I’m here. I am in FLORENCE. In MY room. And so far my roommates (I have three til Monday) are perfectly nice. Thank god Omer (roommate from Israel, totally cool guy) is a strong guy because the stairs up to our apartment are STEEP. Like scary steep. And I was about to collapse. But let me start from the beginning.
I left the U.S. at 5:45 p.m. EST. I arrived in Italy (Roma) at 7:35 a.m. local time. I got lucky and got my second flight with a group of about 35 “older” Americans who are headed on a week long tour of tuscany. All from the Boston area. Woo! And they helped. Saw that I was alone and let me tag along with them. Because let me tell you..Rome’s airport is frigging confusing when you’re trying to get to Terminal B from the arrivals terminal. It was a nightmare. Thank god we had almost 2 hours of a layover. Oh and the flight over from JFK was horrible. Well not horrible but definitely not the most comfortable. Like I said before, I know I’m short and don’t need a lot of leg room, but still, a girl needs to stretch out once in a while. Plus the cushions on the seats had a weird slant to them and my poor little booty kept going numb. (all from Saturday)
Sunday ----
Ok so continuing... After the 8 hour flight from JFK, we landed in Rome and went through security again and then went through passport control (first point of entry to the country). By this point, I had introduced my self to a woman traveling with her parents with the big group (they were older. she was older...I just tagged along). They were so nice. The older man had been studying Italian with a tutor for a few weeks so he was pointing everything out in Italian. Helped me a little. Then we got on the bus to get us to our plane to Florence, since it was just a jumper plane. I wish we had had that plane from JFK. The seats were way more comfy and it felt like I had more room. I fell asleep on that flight but seriously it was a 45 minute flight and I woke up to us hitting the ground.
Cut to getting out of there. Grabbed my way too heavy luggage and booked it. Then I got outside and called my roommate (praying feverishly that my international phone that my aunt had given me would work). Confirmed that he was at the apartment. The began my real journey. I got on a bus for 5 euro (way cheap compared to the 22 euro taxi drive) and got dropped off at the Santa Maria Novella Stazione (Florence’s main train station). And started my trek to my apartment. Now, its really like a 7 minute walk, maybe from the station to my apartment. But when you don’t know where you’re going and you have nearly 100 lb in suitcase plus another (and I’m guessing cuz I didn’t weigh it) 20 lbs on your back....it’s a really long walk. I can definitely feel it today. My upper lats and upper back are sooooore. So are my thighs. Oi but that’s from the going up and down the stairs and the 6K walk I did this morning (more on that later). Finally, hot, sweaty and tired as hell (I barely slept. Airplanes are NOT conducive to sleeping comfortably), I finally got to my apartment. That is after using the little Italian that I DO know to ask where I was and how to get to my apartment. Then I saw the stairs of doom (they’re not that bad...but at that point they were). 40 quick steps heading nearly straight up. Again, thank you lord for giving me a strong roommate who wasn’t tired as hell.
I was delirious. I was so thirsty that my throat was dry and the water hurt going down when I finally got a glass. And man was I red. And sweaty. Totally awesome first impression right? Got my stuff in my room and changed. Nearly fell asleep. The owner got home and we did introductions. Toasted my arrival with a shot each of Lemoncello (you don’t take it like a shot....it’s delicious. lemonade liquer). Then Francesco (landlord) invited us to this charity festival thing that his friends were working. It involved cheap, good food. I was all ears and the only one who went along. That was fine. Had delicious thin crust authentic margherita pizza (I ate the WHOLE thing by myself....but I had only had a breakfast sandwich at like 7 am on the plane). Met some of his friends, and was surprised at how many of them spoke English. The fact that SO many foreigners know English along with other languages, makes me as an American feel lazy. Sure we take a language in high school but these people learn at least 2 all throughout school. I have a cousin who is quadralingual (I think). Oh side note....all of my roommates speak English. In Israel (Omer) you have to along with in Brazil (Fernanda). Again, being American = culturally lazy.
Anyhoo, got back to the apartment, chatted with my friend Dana in Canada (it’s very strange being AHEAD of her in time now...) and then hit the hay. Out like a light the second my head hit the pillow. And there you have my first day in Italy. My second day is half over and I’ll update you later on that. =)
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