to begin a career in music. The place was charming, with homemade sangria and house wine to share with the guests. Andrea himself was a delightful presence the entire evening, enchanted that we had randomly stumbled upon his place as a few random Americans studying in the city. He took song requests all evening, my personal favorites of which included plenty of Johny Cash with Italian words filled in & his adaptation of John Denver, "Chianti Roads." We played Gin Rummy as Andrea strummed along, raising a toast of 'Salute' with each songs close. Diana decided to resurrect her middle school magic side hustle and was performing magic tricks as we got to know Andrea's story, gaining her the nickname 'strega,' meaning witch in Italian. We learned that Rolling Stones Italy had named him 'Italy's Hottest Rocker of All Time' in the 90s. While the night ended around 11, this night only marked the beginning of a semester full of Chiodo Fisso. 

Saturday began the same way as Friday, with my morning spent at makeup orientation in Palazzo Rucellai, one of our classroom buildings that is famous worldwide for its façade, designed by the renowned architect Leon Battista Alberti between 1446 and 1451. It is a huge privilege to study in a true Florentine palace! I grabbed lunch with two girls who live across the hall from me who go to Penn State at Osteria Lungarne where I got the burrata ravioli and a limoncello spritz, sitting along the river Arno on a sunny day! We took another walking tour of the most famous Piazzas in the city where I met up with Grace to do some more shopping to survive the weekend with no baggage. I came home the owner of a trench coat, a true European staple that makes me fit in a little better despite my blonde hair and pale skin. All day we passed this beautiful golden retriever that felt like a good omen for the beautiful day we had in the city. We caught the tail end of the sunset & arrived at home to cook with Cora, Coco, and Diana! We made an arugula salad & a tomato pesto pasta with a side of prosciutto. The food in Italy is less processed, making it last for a shorter time. Thus, we have found group cooking to be our preferred method & serves as my favorite time of the day to catch up on the days adventures. We got gelato at Venchi, the most famous in Florence, where I tasted the Pana Cotta and hazelnut chocolate to end the night. 

Finally, we all decided on a slow Sunday, catching up on some much needed rest for the week to come. Coco, Grace, and I grabbed our first sandwich of the trip at a shop around the corner. I tried the prosciutto, honey, and mozzarella. The bread in Florence is made without salt & is much more crusty than American sandwich bread. We hung out at the apartment for a bit, organized for classes tomorrow, and cooked another home dinner of tomato ricotta pasta, rotisserie chicken, and another arugula salad. We are becoming quite aware of the lack of protein Italians eat on a day to day basis and are on a hunt for the solution to that! But more pasta for now, who can complain. I suited back up in the trench to try yet another gelato at S'brino, my personal reigning champ, where I got pistachio and hazelnut. We hung out on the couch & went ti bed in anticipation for a new but exciting first week of classes! Ciao!