My mother always told me that a first impression is the most important, and I guess Florence took that same advice. As soon as I stepped out of the gate at Amerigo Vespucci airport I was happily greeted by Alessandra and Alessandro from SAI (Yes, those are really their names). Immediately I felt welcomed and I could tell they were just as excited as I was to start this amazing adventure. In the airport, on the plane, and all around the city my first impression here was that they took their fashion very seriously. All over you can find advertisements and billboards of beautiful italians showing off some sort of designer good. A little bit outside my college budget but still interesting to look at. There is also a ton of graffiti and interesting art all over the city. In the area south of Piazza della Signoria you can find a bunch of “adjusted” stop signs with a stick figure defacing them.

Tampered stop signs make for some nice street art

Then I was brought to my new apartment and began to settle in. These apartments are very italian; We’re talking the stereotypical italian apartments that almost require you to scream out “Buon giorno” to your neighbor everyday. How often did I do that? Not often, but I could if I wanted to. The buildings in florence are very old but in an enjoyable way. The structure and appearance of these buildings give a really traditional feel to match the surrounding sights (like the Duomo).

View from outside my kitchen window

As for my first italian meal: pizza. Oh, and then my second italian meal: pizza. For the first 3-4 days I pretty much only had pizza except for the occasional panino from time to time. Do not make the same mistake! I don’t regret a single slice of pizza that touched my lips but I will say that there are so many options of amazing food in this city. Make sure to check out the Mercato Centrale for the best bread in the city and some great breakfast snacks (muffins, cakes, etc.). By the way, everything in this city is FRESH. I don’t think I’ve seen anything around here that even rhymes with the word preservative.

The Mercato Centrale has every type of meat, fish vegetable and bread that your heart desires

Group of Italian pigs bonding in a local prosciutteria

Finally the best thing that happened within these first couple of days was probably orientation. Aside from the fact that I’m one of three guys in the entire program (not a bad ratio), it gave all the students a chance to meet each other and form groups of friends right from the first day. Everyone was so eager to meet that it didn’t take more than a few minutes before I was able to feel comfortable with a new group of friends. Not to mention that every question you might have about studying abroad is pretty much answered and summed up for you in about an hour and a half.

Part of the Florence Crew at a local bar

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Salvatore is a student at University of Tampa studying at Florence University of the Arts in Italy during the Summer 2014 term.