#florence1

“Do you think zebras are white with black stripes, or black with white stripes?”

Penny’d requested to meet Florence here, after deciding she was in the mood for chips and couldn’t go on with her day properly without the salty, crunchy goodness of them covered in ketchup. Speaking of ketchup, she opened packet after packet until her basket of chips were appropriately covered and soaked.

“Over here,” she greeted Florence. She waved, trying not to doubt the situation she was about to get herself into. Roommates, huh? Can’t live with ‘em, can’t live without.

“Nice of you to come out to watch your team get pummeled. Great sportsmanship you’ve got.”

“I wouldn’t have told you I was playing, if I knew this is how it were going to go, to be honest,” Even her parents had made it out to the game -- on what little notice they’d be given. It was still nice to see a familiar face. One that, hopefully, wouldn’t be too disappointed in her.

Greetings from a flight to Rome! This spring break has been my most eventful yet, and I’ve loved (almost) every second of it… So far, I’ve been to Florence, Mykonos, and Athens. So, let’s start with Florence.

First, props to Ryanair for allowing two bags to carry on to the plane. I can’t tell you how relieved I was. Packing for two weeks is so difficult, especially in a small duffle! I managed to only bring four pairs of shoes, which I think is the real feat quite frankly….

Anyway, I left London Stansted around 6:30 p.m. for Pisa. From there, I took a bus to Florence, where my friend Jake picked me up from the train station. Our reunion was once again totally adorable. We left for his apartment so I could drop off my bags and get ready to go out. The whole walk to his place, Jake was drunkenly trying to pronounce the names of the buildings around us, and I just kept laughing. Probably much too loud for Florence.

I entered Jake’s apartment and was reunited with his roommate and my new friend from Prague, Zack. The next two hours were spent with shots of vodka and fried eggs, which Zack dropped on the floor while cooking. So sad. Somehow, it became 2:30 a.m… so we went to bed without going out.

Jake had class the next morning, so Zack and I hung out around the apartment for a bit. Zack makes this weird walrus noise to express his mood. It’s odd to say the least. Eventually, I decided I wanted some gelato for breakfast (no, I’m not kidding), so I walked to the nearest gelateria I could find. The flavor I got was Nutella with some sort of vanilla gelato base. Chunks of Nutella. Oh my god. It was absolutely amazing. And the city’s architecture had me in awe. I didn’t venture too far from Jake’s, but the little exploring I did was enough to make me love Florence already.

I soon realized my trip to Florence would be ruled by food. Back in Jake’s apartment, we met up with some friends before heading out into town, and I got a panini, some coffee and more gelato. My food baby is doing great, in case anybody is wondering. I’m okay with it, though. Who would I be to not eat as much Italian food as I could?

To make up for all the food eaten, Jake and I made the trek up to the campus of NYU Florence… and wow is all I have to say, honestly.

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I had a Skype advising meeting that afternoon to register for fall classes (it never stops, does it). In a successful attempt to be even more American than we were, a group of us got margaritas. First of all, delicious. Second of all, I really should’ve eaten something beforehand. Nap-time was very much needed before going out to dinner.

So, speaking of dinner: that night’s dinner was something I had been looking forward to for months, and I promise it wasn’t because I was that excited for Italian pizza. It was actually the reunion I had been looking forward to the most. Two of my roommates for the past year and a half, Miranda and Caroline, are studying at NYU Florence, so they decided to take me to the well-known and absolutely amazing Gusta Pizza.

The feeling I got when I was with them was so hard to explain—some sort of combination between happiness and confusion that we were actually together. In Italy, of all places. I kept randomly hugging them because it would dawn on me in the middle of our conversations that it had become somewhat of a luxury to see them. I’ve always known that I’m lucky to have them in my life, but after not seeing them for so long, I especially know now. On another note, that pizza was so good. I also missed that pizza and didn’t even know it existed to begin with.

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I went out with Jake and my new friends that night, and by went out I mean walked around Florence and didn’t really end up anywhere until two in the morning. Some bar with a dance floor. It was weird. We went back home in hopes to pregame another club but ended up too exhausted to do anything, so off to bed we went.

Jake had told me to meet with his friend Blair the next day, as he and most others I knew were going on a day trip. Blair took me through the market stalls, filled with every kind of leather good ever created. I got a new purse for €14, and it is so cute. My mom even told me to get her one (will do, Sharon).

The day was filled with espresso, paninis, the (i)beautiful(i) Boboni Gardens, and wine by the river. Everything was absolutely perfect. And Blair was an awesome tour guide. Also worth saying, I ran into my friend Emma from summer camp as we were both getting food! I didn’t expect to run into her at all, but Florence is a pretty small city, so I’ve heard. The world is getting smaller to me these days—everybody knows my friends. I kind of like that.

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Dinner that night with Jake and his crew was some sort of buffet style, which was delicious. When they went off to get gelato, I went off to meet up Miranda and Caroline at Miranda’s apartment. Outside of their door, I met their friend Katie, who loves Kanye West as much as I do, so she’s obviously a new pal.

My friend Shannon had gotten home from Rome that night, and it was so great to see her in her city. We went to a square in Florence that night and drink with their Italian friend Lorenzo and a bunch of his friends. It was like an outdoor party, but totally not regulated. It was so awesome. Then we finished the night with dancing. And finishing the night with some dancing is always a good choice.

I somehow got to bed at 4:00 a.m. and got five hours of sleep before Jake sent me off to the Santa Maria Novella Station and I was on my way to Mykonos. The way I got there was a whole other story, but I made it.