Day 2

August 19, 2008

Second day in Florence! Last night was a blast. My roommates and I went to dinner in the Piazza del Republica, which is a very cool area full of restaurants, shops, and tourists of course. We had a great dinner of various pastas and of course wine! After dinner we went to a gelatoria (a place that sells gelato, Italian ice cream) and got another bottle of wine and gelato. It was a great night already but we decided that since it was our first night in Italy, we should celebrate. So we then found ourselves at a place down the street called Angi’s Pub. The bartenders were kinda weird and the place was definitely a dive but it was pretty cool. There was crazy artwork all over the walls and comfy couches, kegs with cushions on them and deep chairs. We had a couple Italian beers and got to know a few locals, all who were crazy and fun.

Today we didn’t do much but sit in orientation sessions, all which were boring. During our break for lunch, we began our quest to find pillows and towels. It took us until around 730 to even find the store. We looked for around 2 hours during lunch and then had to go back to Pallazo dei Cerchi (our school). Then around 5 we resumed our mission and 2 hours later we were in the only store in the city (that we could find) that carried these items. So, 15€ later (ie around $22USD), I had ONE towel, and a small crappy one at that. It was like Williams and Sonoma only twice the price. After having serious buyer’s remorse over a towel, we headed to the grocery store, which is more like a large mini-mart with really long lines and a great deli. We decided that we were blowing through too much money and really needed to start cooking, so we bought pasta, sauce, deli stuff and some crackers. Oh and a 2€ bottle of wine (score!) and a couple other odds and ends. Our total for groceries came to about 55€ (approx. $85) which I guess isn’t that bad considering there are 4 of us, but we only bought enough food for maybe 4 days. After the grocery we trucked on back to our apartment and relaxed for a minute. Then my roommate’s friends wanted to meet for dinner at this cute little restaurant down the street. It was pretty good until we got our bill-- 119€( …$185!!!!!!!!) for four of us. I guess this may sound normal for four people out at a nice restaurant celebrating a special occasion or something, but an everyday dinner!?! So, I will be eating at home and for the next week or 5. The problem with Euros is that they don’t look or feel like “real” money ( ie American Dollars…haha) So, you kinda feel like your just spending Monopoly money and that is getting us into trouble. So we decided that we can be on vacation this week (although I won’t be spending more money on food…) but after this week is over, its back to eating cheap and at home.

Well, its 2am and I have to get up at 9 to be at school by 10. Walking tour at 10! Then I get internet at noon, so these will finally be posted!

Derci!

K