Week One
Day One - May 29: Traveling to Florence took twenty hours... I was exhausted but knew pushing myself to stay up would help me adjust better to the time change so I explored the city some, had a wrap from Shake Cafe, then hiked the Tower of Arnolfo. The tower alone has 233 steps, but thats after you reach the third floor of the Palazzo Vecchio. It was definitely worth it for those views and the breeze.
Day Two - May 30: Today was move in day!! I was too early to check in so I grabbed my first cappuccino (in Italian), read some at the library and checked out some statues in the Piazza della Signoria. On the way back to check in, I grabbed a panini and saw some street art. I got to meet my roommate, Catherine. She and her friends invited me to dinner with them (it was amazing). When we returned from dinner, we were able to meet our other two roommates, Sarah and Trinity, who experienced several travel delays. Thankfully everyone is nice and we get along well.
My first cappucino from La Loggia Degli Alnizi
Chicken, mozz, tomato, and lettuce panino from Da'Vinattieri.
Strozzapretti from Osteria Lungarno
Biblioteca de Oblate
Saw some statues
Street art
Day Three - May 31: We had orientation for the program and a walking tour by Alessia. I opted to go on a history tour with Benjamin later that day where he told us more about the city, Dante and the Medici's. Later that evening, we had our welcome dinner at Finisterrae and it was incredible!
Day Four: We got an an Italian survival lesson (thanks Jenny!) which has actually come in handy at some of the markets! After that we got to tour a synagogue as our readings for class were about Jewish cuisine and its history in Italy. One of the specialties we read about were their deep fried artichokes which we had the chance to try at lunch.
The synagogue is orthodox and uses a mechitza that divides the women from the men.
The old Jewish ghetto in Florence
After class we had lunch at Ruth's to taste the Jewish cuisine!
Day Five - June 2: I can't believe i've been here for five days already. Today is a National Holiday in Italy, but we still had class to discuss yesterdays readings. Thankfully, Dr. Cohen cut it short and I jetted off to Venice. I've walked over 7 miles viewing the sites before getting hungry and grabbing some Dal Moro's cacio e pepe noodles to go. Then made a quick stop for some caramel and peanut gelato from Suso before hoping on the vaporetto (a boat bus to transport Venetians around) to go to Murano where my hotel was.
Side note: I could get used to business class train cars. :)
Day 6 - June 3: Waking up in Murano was incredible (mostly because I was able to sleep in). After packing up and checking out, I explored the small island some and stopped into Ai Duomo for some pizza. Then I walked the historic center to buy souvenirs. Murano is well known for their glass blowing and they had some wonderful pieces that I picked up from friends and family. While Murano is lovely, I was told that Burano (known for linen) is even nicer. I found my way to the vaporetto stop only to be told that the line (over an hours wait that spanned across the path and around the corner) was where i'd have to wait. I opted to skip out on that this time and went to find some cicchetti. All'Arco and Schiavi were both closed so I ventured to Ai Stori to eat. After my cicchetti snack, I walked to the train station to return to Florence. This is when I discovered that I had walked a hole into my linen pants from all the walking!
Day 7, June 4: Nothing big to report. Roomates are all off on excursions and I took the day to do laundry and clean the apartment a bit. I did wake up with a sore throat thanks to the fan being pointed directly at me. :( Fingers crossed it goes away quickly.
Continue to week two.