Florence, Italy- Week One

Welcome everyone to my first blog post! I have been in Florence, Italy now for almost a week and I am loving it! I arrived on Monday, January 7th, after 2 days of traveling. My family took me to Billings, MT on Saturday, January 5th and I flew out from Billings at 7:45 a.m. on Sunday, January 6th. After 4 flights from Billings- Denver- Chicago- Zurich, Switzerland- Florence, I arrived! My flight from Zurich to Florence was absolutely breathtaking because we flew over the Swiss Alps! I'm sorry Montana and Canadian Rockies, but you have NOTHING on the Swiss Alps. They are out of this world. So beautiful. The picture below was taken from my window seat of the airplane. 

Upon arrival in Florence, I met up with Jenna Rogness, my best friend/roommate and fellow classmate at Concordia College. We ended up arriving a day early than we were supposed to, oops! So we booked a hotel in advance and stayed there the night of the 7th. We were both jet lagged and felt gross from 24 hours of flying, but were so happy to be in Florence! This is a picture of us upon arrival to our hotel, Soggiorno Pitti Affittacamere, which was located in the city center of Florence. 

 The next morning we took a taxi to our apartment on Borgo Degli Albizi and moved in! We were surprised to find that our apartment was huge! With 2 single rooms, one very large double room, a big living room, kitchen and 2 bathrooms. Jenna and I both got our own rooms and a few hours later our roommates arrived and moved in! That evening we had a delicious authentic meal at a restaurant called Baldovino. We had lasagna and a dish with truffle oil, red wine, and tiramisu for dessert. It was delicious! 


The next day, Wednesday January 9th, we started orientation at Accademia Italiana. Accademia Italiana is one of the best art, fashion and design schools in Europe, so I feel incredibly lucky to be taking classes in the fashion program! I will be taking Collection 1, Pattern Design 1, Fashion Illustration 1, Basic Computer Graphic Design and Italian Language. We start classes on Monday and I'm really excited! In addition to learning about the basics of living in Italy, we also took tours around Florence, my favorite one so far being to Fiesole, a hill outside Florence where you could see the whole city below. The picture to the right was taken of me at Fiesole with the city of Florence behind me. Such a gorgeous view!

Orientation lasted from Wednesday, January 9th- Friday, January 11th. During that time we had to prepare documents for our permit to stay, secure our class schedules, and just learn about Italian life! Friday night 6 of us girls went to a club called Twenty-One, for international students, which was really fun! I got a drink called a negroni- very popular in Italy and danced to American pop-rap music! 


This weekend we are having a chill weekend, with sleeping in, going to a few shops, and meeting new friends! 

Stay tuned for my adventures next week, as I begin classes and take a trip to Tuscany to wine vineyards over the weekend! Thanks for visiting my blog!