Day 4: Sunday Funday

Last night we went out on the town for our first night in Florence. It was literally the most fun I've had so far. Monique's friend who has been here since January showed us around and told us the places that we have to go to before our short adventure here ends. We ended up at a pub called Red Garter and that's where we spent the majority of the night. Emily, Valeria, Haley, some other ISA girls and myself all failed miserably at karaoke in front of a bunch of drunk people. Then we danced the rest of the night away.

I learned two lessons during our night out 1. Italians love American music. All of the music that was played last night was American with a little Spanish jams thrown in there as well and 2. Italian men are persistent. I have never said "no" to dancing with someone and they literally ask 100 more times before they get the hint. In the end I began to just literally put my hand in their face and they got it. It sounds rude but if you were there you would definitely understand.

After the pub we went searching for a secret bakery. A secret bakery is what they call bakeries that make pastries at like 2 or 3 a.m. for restaurants that will be open the next day. If you can find one and knock on the back door, you get a pastry for just 1 euro. It's a secret because no one is supposed to know where they are and once you do know, you aren't allowed to tell anyone else. A lot of people spend months or years trying to find a secret bakery and we found one on our very first night. I just got a plain croissant. It was delicious.

After that, we left and got lost in Florence for a while. That may sound scary to you but we were all together and we stumbled upon a lot of good places that we might potentially visit when it's not 4 a.m. If you could see how beautiful this city is morning, afternoon, and night I don't think you would mind being lost in it either.

Today we slept in so late. Our window was locked and closed so literally no light came in. I woke up multiple times but thinking that it was still nighttime because it was pitch black, I kept going back to sleep. After we forced ourselves out of bed Megan, Monique, and I went to this bistro called A Casa Cafe that Megan and I found yesterday and had brunch. Later, all of us wandered around Florence and ate dinner that gives students free wine. We spent a lot of time searching for a gelato place that apparently doesn't exist and then settled on a place right beside the river. We sat on the bridge and ate our gelato and enjoyed the fantastic view.

I cannot get over how beautiful this city is. Cobblestone streets, buildings that look like they came straight out of a magazine, and some kind of statue every 10 minutes of walking. I'm in love with this place. I'm sad because I know these next three weeks are going to fly by. However, I'm so happy that I am getting the chance to live out this once in a lifetime experience.

Smooches,
The College Natural