Florence: I'm having second thoughts...

Santa Croce

After a painfully long train ride we finally reached the Santa Maria Novella Station in Florence. The last stop on what proved to be an amazing journey and my new home until December. After schlepping my bags off the train and out of the station we hailed a cab and checked into the hotel Davanzati. The flight of stairs that I managed to scale with all my bags at once was slightly annoying but the hotel and staff were excellent and the room was very comfortable. After getting cleaned up we headed to a nearby restaurant for a late dinner before meeting up with a friend for drinks at a bar called Slowly. After a tasty Tokyo Ice Tea, which is basically a long island with a lot of lime juice and soda, we sauntered across town to find a younger crowd at a cafe/bar called Astor, literally in the shadow of the Duomo.

This is about the time I started to have bad feelings about my decision to live in a forgein country.

 After Astor we went to a club called Twice and I would say that this was the exact moment I became completely overwhelmed. Not only do clubs bother me because they are loud, hot, and dense with sweaty strangers but I started looking around and realized that this was going to be my crowd... baby faces who probably can’t legally order a drink in the US and therefore have zero bar manners. BAH! 

Plaza Vecchio, I think.

It would be easy for me to lie and say I loved Florence from the moment I got here and I knew everything was going to be great, but it was the complete opposite. I was really freaked out and for the first time in my life severely homesick, a condition I thought was reserved only for the weak and dependant. The next day wasn’t any better, my apprehension toward my new city only got worse and the hangover I nursed until 5pm didn’t give me any confidence that everything would be alright, not to mention my friend would soon be leaving me for the comforts of home that I craved so badly. Finally after a much needed nap, a little something to eat and enough walking to give me a miniscule sense of direction I chilled out enough to try and take it all in but I still was second guessing my decision to study abroad.

Giotto's Bell Tower 

After another full day of shopping, eating, and walking I nearly had my bearings and I decided that Florence was actually very enjoyable and easy to walk, minus all the tourists in the way. We strolled through the San Lorenzo market, crossed the Ponte Vecchio, saw the David, the Duomo, Santa Croce and finally found my apartment on Via De Pepi.

On my friends last night in Florence we went to Acqua al Due where I had the incredible blueberry steak, it may have changed my life and I really want to get that recipe. Needing to get packed and organized for my move and her flight we called it a night after dinner and went back to our hotel.