It was fun leading up to our flight from Dublin to Florence because I was teaching everyone basic Italian vocab, pronunciation, and the do’s and dont’s of the area. I am not only the youngest of my immediate family, I am also the youngest on both sides on my extended family (with the exception of one younger cousin) with huge age gaps between the majority of my cousins. Because of this, I feel like I’ve always been looked at as a kid or being too young to understand what is going on with everyone else or be apart of a lot of conversations. Also whenever my family would go on trips together I felt like I was always in the back seat just going with the flow and not having an opinion about anything. For these reasons, I was really excited to show my family how much I’ve grown independently by taking initiative and being able to show them around a foreign country that has become a new home for me. It is a cool thing to only rely on myself and not my phone for navigation/maps; especially when I am the furthest thing from a city girl growing up in Northern Michigan where there’s approximately 10 stop lights then moving to corn field galore in Allendale, Michigan... Anyhoo, while I may always be the youngest, that doesn’t mean I don’t grow up too, and I wanted my family to see that I am becoming a self-dependent adult. It was exciting to be the one in charge for a change and hopefully my family didn’t think I was too bad of a tour guide!! Day 1 in Florence: The absolute first stop (after dropping our bags off in the Airbnb) I took everyone to was... Gustapizza!!!! This pizza place is the best in Florence, nothing else really can compare. The best thing about eating pizza in Florence is being able to order a whole one for yourself and not feel bad about finishing it. We each chose one off the menu, grabbed a bottle of wine, and walked over to the Pitti Palace to sit on the steps and enjoy the pizza with a view. I felt really bad because my family’s first interaction with a Florentine was a woman that came up to us and proceeded to start yelling saying how disrespectful we were for having a “picnic” at such a beautiful and historical place. Meanwhile there were probably 75 other people doing the exact same thing as us. My thought was that she is was just upset that tourist season had arrived in Florence... Next I took everyone to the Boboli Gardens to enjoy one of the few green places Florence has to offer. The Boboli Gardens is a really peaceful area that is nice to wander around on a sunny day. There are gardens, fountains, statues, the Porcelain museum, Forti de Belevedere, and a spectacular view of Florence from above the Pitti Palace. For the rest of the day I took my family to gelato, showed them my school and apartment (which we took a quick cat nap at) and finished by grabbing more wine (surprise surprise) and headed up to my favorite place in Florence- Piazzale Michelangelo ❤️. I think this day we ended up walking 11 miles... Florence is 100% a walking city which is a good and bad thing. I love it because I don’t enjoy taking public transportation, but when you’re trying to see the whole city in a few short days the miles can really add up!! Sorry guys .. gotta work off that pizza somehow! Speaking of food, I think everyone was a little confused when I said that it’s normal to get more than just one dish at dinner, but that is the Italian way! I took my family to one of my favorite restaurants, that has the best gnocchi, as their first dining experience and it did not disappoint! Day 2 in Florence: This day started out more casual and relaxing by walking through the San Lorenzo leather market, and eating lunch inside the Central Market. This is a really neat place in Florence that truely captures Italian’s love and passion for food. We then met up with our tour guide to visit David at the Accademia, see the Duomo, and have a walking tour of Florence to learn more about the city’s history. During this tour, when we walked into the main piazza of the Duomo, I saw how many tourists were swarming the city, and I was about to have a panic attack! Florence seemed like a completely different city after leaving it for just a few days when I was in Ireland. Apparently Florence is the most visited city in Europe for Easter; this is saying a lot because the city itself is very small, which makes it feel even more crowded. Day 3 in Florence: This day we had a wine/biking tour of Tuscany that was absolutely amazing!!!! It included 3 different wine tastings/pairings and then we biked around 15 miles throughout Tuscany. Surprisingly (not) I’ve really developed a taste for wine since being in Italy, and going on these tours have made me appreciate it that much more. When the right wine is paired with the right food it is literal heaven in your mouth. Day 4 in Florence: Durning my family’s last day in Florence, we basically just wandered around the city. We went inside the Church of Santa Croce (which Michelangelo, Galileo, Dante and more are buried in), I took them to All’antico Vinaino, and then we shopped around buying a few souvenirs here and there. A small part of what makes Florence so cool is literally just getting lost in the city, which is another pro of it being a walking city. There’s something new and unique on every street. We finished the night by going to another one of my favorite restaurants before they all had to head to bed to get sleep before another early flight and long day of travel. A lot of people tell me they don’t know how I’m away for 4 months. At times I do feel a little homesick so having my family was nice to have a piece of home here with me abroad. But I now fully understand why people rant and rave about studying abroad so much. Even though I get homesick every once in awhile, this is an opportunity of a lifetime. Studying abroad teaches people a lot of important aspects in life. It forces people to think of life in a different light. You meet friends you wouldn’t otherwise, and have real, meaningful, substance-filled conversations about things other than your past or the latest gossip. You come abroad knowing no one and it’s almost like starting new. I have realized a lot about what is important in life and what isn’t. Being away for 4 months is hard but it makes me that much more thankful for everything and everyone important to me in my life. Because of this experience I feel more adequately prepared for the “real world”. People wonder how I’m away for an extended period of time, but we all graduate and more forward with our lives at some point. It’s just a matter of stepping outside of your comfort zone and learning how to rely on yourself. It’s a really amazing experience that I wish everyone could go through but is hard to accurately put into words.. But my time isn’t up yet!! I still have a couple more weeks to soak up all that I can!! So stay tuned for more posts on my experiences!! Until then,
Jen
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