Day 4- 16/1/10

Today was not much for orientation, but we had to be there at some point between 9am and 1pm to get our books and if we wanted to add/drop classes or sign up for any of the trips on the weekends. Me and Nate, signed up for a trip to Pisa on the 23rd and Siena on the 30th. We already know a few other people going to Pisa the first day and I also signed up to go to a calcio (soccer) game for feb 21. Once we had gotten our books and signed up for what we wanted we left and went back to the apartment.
There wasnt anything planned for us after that so me Nate and emily decided to 'get lost' in florence. Our apartment is pretty much between two bridges so we decided to take the one farther east(up river) than the one we had used before. We made our way past one of the city gates to the south of the river and followed the city walls up the hill which never seemed to end. We passed the fort up on the hill and then continued to follow the winding, 8' high stone walled, street through the hills of the edge of florence. There were amazing views of parts of the city as we were going and eventually had to stop and try to figure out where we were to head back. We ended up outside the city and at the entrance to an observatory and the Galileo Galilei Institute of Physics or something along those lines. After figuring out where we were it was a simple solution to get back. We continued a little bit farther and then took a right down a main road which lead us straight down the hill to another one of the city gates. This one was far bigger than the other though as it was the gate facing Rome and was located at the intersection of 5 or so roads. We followed the road back into the city and passed by the Palazzo Pitti and reached the Ponte Vecchio where we took a right and followed the river to the next bridge and then found our way home. Along the way back we stopped at the same little shop/pizzarea where we seem to stop daily to get bread as it is on the way back from the store as well as being about 2 blocks from our apartment.
In a bit we will be going out to the store to to get dinner for tonight and then head back and cool while we all sit around the table and probably start up another movie. Our days have seemed to involve atleast one stop at the place down the street from us to get bread, stoping at the grocery store for dinner, watching a movie during dinner, and having a rotating schedule for cooking/dishes. Only being 3 days its a pretty good routine, but well see how it holds up after classes start. Tomorrow it looks like a few of us will be taking the bus up to Fiesole, which is a small town in the hills(i say hills cause you can see snowcap mountains in the distance, but they are like the 'mountains' at home) that overlooks Florence and has some of the houses from the rich and powerful people that used to live in the city.
OK, so for dinner joe made chicken breaded with mustard and bread crumbs. Weve also got some pasta and bread to go with it. Tonights movie: Inglorious Bastards

Day 3- 15/1/10

Friday, today we had another orientation meeting at 9am, this time at the palazzo rucellai, which is where the majority of the classes are held(not studio). We went an extra street over on our way there, but other than that no problems. Then met some of the institute staff outside and they directed us to a small door around the side and up a spiral stair to the third floor. The institute is through a small, probably 3' wide double door, but the rooms inside are huge. We were a little late but got in and sat down.
They gave us a quick tour of the classrooms on the 3rd floor, theres a small passage from the computer room to one of the classrooms, or something like that. They then took us outside and around to the front of the building and in another door and up to the 2nd floor(still like 40 steps up though) where there were 3 more classrooms and the library/small book collection. After the tour we were brought back into the main room (we were told that the last formal public gathering there was for Princess Diana). In there we were split up again and filled out the Permisso (permission to stay) form which took a little while. When the entire group was done they split us back into the groups we took the tours in and brought us into the classrooms and were given a very brief 'class' on italian and phrases.
After the brief class we went outside and were told about a few places around the palazzo rucellai where we would be able to get things. Went and got a sandwich(didnt know what i was getting, but it looked good) and it was like an egg and ham on panini/roll thing. Walked around a little bit because we had to be back at the school later to meet with one of our arch professors. Got out of that, hung around the school talking with people then visited where we thought studio would be...well on the right street that is and visited people who lived on the other side of the river.
Later made a, what appears like it will be daily, trip to the supermarket a few blocks away from us to pick us some more food and dinner. Nate was cooking and made steak tips and onion and peppers. Then sat around watching a movie and talking around the kitchen table, which is our only real surface for us to do things on, and we get limited internet there.

Day 2- 1/14/10

We all got up for orientation which we had at 9 in the morning. We were given directions and a packet of information at the apartment and had to find our way to the Auditorium al Duomo. Which happens to be down the street from the Duomo. We did walk by it(picture) but didnt get long to stay there because we were running behind. The auditorium al duomo was below a Best Western hotel and behind a little cafe. We were inside for most of the day, getting introduced to teachers, staff and then described what the general things would be for the semester and orientation. Then had a talk from one of the Italian State police officers who told us about safety in the city and what to watch out for in the city. Had lunch downstairs and had some free time inbetween some of the talks. Walked around the area and saw Santa Maria Nouvela(picture). Most of the day was spent there listening to people and occasional breaks outside. Afterwards we went out and found the phone store and bought phones that work for us here in italy. After getting back to the apartment we found where the grocery store was(on another map they gave us) and went there to buy some food for dinner. Had some of the pasta and sause they had bought for the apartment before we got there and bought some sausage and some other stuff from the grocery store. Then stopped and bought some bread from the place we had gotten some pizza. Then Walker(one of my roomates) cooked up the pasta and sausage(we have a rotating schedule of dishes to cooking to someone else between the five of us). Then sat and watched a movie and also went to bed fairly early.

Day 1- 1/13/10

image from the plane getting into italy

Got into Firenze at around 2pm here(8am est...6hr difference) Our plane was so small and tight packed. Was really foggy around Frankfurt airport when we got there but when we left it was pretty clear. Our plane was parked out on the tarmac a ways from the main terminal, so we got to take a bus out there and it was situated between two of the runways. We took off from one of the back runways too seemed like it was miles from the terminal at that point lol. Was able to take a few pictures as we were taking off, but best part was when we started our decent in Italy. We came down and there was a bunch of low clouds but as we kept going I started to see snow and figured it was the ground. Well I took a few pictures when I realized what it was. Mountains...snow capped mountain, we think it was a chain of the alps. I have a few more pictures I will try to upload somewhere later, our internet isnt the greatest in the apartment. Took a bunch of pictures of the mountains, villages, countryside as we flew over them. Once landed we took another bus to the baggage claim in the Florence airport(small, 1 runway airport) both my bags made it to florence. We then passed through 'customs' which was a joke...we just walked under a sign saying 'customs' and past a police officer. Then met up with the people from Palazzo Rucellai outside and all 40 or so of us gathered on the sidewalk outside. They checked us in then we found out where we were living in the city and who. They then packed us into cabs 2 at a time and sent us on our way to our apartment. We were supposed to be met by someone outside, but when I got there 2 other students were standing out there because we didnt know who to buzz inside and the door was locked. We eventually got in after there were 6 of us there waiting.
Our building (via Ghibellina 7) has a courtyard within it which the majority of the apartments are off of. Our apratment is 2 floors and starts on the 2nd floor. There are 5 of us in the apartment, living with nate on the 2nd floor of the apartment. We have a door that opens up to the courtyard and a window with a ledge we can sit in. The kitchen/living room has a small terrace/deck off of it that we can use as well and it overlooks another small courtyard. We have three bathrooms and two showers in the place. We thought it was pretty sick when we got here, and it still is, but after seeing some of the other places people are in it doesnt seem as cool. We also dont have an oven which is weird, and there is a washing maching downstairs.
For dinner we decided to walk around for a bit up our street because we had to stop at our landlords office to pay for internet for the semester. Then stopped at a small little place and got pizza and water for dinner(water comes in 1.5 Liter bottles for 1 euro). We tried watching tv while we ate, but there is nothing on really. Went to bed pretty early not only because we had orientation starting at 9 the next day, but because we had all been up for a while on the planes over.

Day 1- 1/13/10

So first ill share the stuff from the plane: food, views...thats about it...
Each seat had a screen in the headrest infront of it which movies and music etc. was only 10 movies so i ended up watching UP and G-Force.



For dinner they were out of pasta when they got to us, so our only option was salmon, spinach, roll...well what you see in the picture lol...then later while we were over england they gave us a small container with a 'breakfast' in it.

In Firenze

In the apartment, and it is amazing, will upload pictures later...or tomorrow...just got internet, working a little slow, little busy, little tired. Tomorrow is orientation so will be at that all day, so might not get to upload anything till after that. going out to get food now and try to find things around our apartment.

Boarding Check-In

The two planes I will be flying on tomorrow. The larger one(Airbus 300-330) will be the one I am on from Boston to Frankfurt, then the small one (RJ 85) is the little puddle jumper Ill be on from Frankfurt to Florence. Got a window seat on both of them so hopefully there will be some pictures from that later. The one to Germany will be the nighttime pictures(depart 430pm arrive 530am) then the hour and 1/2 flight to Florence will be mid-day so who knows what ill get to see, hopefully some good pictures.