It’s 6am in Florence, and both Alex and I are wide awake. My eyes are hurting, and I have a pretty terrible headache, but the 9 hour time difference and the rather noisy street our hotel is on have made it impossible to get more than 4 hours of sleep. Oh well, Alex and I have decided that we don’t mind much looking like the eager tourists walking around at 7am.
Our first night here was delightful. After deciding that the hip aperitivi (appetizer buffet) spot wasn’t close enough to the authentic Italian meal that we were craving, we walked a bit and found a charming spot that had exactly what we wanted: gnocchi. The place was quaint, with an owner who spoke to us only in Italian and a waiter who spoke to us only in English despite our attempts to practice Italian. The gnocchi (potato dumplings) with the meat ragu was heavenly and the perfect size for how starving we were. The house rosso vino was interesting–Alex liked it, I was unsure–but we finished it regardless. It definitely didn’t taste like any Italian wines I’ve had in the States.
After dinner, around 11pm, we embarked on a mission to find gelato. Sadly, most gelato places were closed and both of us were too shy to ask those with gelato in hand where they found it. After looking down many deserted streets for an open gelateria, we finally decided to head to the hotel for bed.
Our hotel, Loggia Fiorentina, is wonderful. A huge thanks to Andrew for finding it! It is on the third floor of a building with a few bars, a bit noisy, but perfect for Alexand me. An adorable Italian psychology student (who looked something like Massimo from J.Lo’s The Wedding Planner for those willing to admit they’ve seen it) welcomed us by pulling out a map and marking at least 12 places we should see in the next 24 hours. Thorough indeed. He then showed us to our room, which is.. quaint. Though the room is rather large, we were amazed by the shower inside the room, separated only by a rod and a few white curtains.
Today we check out of the Loggia Fiorentina and head to the Stanford Center at 5pm to meet up with the rest of our group. There we will meet our family and head to our new homes. I am excited, but also extremely nervous about my ability to communicate with them. Whatever awkward encounters/mistakes happen in the first few weeks, I am comforted by the fact that no matter what, my Italian will get better each and every day and that I will be always be learning something. On Friday, we meet and have lunch with our language partners, Florentine students who requested to be paired with us to improve their English and help us practice our Italian. I am extremely excited for mine. Her name is Silvia and is a 24 year-old student at the music conservatory in Florence! According to a two-sentence blurb, she likes music, cooking, sports, and movies, so we should have plenty in common.
I am thinking about heading back to bed (It’s 8am now), but I wanted to update before the real journey begins. I hope to post rather frequently but am currently unsure of what the internet situation will be like at my home. Regardless, I will have internet at the Stanford Center, which I will likely visit every day, so I will never be too far out of communication!
Thank you to all of you for your warm wishes and I can’t wait to share more.
Ciao!
Tessa
laragazzacuriosa 