Ciao Bella!

The Duomo
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We arrived in Florence around 7:30 pm planning to stay with Skyler’s friend Nancy, though unfortunately we never found each other. Therefore, we headed over to the Pepperdine’s Florence house to see our friends. While our Heidelberg group lives in an older, mansion with various rooms, the Florence Villa is more modern, almost like an apartment complex. What I especially enjoyed about their house was the feel of tradition. Each year, every group leaves a special artistic presentation that decorates nearly every inch of the Florence Villa. It’s just really cool to look back and recognize individuals you know. For example, I saw my big sis’s picture hanging along the lower staircase from when she spent a year abroad. Despite the differences in houses, it was absolutely wonderful being able to see everyone! I’ve missed my freshman living arrangement, Suite C, a ton the past couple of weeks so it was really great being able to see Brooke and Alex. Also, it was fun seeing a couple Pi Phi s and so many other others-I could list so many names! Thanks everyone for letting us tour your house and welcoming us to Florence! Anyway, we all we out for gelato, yes, AGAIN, at a gelateria located near the Duomo.

Skyler, Me, Julie
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Still not being able to get a hold of Nancy, two guys from the Florence program took us over to a hostel where we met up with more individuals from the Heidelberg programs who were also in Florence for the weekend. Monday we got up, and having finally talked to Nancy, walked over to her house to clean up. We then spent all of Monday afternoon touring the city, particularly around the Duomo. One of Florence’s treasures is their leather market, which we also walked through, picking up a few gifts and other purchases. For dinner we met up with Nancy and ate at a little Pizzeria that had huge calzones for only 3 Euro! It was SO good!

We then spent all of Monday afternoon touring the city, particularly around the Duomo.

Duomo...take two
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Originally we planned to spend Monday evening in the city with the Florence group, however, realizing that we must make reservations our only options were a 10pm train or a 4:35am train. Smartly, though sadly, we took the 10pm train. After dinner we wanted to at least say goodbye to our friends. Yet, every, yes EVERY, taxi in Florence was booked so we had to just walk to the train station without any goodbyes L Overall, our weekend in Italy was absolutely fabulous despite some minor set backs and a massive language barrier. To put it simply…l’amore!