Ciao! It’s been a week since I left Boston and I am absolutely loving Florence. Over the last week we spent more time exploring and finding our way around the city. I am still pretty jet lagged so I’ve been going to bed around 2-3am and waking up at 10:30 everyday, but I’m sure that will go away once I start classes tomorrow. Me and my friend have been running the Arno river everyday and it’s so beautiful! It’s about a 45 minute run from our apartments, around the river, and back. The gym at FUA isn’t amazing so we’ve been sticking to running everyday. Since we got here, we have found some wicked fun clubs and bars that a lot of abroad students go to that have great student deals. The first night we went to Space which was my favorite night! The other nights we went to a couple Irish pubs and a karaoke bar that were a lot of fun. We made reservations at The Lion’s Fountain for next Sunday to watch the Super Bowl.


As for food, everything so far has been amazing. Saturday night we ate at El Gato e la Volpe and they had the best bread and margherita pizza (for 5,50 euros!). My favorite gelato place so far has been Amalo, the biscotto flavor was so good me and my friends got it twice in one day. We’ve been scouting out some quick breakfast places to go before class and some American diners to go when we’re craving some American food for the future.


Friday night we walked around all the designer stores and I was in my heaven! I am really hoping to save enough money towards the end of my stay to buy a Gucci belt here. We did a little shopping in Zara (which was the only store we could afford) and I found a pair of jeans that I am very excited about for 10 euros!


Today me and my friends have been researching the cheapest way to travel to places outside of Florence on the weekends. My roommate and I have been planning on doing a 10 day Greek island hopping tour for our spring break ever since we made the plan to live abroad and we booked it today! Florence for Fun was the travel agency we used which is great for students living abroad to get deals on day trips, weekend trips, and spring break trips. Food, transportation, and hotel is all included in the price and it is usually cheaper if you have a discount code or book multiple trips at once. We booked our Greek spring break trip and a weekend in the Amalfi coast today.

As for other places I am hoping to visit this semester, I am waiting to book them so I can get the best deals. I didn’t save as much as I had hoped to save, so it will probably depend on how much money I have left at the time. I definitely am planning on taking a bus or train to Milan for Milan Fashion Week the end of February. If everything works out, my other top places to travel that I am deciding between are Prague, London, Paris, Amersterdam, Interlaken, and Croatia.

Ciao for now!