Week 6: New Semester
Welcome back!! The next semester started bright and early on February 16th with my new Monday 8:45 AM class. After 10 days of travel, waking up for that class was just a tragedy. I finally got my dramatic butt to class which was “Florentine Art Walks.” This class is purely an outdoor class, rain or shine, and we walk around the city observing the different art and historical monuments in the city. During my first class we learned about the Roman foundation in Florence, looking at the old perimeters, amphitheater, and a lot of other sights! We also learned that the Ponte Vecchio used to be a fish market. I know we learned a lot more but three hours of standing and listening is a big ask of a tired 20 year old… (kidding, don’t clown me) My two other classes are “Pairing Food and Wine” on Mondays at 12 PM and “Love and Marriage in the Renaissance" on Tuesdays at 12 PM. Yes, I know what you’re thinking. 2 days of class a week?!?! Yes, life could certainly be a lot worse :)
I’m pretty excited for my “Pairing Food and Wine” class because I have a lot to learn to live up to the legacy of my Grandpa and Dad… I’m hoping I can hold my own a little bit more this summer. So far, I can start to taste different flavors if my professor specifically tells us which flavors to look for. Let’s just say it’s a work in progress… My “Love and Marriage in the Renaissance" class seems like a perfect fit for my history credit. Being a big romcom girl, I love hearing about the different relationships and how they were influenced by the time. Only one downside… the class is in the same classroom as my class last semester, meaning I will be racing to class early every time in order to get a seat against the wall. Overall, I’m happy with my classes!
On Tuesday it was my wonderful friend Liv’s 21st birthday! Liv and I were introduced our freshman year of college at our sorority’s big little reveal. We ended up receiving the same big, Claire, and from there it’s been a whirlwind of the last 3 years. Even though being my “twin” in Kappa was a coincidence, Liv is truly one of those friends I never want to leave my life. She is SO kind yet SO funny (and I know she reads every blog post so hey, love ya.) We have never gotten to spend so much time together until we became roommates in Florence and I am so lucky to get to be experiencing all of this with her! So on the eve of her birthday Lauren and I decorated the apartment to the best of our ability and stocked up on some snacks so that we could start her day with celebrating right off the bat. We grabbed some brunch at Melaleuca before class and then hung out before dinner at the cheese wheel place that I’ve mentioned before. We ended the night with some gelato cake and feeling so grateful to have Liv in our life. Celebrating her was such a highlight of my week :)
Evening stroll with Olivia!
Another fun adventure of the week was going on an evening stroll with my roommate Olivia around our neighborhood and the surrounding area. We made our way up to the Tuscan hills and enjoyed some pretty unreal views of Florence lit up at night. We even discovered this old stone bathtub which was more freaky than cool to be honest… but we did see Piazzale Michelangelo completely empty on the tail end of our walk; I never thought I’d see that! Getting out in the fresh air, despite the STEEP hills we had to walk up to get to the view, was so refreshing and made me fall in love with a new part of Florence. Something about walking down neighborhood streets at night made me feel so nostalgic for home (not that Mequon looks quite like Florence) but I think it was the comfort of the peacefulness and quiet that can be hard to find in a city. We loved the walk so much we went back and did it again the next day in the morning, this time running into a little black lab puppy along the way that made me miss my pups at home just that much more.
The girls in Florence!
We ended any sense of normalcy with a visit to a rooftop bar right in our own neighborhood called Loggia, where we got to spend some quality time with our friends Maddy and Kate. Something I have loved about being abroad is becoming better friends with people I never thought I would hang out with. Maddy and I grew up in nearby areas in Wisconsin but have never spoken until we moved to Italy! It’s crazy how travel brings you instantly closer with people and creates bonds that I hope last long after we return home.
The week ended on an extremely exciting note: our USC girls coming to visit! Ava, Molly, Chloe, and Elena all arrived on Friday and it was like a breath of fresh air getting to squeeze them all again. Coincidentally, they booked an Airbnb only 2 minutes away from my apartment so it was extremely easy to run over there. Halle and Katie arrived on Saturday and just like that we were all together again! I love my friends from school SO much and I was so excited to have them here and get a feel for what Lauren and my life is like now. Lauren and I laughed over how we were putting more effort into getting ready for the day on the day they arrived… it was so weird at first seeing my long distance best friends! Ava and I had been talking about this trip since the summer; it felt unreal to have her standing in my Florence apartment. The visit started out super fun on Saturday with a caffe in the morning, exploring the city in the afternoon, introducing everyone to our favorite sandwich place, and hiking up to Piazzale Michelangelo with a couple bottles of wine to enjoy the sunset. Even though it was packed, I still really enjoyed getting to show all of my friends a place that has become so special to me (despite it being so touristy.) After pizza for dinner we all decided to hit the club and well, we had a night. Going clubbing in Florence is a completely different experience when you have 6 more of your best friends there to do it with you :) We definitely had our fun! Unfortunately when you haven’t seen one of your best friends in 3 months there’s a lot of stuff to catch up on, so Ava and I ended up chatting until 6 AM. Even though we still had 8 more days to catch up on everything, I needed to hear every detail of her life then and there so that’s what we did while eating scrambled eggs (I really need to get better late night snacks!)
And just like that, another week had come and go. Thanks for reading and see you next week!
