Classes in Florence, part 1.

I'm making this post now to recall my first 2 days of class, because I know if I wait until Thursday evening I will probably have forgotten all the things that transpired in the past week.

On Mondays I have one class, and that class is Food of Italy, and it doesn't start until 6pm. So I slept in until 12:30, and it was amazing. I met up with my roommates for lunch at Caffé Duomo, where there was an awesome special offering bruschetta, salad, pasta, and wine for only 9 euro. I however, being a picky eater, opted for the pizza margherita, which was delicious and also way more food than I was prepared for.

Pizza Margherita, probably like 14 inches across

After lunch, I had some time to wander through the city. There are so so many cute little cafés and pasticcherias and gelaterias all over Florence and I would love to eat at every single one of them. There's also probably a million and one clothing and accessory shops around here, that I try to avoid going into for fear of draining my travel account before I've done any significant traveling.

At 6pm I headed over to my cooking class, which my roomie Nicole and I are in together, and oh man am I going to love this class. First, we went on a quick tour of the city, where our teacher pointed out all the best places to get gelato, paninis, espresso, wine, etc. It was incredibly helpful to someone like me who wants to visit every shop but doesn't have the time or the funds. After going over the syllabus back in class, we learned that each week we will be preparing 4 (!) new dishes, all from scratch. I'm going to learn so much about Italian cooking and I'm beyond excited.

Classroom, while Renata was making us some delicious pasta

Today, the only class I had was Italian, from noon to 1:15, which meant I had to wake up early (11am) (just kidding that's not early) (but really, sleeping til noon is awesome). Our class is made up of I think 7 other TCU students and one gentleman student from Poughkeepsie. Our teacher came in speaking Italian and really didn't speak much English to us at all, but I feel like I learned a good amount in one day.

After Italian class, I bumped into Nicole and Samantha and went with them to the Palazzo Pitti to tour the Boboli Gardens, using our amazing free museum pass provided by the lovely folks at Accent. The Boboli Gardens are extensive, and the views at the top are absolutely incredible. I imagine this used to be basically the Medicis' back yard, and I decided I'm going to have a yard like it myself one day. It was cold and damp today, but I really enjoyed getting out and exploring my first real attraction in Florence. Also I met a cat there, we became friends. I'd say it was a pretty successful outing.

View of the Palazzo from the top of the gardens

The Tuscan hills, from the top of the gardens

Before my roommates headed off to class we stopped into a little pizzeria off the Duomo Piazza and had a delicious, cheap meal. I got a calzone and a diet coke for only 4 euro and it filled my stomach as well as my soul. Cheap, delicious food is my favorite. On my way back to the apartment it started to snow (it had been kind of misting icy rain all day) so I decided this was the best time to buy some Italian leather boots. There are saldis (sales) everywhere these days, so I was able to snag a cute, comfy pair for only 60 euros.

On Via Dante Alighieri

Salame Piccante and Mozzarella calzone

Tomorrow I have my first design class - CAD for Interiors II. It's from 3 to 8:30pm and I hope I enjoy it as much as I've enjoyed the last couple days.