The True Life of a Wanderlust: My First Week in Florence

Well for starters, this is the beautiful place that I live.
I am still in complete disbelief.

Welcome to my life in Florence!

Videos of mine and Massi's adventures finding our way around Florence:

Wow is all I can really say. Florence is everything that I have ever dreamed of it to be. A little under a week here and it has already stolen my heart. Well, let me recap a little bit on how my journey began here and the craziness that has been my past week. Massimo, his parents, and I left on Tuesday and drove here from his house which took us about three and a half hours. By the time we actually got into Tuscany, my face was glued to the window. I was in awe of everything that was surrounding me, and could not believe that my family comes from this beautiful region! It's really so much more than you see in the pictures...truly leaves you speechless. We came into Florence and found the hotel that Massimo's parents would be staying at, and got everything all checked in. It was old and a little creepy, however I'm sure you find those ancient buildings a lot here. Then, we began our journey walking around the town, and I got to experience the city that I would be living in for the next year for the first time. Walking up to the Ponte Vecchio, the bridge that I have always seen in pictures and heard so much about, left my speechless. It was amazing! There were tourists everywhere, however it wasn't that hard to look over them completely. We walked around and got to see the historical center and also trudged everywhere to find the Duomo, which was yet another breath taker. The trademark of Florence, was finally right in front of me!

And now I pass by it basically every day...no big deal or anything. So after that we saw an apartment that didn't end up working out for me...the windows on the ceiling and the no kitchen space was a no go for me! We took a break from all the walking in the heat and hung out for a while, and then went to meet my cousin for the first time to go out to dinner and to get to know her. She is absolutely adorable! She let Massimo and I stay with her, and I'm currently staying with her until I find a place...by the time we met her, she had already made us a key and reservations to a beautiful little place right on the river...so amazing! It was definitely a great night, I'm so lucky to have a cousin here to help me out with everything...and who is so nice and hospitable! The only thing is there is no internet there, so I have been having to either go to the internet caffè once a day or use my phone! Once I get settled in my place, things will all go back to normal and I will be connected with the world once again. The next day, Massi and I got up to go to the hotel and meet all the other Californians that were going to be moving in that day. It was definitely awesome to get to know everyone and to introduce them to Massimo...he was a hit! We all had dinner and then decided to go out to a pub as a group. I bought my first legal drink...a huge beer for just 1 euro and 50 cents...not to shabby. We then went to the pub and got far too many rounds of shots and spent too much money on mixed drinks. It was a hard night, but luckily I had Massimo, my life saver :) He actually pretended to be Californian for one of the guys that was trying to hit on italian girls, and was able to tell him what they were saying secretly. :)

The next morning, we both had to get up early because Massimo had to leave to go back to register for his exam and study for it...since he has it on the 14th, he's stressing hardcore! I had to go directly to the school for our opening meeting and getting to know everything...I was definitely feeling sick all day, however it was still a helpful day since we did a walking tour and got to know the city and where everything was at. Friday was all about housing, and I teamed up with a friend who also wants to live with italians and we went everywhere and saw three different places, one of which we liked very much! I will put more about it on here if we actually decide on getting it, however we have three more appointments on Monday so I'll wait and see :) Friday night, we went out to a club where they had dancing and karaoke and just about had the time of our lives. I love the group of people that I'm studying with and am so happy that we have all meshed together so well in the midst of this experience. It finally began to rain yesterday, so we have been taking it easy and not doing too much over the weekend, which has been nice after all the hustle and bustle of the first days here. We have been going to the same bar to eat lunch every day, where they feed you the most amazing food for so cheap! The boss there is too nice, he looks like an old version of Mario :) Also, we made friends with the owner of the internet caffè..who is also an adorable woman who has been so kind to us. It's been so awesome getting to know and to converse with the locals here, and to speak italian all the time! It's definitely been great practice and they respect you a lot more it seems like if they see you putting an effort to being a part of their culture. I'm still pretty much in the vacation mode, and don't know exactly when it will hit me that I'm actually living here...probably once I get settled in my apartment and everything has calmed down. The first couple days without Massi certainly weren't easy, since I have always had him whenever I am here, but I know that's just a part of the whole experience. You have to get out of your comfort zone to get anywhere! And every day has been getting so much better, I can't wait for him to come back in just two weeks after his exam and see how things have changed and everything being settled :) For now, I'm just continuing to take it all in and be so grateful! Everything is so surreal.