Waking up this morning was super exciting. While we still had to go sit through three hours of class, before we knew it, it was time to head to the train station and make our first weekend venture to Florence. First rookie mistake of the day: bringing our hiking backpacks to class. We needed to catch the 12:30 train so logically it made sense, but was so not worth it. Brinberg let us out early so we had plenty of time to come back to the Montarina, grab something quick to eat, and still have plenty of time to get to the station before the train left. But after doing all that, we all boarded the train smoothly and were super excited to go. We all got seats together besides Rachel, who luckily sat next to a nice Italian guy who she could talk music with the entire ride.
After arriving to Milan, we switched trains smoothly and Sheley and I found our seats across from a business man who appeared to be watching an amusing show on his iPad during the ride, based on all the chuckles we heard from him. Before Sheley and I knew it, we were arriving into Florence. We met with the rest of the group and it was time to try and navigate our way through Florence. We struggled finding a map because the tourist info desk in the station was under construction, but after wandering around and stopping for some pictures, we found our way to an atm and the apartment we stayed at.
We were slightly earlier than planned, so were unable check in quite yet, so we decided to stop into Bar Michelangelo just up the street. There we all checked in with our parents (thanks to free wifi) and grabbed something to drink (I got a nice cold beer, of course). I then emailed the owner of the apartment and let him know we had arrived. Shortly after, we headed back to the apartment and met Emilio, a super sweet guy maybe 5-10 years older than us. While English wasn’t his strongest ability, he was very helpful with restaurant and other recommendations. He also greeted us with a yummy bottle of Chianti wine and almond biscuits. The apartment was super cute, clean, and perfect for our size group.
After Emilio left, we all settled into the apartment, drank our wine, and freshened up for dinner. For dinner we decided to try a recommendation from both Emilio and Beth: Yellow Bar. As we walked in, we met the owner who showed us the kitchen and told us about their fresh pasta and homeade olive oil they are known for. As a group, we ordered a bottle of wine, and then ordered our own meals. I had a really yummy vegetable pasta dish. After dinner, we were given free shots of limoncella from the owner, and then headed to another Beth recommendation: Uncle Jimmy’s.
Uncle Jimmy’s is basically an American college student bar. As you walk in, there are signatures, shirts, flags, underwear, and everything in between all over the walls and ceilings from college all across America. We got there decently early, so it wasn’t very crowded, which made it easy for all of us to walk around and see everything. I quickly found the big VT Beth’s group drew on the ceiling, and we all added our own touches throughout the night. We met some people from all different schools, and even some of Michael’s friends who are studying abroad in Florence. Not long after arriving, the bar tenders told us of their drink specials, which had us buy a wristband for 1 Euro and then get a drink + shot combo for 5 or 6 euros. I tried “Sex with an Alligator” (also suggested by Beth), and of course, Captain Morgan as a shot. 
After some fun conversations
with the other students (and a round or two more of drinks), we decided to head
to another club with Michael’s friends: Club 21. It was a smaller club, but
packed and a fun environment. We stayed for just a little while and then headed
home after some slightly instances happened. While we got partially lost along the way, we met some other American
students along the way who (sorta) helped us. And it hit me, I was in Florence, just the streets we were wandering around were absolutely stunning, and I was so excited to see what the next day had in store.
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