The Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore (Saint Mary of Flowers) and Campanile di Giotto (Giotto’s bell tower) to the right.

The Duomo (left) and the Santa Croce (right) from Piazzale Michelangelo.

Only one week in Florence and it has been quite an experience already! At first I was overwhelmed by the size of the city but, I am getting better at knowing how to get places. That being said, I still get lost every time I explore and kind of aimlessly wander. I am not accustomed to large cities like this, in Missouri you can see where you are going long before you arrive whereas here you can only see the buildings in front of you and the occasional site of a gigantic building such as the Duomo (the large dome on top of the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore) or a tall church steeple.

The view of the Santa Croce from my apartment window captured on a rainy day

Upon arriving at the Florence airport everything was handled well by SAI and a ride to my apartment was awaiting a very jet lagged and sleep deprived me. The apartment is very small in comparison to most American dwellings and features only one kitchen/dining room with a loft above, two bedrooms, two bathrooms and a small balcony. The best part of the apartment might be the view though as we have a perfect view of the Santa Croce church from our window. My roommates are all awesome and mostly hail from places far away and very different from Missouri, but I am the only one in the house who speaks any Italian.

Basilica di Santa Croce (Basilica of the Holy Cross), the largest Franciscan church in the world, and a statue of Dante Alighieri, the author of The Divine Comedy, to the left in the shadow.

Orientation went well and all of the SAI and FUA staff seems very nice and eager to start the semester. I really got some use out of psychotherapist Mac Hruska’s talk on adjusting to life in Florence. The techniques I learned there and the comfort of playing my bass guitar really helped ease my nerves. Another SAI activity which I enjoyed was the walking tour. It was enjoyable in that it highlighted the major buildings of Florence I wanted to see but, could not yet find. A peculiar incident happened during the tour though. While standing in front of the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore a gypsy woman poked me and asked me for change. Me being the softy that I am, obliged and gave her a handful of coins from my pocket. I immediately regretted this decision. I had forgotten I had a lot of US coins in my pocket and had accidentally given her some of those along with a small amount of Euro coins. Upon seeing this she picked out and handed me back the US currency and continued to harass me for more money. This not only was embarrassing but, also may have been the first time a beggar has handed back money to someone.

The dome of the Basilica captured from Piazzale Michelangelo (Michelangelo Square), a park on top of a hill overlooking the entire city.

Food and drink have been easy to find in Florence as every street seems to have an eatery, wine shop or tabacchi (a kind of general store which sells alcohol, tobacco, bus tickets and other goods). There are so many options to choose from. So far I have had healthy mushroom pasta, many slices of pizza (from the hundreds of pizzerias in this town), a panino from an Italian sandwich shop, possibly the best I have ever had burger and a very rich chocolate gelato. The nightlife is equally diverse as so far I have been to a Mexican bar, several wine bars, an Italian shot bar, an Irish pub, a sports bar and even an American bar. Much of the staff at these locations do speak at least a little bit of English, however I would still recommend learning some Italian greetings and ask if they do speak English before just blurting out English as that is considered rude in most places. So far I am having a great time and I can’t wait for what the future holds!

A group of students at an outside pizzeria next to my apartment.

The Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge) over the Arno River. Inside the outlets are several gold and jewelry shops.

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Charles is a current student at the University of Missouri studying at Florence University of the Arts in Italy during the Spring 2015 term.