Week 2: FWOC + Settling In

Ciao! This week marked the first official week of classes here in Florence! While sad to see my all day freetime to explore the city dwindle, I must say it was needed to get my life back on a schedule after a week of settling in. For the first time in my life I don't have early classes & actually start classes at 1:30 pm on Monday Wednesdays! Getting to catch up on sleep Monday morning started me off well for the first week of classes. At 1:30 I had my first Italian language class, a new type of learning for me considering my 8 years of Latin never taught us to speak out loud in conversation. But, it is incredibly satisfying to begin to put the pieces of things i've heard out on the streets and read in menus together. At 3:00pm, I headed to my Introduction to Oil Painting class in the art studio, a class that I have not only been stoked for these upcoming few months but for all of my time at UVA! I have always wanted to take an art class yet never had the room in my schedule. But I cannot complain at all about getting the chance to take it in one of the most artistic cities in the world! After classws wrapped up for the night, I met Cali Jane and Coco out for dinner at Borgo Antico right down the street from my apartment & got a delicious first day of class dinner of paccheri and a Hugo Spritz! My roommates and I got ready together and headed out to JJs Irish Pub with the best view of the Duomo in Florence! We all hung out, debriefed our first days of school, and headed back for a successful day of classes on Tuesday!

Tuesday morning is a bit more of a rude awakening in the 9am cold we are facing in Italy right now, but I headed to European Union with Coco and Stella for our first days. The class, while early, seems like it will be most applicable to my major out of the classes I'm taking this semester! Right after class, I grabbed my first cappuccino of the entire trip and it has now become my morning ritual in-between classes to meet up with friends and grab a coffee! I had Italian Political History at 11am in the most beautiful classroom I had ever seen (slide 3) and was compelled from the very start by my professor and his expertise on Italy despite his German heritage. I had Italian once more and headed home for the afternoon to try something new with my roommates: aperitivo! For those who don't know, aperitivo is an Italian cultural ritual of pre-dinner drinks and snacks meant to "open" the apetite and prepare fr a traditional Italian dinner. It is a social way of relaxing before dinner and is a much more informal gathering of friends! We went to volume, a music-themed cocktail bar right by our apartment that has become our new favorite spot in Santo Spirito. I tried one of their digestive teas and while strange, it did prepare me for dinner! The atmosphere is lively and it is safe to say it will be a regular spot in our rotation this winter. We tried the famous Gusta Pizza for dinner (where Guy Fieri himself loves) and got cheap but delicious pizzas! And of course, we finished the night off with S'brino to celebrate our luggage coming Tuesday afternoon (halfway done with the luggage crisis)! 

The rest of the week was spent getting into the niche of classes and workload! I learned how to use the Moka pot to brew my espresso in the morning (life changing) and explored all over the city! I also discovered that hazelnut chocolate gelato is better than chocolate hazelnut (yes there is a life changing difference)! Friday, Cora, Grace, Diana, Coco, and I decided we were going to spend the day exploring our new home even deeper! We spent the morning walking in the city and got to enter into the Duomo for the first time since being here! Being early January, tourism is at its yearly low, thus I'm making sure to take advantage of small crowds before it gets crazy here. I brought out my camera and have been having so much fun learning how to use it and having the privilege of documenting my memories in such a beautiful way! I have fallen in love with how romanticized this city is, with art covering every corner, artists recreating Michelangelo pieces with sidewalk chalk, and the art of slowing down as a whole that Florentines have seemed to master. We tried the Sarti sprits (like aperol but with blood orange and grapefruit) and got calzones at New Light pizza! I got my favorite view of the duomo yet and we returned for the night to cook dinner & go out to space for the first time! And to bed we went for our early morning train to Rome on Saturday! Buona notte, and see you in Rome!