First Real Day

Ahhh. First real day in Florence, conquered.

Florence is beautiful. The cobblestones are beautiful. Even the pestering gypsies are beautiful in their own way. Florence doesn't have the natural modern beauty that our brains might immediately think of, but instead it has an essence of antiquity and familiarity to those who inhabit the city in the region of Tuscany. I chose the term familiarity because not only do the Italians seem completely comfortable and knowledgable of their surroundings, they also are in no rush (besides the cab drivers and the millions upon millions of vespas). They have an air of relaxation that makes me think that they trust their city and surroundings. I don't think I could say the same for the ole MV. In MV stores go out fast and budding new stores are ready to take their places, while something fairly young in the community is being fixed or added on to. The process is never ending in my suburban neighborhood. Here they love their culture and intend to keep it rich and intact.

My first impression of Florence was, "Wow everything is so pretty. Holy shit. We almost just crashed." I was overcome with fear for the lack of rules on the road. Our cab driver almost ran into a bus and a vespa, all colliding into one spot. It was scary, but the cab driver didn't even flinch, it was as if the chaos was normal and normal would be chaos. You look around and see a girl pedal by with her wedges on. There are skeezy looking men telling you that they have student discount for all the leather bags. Caffe and espresso for 1 to 3 euros. Architecture gracing crumbled walls. Everything is a sight to see and even if you see it once you'll still be surprised when you see it again, like the woman in stilettos walking on thousand year old wobbly stones.

Pasta! Risotto! Pizza! Panini! Vino! Gelato! So much food. My pants are already squeezing me tighter, but honestly it is so worth it. The food is delicious. Fresh. Beyond your wildest dreams. I wish I could describe the food better but there are no words for the taste.

The only downfall, if you could even call it that, is that I am American. I usually go out with the other 7 girls in my apartment and god almighty do we reek of being American. "Americana!" We stick out like a sore thumb and whelp it makes you feel less welcome. I feel like if I was on my own and worked on my Italian that I could maybe get through their judgmental stares. Such is life.

Anyways that's all for now seeing that it's almost 2 am and I plan on waking up at 6:30 so that I can head to the farmer's market in Piazza del Mercato Centrale and get some produce! Italy does weird things to me, like wanting to wake up early.

Anywho,
ciao bella