Tour de Firenze 2013

My new family in Reparata 3 aka the Penthouse

lolacoz57 — Mon, 2 Sep 2013 05:10:00 GMT

Well I cannot decide if occupying the top floor of Via Santa Reparata 3 for the next few months is torture...or a blessing in discuise! Move in day was tough as I had to lug two 50lb suitcases to the top of our building because we have been blessed with no elevators. At least I will always work off my previous meal climbing to the top of the tower!

We are referring to our new home as the "Penthouse" because we have the top and every other floor has two apartments per floor, whilie our apartment is the entire top! Its the perfect amount of space for the massive amount of things I brought!

My roomate Lizzie is very nice and we lucked out and got the biggest room in the apartment! There are six of us total and each two get our own full bathroom!

I have really hit it off with Amber who is from Roger Williams, kind of a coincidence since that is where Kristen goes! The other girls are Danielle, Liz and Jordan. Jordan has her own business where she makes and sells fashionable "gators" which are the fleece covers you put over your neck for when your skiing or just trying to keep warm! They are all very stylish and I'm hoping to score a pink sequence one for my birthday!

Liz and Jordan are quite the chefs which is perfect for me because they make us dinner everynight. Tonight they made a meat lasagna and a veggie one, needless to say they were both spectacular!

We have two apartments of boys that live below us so they come up to hangout a lot and its been fun. The first night we moved in we had then up for a big pasta dinner with a little wine tasting.....which turned into quite a few bottles! - needless to say it was a bad clam night for everyone.

I am budgeting quite nicely though becuase it costs 1euro for a box of wine....maybe I'll start mailing myself back some bottles to have next semester!

That's all for now folks!

Photos: Firenze

lolacoz57 — Mon, 2 Sep 2013 01:12:00 GMT

First thoughts in Firenze

lolacoz57 — Mon, 2 Sep 2013 01:00:00 GMT

Well the journey to Florence was not exactly what I hoped it would be....getting from Germany was not exactly the best trip. Who knew forgetting to take out your laptop for the security belt would be taken so seriously in Germany! Getting taken into a room and having my hands swabbed was really a great way to start my stay in EUROPE!

Finally landing in Florence was the best feeling, especially when all of my luggage came around on the belt, I was filled with relief....Walking through the airport and seeing my driver holding a LAURA COSTELLO sign made me feel much better about hopping into a van with a complete stranger. After about a twenty minute ride I arrived at the Hotel Astoria. A man from my program was waiting to escort me to dinner because I had arrived a few hours later than the rest of the group.

Once I dropped off my luggage and changed we headed out to the restaurant to meet up with the rest of the group.....

Upon arrival I quickly was reunited with a few of my friends from Bryant, it was especially nice to see Jenna who was relived to see that I had made the journey safe!

Our first dinner was on the roof top of a gorgeous hotel that overlooked the entire city. There was a buffet filled with lots of delicious appetizers and of course, lots of pasta!

After the dinner I met up with Jenna and Jared and some new friends we met and we headed out to walk around the city....

as we began walking we came up to the most massive building I had ever seen in my life. News to me that this gorgeous structure was the Duomo, Florence's most beloved cathederal and also the center of Florence! After we explored some more we found a nice cafe and had our first Prosecco

...getting back to the hotel was not the easiest thing in the world, but once we made it back I finally met the rest of my suitemates and we were eager to see our apartment the next day!