Italian Freshman

I am a freshman all over again. Today was orientation for my school, Florence University of the Arts. I got to sit in a room with all of my fellow classmates and learn about attendance policies, add/drop class week, and all the other rules of the university. But enough about the boring stuff….

We went to get some pizza for lunch (mozzarella and sausage) and walked to our group office (I am studying abroad through a program and we have an office with a staff that helps us with our apartments, if we get sick, etc). On our way, we passed the Ponte Vecchio, the famous bridge of Florence. It is so cool because it looks like a little village is built in the bridge. It is actually about forty jewelry stores (yay!)! Apparently, the space was to be a fresh food market but the Arno River was so smelly, no one wanted to buy food. Would you want to buy tomatoes from a vendor who smelt like old gym shoes… I would think not. So all the silver and goldsmiths moved in!

Ponte Vecchio

In front of the Ponte Vecchio there are chains separating the street from the road. These chains are covered in locks. There is a tradition that you buy a lock with your love, write your names on the lock, and lock it onto the chains. Then you turn around and throw the key over your shoulder into the Arno River. It is a tradition that is sweet but really makes you depressed if you don’t have your significant other with you… oh well.

All the Locks!

After the trip to the program office, we met a police officer who told us all to be safe and told us about the different police forces. There are general police (who have cool hats), carabinieri (who are all totally cute), financial police (so if someone sells me bad stocks…), and a few others. It was very informative. I also filled out my permit to stay, so I can stay in Florence. So I am technically a temporary Florentine. Very exciting.

My day concluded with a trip to the Irish pub in my neighborhood. The bartender was really cool, gave us free limoncello shots, and taught us to flip-and-catch bar coasters – which I am not coordinated enough to do. So to show off, he flipped twenty coasters all stacked up and caught them all. Of course, we all bonded (my friends and the bartender) and he told us his life story. His best friend opened the pub but left for Canada (yay!), so the bartender is kind of stuck with this pub. But it is a great pub to be stuck with. As we were leaving, he blasted Born In The USA, and that was great fun.

Do you have a great bartender story? Can you flip bar coasters?

Ciao!