sabato 26 marzo:

I’m all moved in to my apartment! And I LOVE it! It’s a lot bigger than I imagined. Even from outside, it looks really old and small, but the apartments are actually really nice. Check out for the hostel was 10am, so I got up at 9. The other girls sleeping in the room with me were from the UK. Anyway, so I called a cab and headed for my apartment. It was the bumpiest car ride I have ever been on. (because of the cobblestones) Chiara, the onsite director, met me there and gave me my keys. She’s really nice and she gave me so much info. She even helped me carry all my (heavy) stuff up to the 2nd floor. That was another mission in itself thanks to Italy’s lack of elevators. During the cab ride, I saw a little peek of the Duomo and it was BEAUTIFUL. I can’t believe I’m living literally minutes away from it. I can see the top of it from my roof, even the people who are enjoying the view from up there! And I can also hear the bell when it rings. I can’t help but ask myself “Is this real life?” It feels so surreal! I definitely love my new home! The only thing is that I don’t have wifi here, but it’s all good! That gives me more of a reason to explore the city more and not be on my laptop all the time. The nearest internet station is just down the street, so it’s really no big. When Chiara left, I did a little unpacking then I decided to take a stroll around. I needed to find a grocery store to buy shampoo and stuff.  There’s really nothing like Albertsons or Target here, but I found a little shop not too far from my place. I just bought some food, snacks, and toiletries.

I share the apartment with Mildred, a UCR student. Her flight got here in the late afternoon, and as soon as she got here, we went to get our Italian cellphones. So I now have an Italian number and a UK number. Fancy, I know ;)! We took a cab there and walked back so I got to see the city more. The streets were filled with people. For dinner, we went to a nice restaurant overlooking the Arno River called Golden View. I had my first 3-hour meal ever! And oh my it was amazing. For the appetizer I had this arugula salad with walnuts, cheese, pears, and honey. I’m not much of a salad eater but this salad was BOMB. Then I had spinach and ricotta and spinach stuffed ravioli topped with 4 cheeses and truffle sauce. Also BOMB. For dessert I had creme bruleé. And all of this, of course, with some champagne and wine. I think I’ve found my fave restaurant. It’s pretty pricey though. I remember the salad was €12 and the pasta was €18, don’t remember how much the desert and everything was. But sooo worth it if you’re down to splurge on a fancy dinner! After dinner, Mildred & I rearranged some furniture in our apartment. We moved her bed to the other “room” so that we could use as much space as possible. Our apartment is so big for the 2 of us! I put room in quotations because it’s not really a typical bedroom. It’s just an open area behind a wall. haha My room is a lot roomier now so I added a sofa thing and a table. Anyway, we’re gonna tour the city tomorrow and I can’t wait! This is really weird for me to say, but I don’t feel homesick at all.