5 things you (probably) didn’t know about Firenze

Hi guys! Sorry I haven’t been posting – to put it lightly exams kicked my butt! 3 exams back to back to back was not fun but I feel confident in all of my classes.  In my cooking class part of our exam was to cook a dish without the recipe, and we were awarded top dish! It was the scariest feeling when he was about to try it because although he’s one of the nicest professors, when the subject is food he’s all business. Luckily, he loved ours so I think I’m ready to become an Iron Chef – Food Network Channel here I come!  ;)

All of us girls have been out and about, enjoying our last days here in Florence. Today, were packing and cleaning since we’re leaving to the airport tomorrow. Tonight we’re going out for Gusta pizza since that place has become our official date night routine! After, we’ll probably hangout in the piazza and take some finale pictures.

I won’t be on here until next Tuesday or so. After flying to Florida for a couple of days, I’m off to DC on Friday and then next Monday I will be in Madrid! But in the meantime, here are 5 things that you (probably) didn’t know about Florence:

1. Crepes started in Firenze – not France.  The daughter of the Medici family here in Firenze married the King of France and brought them with her to France.
2. Gelato was first created here and you can find a Gelateria on every block.
3. Florence use to be the capital of Italy before Rome.
4. 89% of the businesses in Florence are family businesses
5. If you have blonde or any sort of curl to your hair the vendors will call you “Shakira” as you walk by.

goals so far..

As you guys might remember, the first blog I wrote I listed some goals that I would like to accomplish and since it is getting close to the end of the trip I figured now is as good as any time to check them off!

Below were my goals:

1. See Casalduni, the town in Italy where my family is from: Couldn’t end up going since there are no hotels by that area and my Italian isn’t that good.
2. Be able to understand Italian by the time I leave: mostly, so check!
3. Find a vintage clothing/antique store in every country (sorry mom!): check! 
4. Don’t gain more than 5 pounds, this by far will be the hardest: I’m proud to report that I lost 4 pounds here – the all pasta and gelato diet actually works! ;)
5. Take this journey for what it is – a life changing experience. Explore, Learn, Experience daily. Minus the many rainy days which kept us inside for the more part, I definitely turned this into a life changing experience. I explored through the mountains of Italy (canyoning), I learned all about the Italian culture and regions in Italy, and I experienced once of oldest cultures in the world. 

I will always remember the days I spent learning how to cook in Italy, the day I saw a Vogue photoshoot on the Spanish Steps in Roma, the nights spent staying up just so we could go to the secret bakery, and the many friends I met along the way. This trip was amazing and I can’t wait to tell everyone the stories that never made it into the blog.

Calcio Storico 2012 Azzurri

Calcio Storico has been an event that Florentine’s have been waiting for all year. It is a medieval game that has been around since 145o and used to be played with prisoners.  It is a mix of boxing, soccer, rugby and hockey with one goal: get the ball behind the opposing players wall.  They can use any force necessary (punching, kicking, etc.) in order to get the win and there are no rules.  It is common to see players taken off by stretchers and have broken bones by the end. For those Hunger Games fans, it was basically a real life version of it.

There are 4 teams made up of the districts of Florence and my district happens to be “Santa Croce” which is Azzurri (blue).  The players are massive and if you can imagine the craziest fan base you know and times that by 10 you’ll have the crowd at Calcio Storico.  They threw their water bottles at the players to distract them, the cheer nonstop altogether, and they WILL give you dirty looks if you sit down. They have flags, smoke guns, whistles and everything possible in order to help their team win.

It was intense, and all I can say is thank god our side won otherwise I don’t know how it would’ve gone! We ended up winning 11-0 beating the Santa Maria Novella district which is red.  Now our team faces Bianca, which is the district on the other side of the Arno in the finals on the 24th.  The game was overwhelming, interesting and addicting to watch all at the same time.  The game ended with the players throwing out carnations into the stands for the victory.

Piazza Michelangelo

Piazza Michelangelo is one of the few places where you can go and get a glimpse of the entire Florence skyline.  It’s beautiful and that is where we are spending tonight!  We’re going to head up there for sunset and to take plenty of pictures, (I’ll try to upload them but the uploader still isn’t working).

The last days have been spent doing homework and enjoying our last weekend in Florence.  Last night we went out to Meso which is a turkish place that has the best kabobs in all of Florence. They are a must have! Then we went walking around Florence and just spent the rest of the time hanging out with friends.  I’m definitely going to miss it here but I am ready for exam week to be over and to see all of my friends and family.. eight days!

Confindustria

Today was another day without classes which meant a day spent doing more papers and relaxing.  Instead of having a complete day off, I had to go to a meeting with a class at a company called Confindustria.

What do you think of when you see a product with the label “made in Italy”? Typically we think it’s good quality.  Well Confindustria is an organization which controls companies that put “made in Italy” on their products.  Their job is to ensure the consumers are getting the best quality since it is representing Italian culture and goods.  The organization has been around for over a thousand years now and they are in charge of 135,000 businesses globally.  Typically they don’t let students or anyone from the public meet with them but our teacher pulled some strings and got us in.  Everyone was very nice and they brought us out food and answered any possible questions that we had.  After we sat and talked to the Director for a good 30 minutes which was a very pleasant surprise.

On a side note: officially ten days left in Italia. I’m sad to leave but happy to get back all at the same time.  I started packing my souvenirs too hoping that I could fit everything in my one bag.. we will see later how that goes!

relaxing day in Firenze

Hi all!

Not much to post about here since everyone had tons of homework to do.  But I realized I never really described to you guys about Firenze or my daily life here..

Firenze is a city that is trying to renew it’s image and not to be known just for its’  history. Firenze is where Gucci first started, Pinocchio’s author is from here, and many other famous people either lived here or did something important for the city.  The youth rebel by spreading graffiti all over the streets and a lot of it has to do with political issues.  Most people keep to themselves, but for the most part it is really safe here.

I live on a street which is about a 15 minute walk to the Arno (the river). It is a quiet street filled with old shoe shops and many apartment buildings.  Directly across the street from me is a coffee house which I go to daily for either a coffee or crostata and to the right from me is a very cute vintage shop called Lady Jane Boutique. I love walking away from the busy life at the piazzas and getting to our quiet street which is filled with jasmine plants.

Everyday on my way to school a local shoemaker in his 50′s always says good morning to me which brightens up my day.  I run into several families taking their children to school which is probably the most adorable thing ever to see a five year old dressed so fancy! The streets are extremely busy in the morning and everyone gets settled into their daily routine. The rest of the day is spent walking to classes, helping tourists find places, and meeting people simply by sitting on the steps of Santa Croce which is the big church by our house.  It’s a simple, easy life here in Firenze and that is exactly what I needed right now!

Roma

This weekend in Rome was one of the best weekends I have had so far in Italy.  It started by visiting the Vatican and several other landmarks and ended with a four course dinner and a late night trip to the Trevi Fountain.  The Trevi Fountain was surreal.  It was beautiful and at night it was extremely relaxing with tons of fun people.

Rome definitely made me miss my Poppi though.  Before I left for Italy, I watched the videotapes from when my grandparents visited Italy and saw all the places where they went.  One scene my poppi was videotaping across the street from the Coliseum and I am pretty sure I was standing in the same exact spot 6 years later.  He would’ve loved this trip for me.  I think about how excited he would’ve been to help me practice Italian before my trip; he probably would’ve ended up booking a flight over too! I feel Pop here with me every day and I hope to never lose that feeling.

The next day we woke up and went on several tours of the Coliseum, Roman Forum, Imperial Forum, and the City Hall. It was rainy so it was probably the best day to get all the private tours done.  After the tours we went out on the town as a massive group. It was so many people to keep track of but we were able to stay together for most of the night.  Eventually we split off and met Alfredo, a photographer for Vogue, Brian, an actor doing a movie in Rome, and Luca, who is a designer for Asics shoes. They were tons of fun and showed us a couple different places that were filled with locals and had great food. The club scene is definitely a lot more relaxed than in Florence.  At the club we actually ran into some people we met in Florence the week before which was fun to add some more people to our group.  After a long night we ended it with pastries and headed back to our hotel room.

Today we ditched the tour to go see the Pope say his blessing to the crowd and that was an experience that I will never forget.  People from all over the world showed off their flags with pride as they listened to the Pope bless us in about ten different languages (it was really impressive!).  Next we went to hang out at the Spanish Steps and while we were there we ran into VOGUE doing a photoshoot for their next cover! Today we visited a total of 4 countries: Italy, Spain, France, and the Vatican.  In honor of the thirty year war, the Pope gave ownership of the Spanish Steps to Spain, but at the top it is technically France’s territory which is really cool.  After taking pictures we then went to a park where we rode a four person bicycle – in dresses. It was a mess but we had so much fun and it was a nice break from walking.  Rome was better than I expected and a lot of the people are really kind and funny, it’s definitely going to be hard to leave here so soon! But every good thing eventually comes to an end so now it’s time to head back to Florence to finish writing our papers.

*Pictures coming soon! They won’t upload right now.

Opera & Ballet / Pisa & Lucca

Sorry for not posting these past couple of days, I’ve been extremely busy with midterms!

Two days ago I went to the opera and ballet and saw my first performance in one of the oldest opera houses in Florence. It was beautiful and was about being careful for what you ask for.  I could understand what was going on by the actions, while catching some Italian words here and there. I can’t wait to go to my next one! I also went to hear the Mayor of Florence speak about some issues going on in the city.  He held the conference right in front of the Duomo which was really neat to see.

Yesterday, everyone from USF took the train into Pisa and Lucca.  Lucca is what I imagined when I thought of an Italian town.  It was rich in history with tons of quaint shops.  They have a wall which completely encloses it and is one of only three towns left in Italy that way.  The wall is probably a good 12 feet high and almost 5 feet wide to protect them from cannonball damage back in the day.  Next, Pisa was extremely empty! I can’t believe it houses such a great and distinct Italian landmark when the place looks like a small town you would find on the side of I-75. After taking some pictures we left and were very excited to get back to Florence and go to Ganzo to meet the newbies.  This past week about 100 students arrived to start taking classes and will be here until the end of June too.  The food was great and we met a bunch of new people who are going out to dinner with us tonight.

Random side note, but I’ve been obsessed with the work of Dante Alighieri.  There is a massive statue in Santa Croce and I noticed we have a book full of his poems in our apartment so I started to read them. They are amazing. I love is work and now everyday before I get ready for school, I read one of his poems. It definitely should be something you guys look into!

For tonight, it’s all about packing and Gusta Pizza. Tomorrow we leave for Rome and won’t return until late Sunday. Fingers crossed on seeing the Pope!

must read.

7 of us went canyoning today which is where we spent the day in the Tuscan countryside jumping off of and sliding down mountains/waterfalls.  We all had helmets on and harnesses to protect us but it was one of the most exhilarating moments of my life.  After doing that for 3 hours, we went to this small restaurant that is in a town with a population of 100 people.  They brought out this massive cast iron pan that had fresh pasta and sauce to give us all 2 servings. It was some of the best food I’ve had so far.

If that doesn’t sound good enough our tour guide, Simone, then brought us to a villa rental property which is conveniently located NEXT DOOR to Leonardo Da Vinci’s home. It was amazing. On the property it had these great views with tons of cherry trees which ended up being our snack for the rest of the day.

We came home and ended the night by watching the sunset while eating Hazelnut Gelato with Nutella and waffle cone pieces swirled through it.

p e r f e c t i o n.

girls night out

Best night so far in Italy! About 8 of us ladies made dinner plans to go out to Gusta Pizza, where the kitchen guys made us all heart shaped pizzas and they were so delicious. We sat out by the local church to eat the pizzas and ordered a couple of bottles of wine while we talked with all the locals. Our next stop was to our favorite gelateria which topped off the night.

After that we went out to a local pub called the Lion’s Den which is a college spot out here in Florence and it was packed.  Shortly after, we left to go to a club called Twice where we were able to skip the line and pay no charge to get in.  We were dancing having a great time, then we met professional rugby players who brought us to their table in VIP and paid for everything for the rest of the night.  The club manager brought us out sparklers to dance with and we even got to go by the dj booth and onto the stage. It was amazing and since we were in VIP if anyone was bothering us, the bodyguards would kick them out immediately. It was definitely a night to remember!