So I Swear Im Going to School

So I have been in Florence for only a few weeks now but this city is absolutely incredible. The biggest problem I have so far is that I dont get to spend enough time here. We leave almost every weekend! But we are all stayed here this weekend so it was great to go out and explore.

Im living in a pensione, so it is like a hostel/hotel.  I share a room with three other girls.  Meredeth and I bunk our beds and Jackie and Elle have their beds against the walls so we still have alot of room.  The woman who runs the pensione is named Monola, and her and her family cook all of the meals they provide us.  Our pensione is the furthest from school, but its only about a 10 minute walk or so.

I heard the food was good, but I didnt really believe just how amazing it really was until I got here.  For breakfast, we usually have just some cereal and coffee.  Lunch is the largest meal of the day.  We get a 3 course meal every Monday through Thursday.  We always start off with a pasta dish and we have yet to have the same pasta dish twice.  The next course is usually some kind of meat and sauteed vegetables.  Then we have dessert which is either something sweet or we have fruit.  I am learning to limit my pasta intake day by day. For dinner, we have pasta with a meat dish.  Dinner is a little lighter than lunch. 

We have been able to venture a bit around the city.  We took our school picture in a piazza that looks over all of Florence. (Pic on the right)  Mer and I have been going on runs at 6am.  Its still dark out but the streets are empty so we are able to run up and down the river.  There is a large market by our pensione that sells really good fruit, vegetables, dried fruit and nuts.  There are gelato places around every corner and the restaurant food is equally as good as the food we are served in our pensione.  Gelato is the most incredible form of ice cream I have ever had. Nothing in the US can compare to how delicious the gelato is here. 

El mio italiano e molto male.  I am terrible at Italian. I have learned that every basic Italian phrase I know, every Italian in Florence can say in English.  I am working on my Italian, mixing it with English and even some Spanish.  Luckily, almost everyone knows basic English here so we have been getting by just fine.

Elle and I went to the Boboli Gardens on Saturday. It was a large garden with statues and amazing views of the city. Then we went to dinner at Dantes.  They offer free unlimited wine with the purchase of an entree for students.  Today, we went to another market across the river and ate lunch by the duomo.  Next weekend, we are going to Paris.  Yes, I am aware of the travel warning in Europe and I will be especially careful.  I will update later about the French Riviera and Paris!