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Published: January 7th 2018
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During my first full day in Italy I only saw one runner, one! I typically run every day and I planned on doing so as much as I could while here, but after spending hours walking in and between thousands of people it is no wonder that I only witnessed one runner. Not including the space to run, but after analyzing the amount of gelato stores I would say that it is difficult to choose between running and gelato! I certainly would not be able to run after a cup or cone of gelato, or especially not after the cone(s) I had yesterday! I learned my first of many lessons about gelato. While there is gelato in at least every 2-3 shops and on nearly every street, and the gelato looks fairly the same in each store, the prices can vary by A LOT. My first cone of gelato will be remembered in both size (large enough to stack a small cone on the top...picture included) and by price (10 euros). You can imagine my face when the lady at the counter told me it would be 10 euros! I am very money cautious and after spending so much on this
one cone I surely was not about to waste it even though it was way more than I needed in one serving! Regardless, after dinner last night I was again tempted by gelato and got more. The second time I found a small gelato place on my street, Via del Neri, that has tiny cups of gelato for just 1.80 euros! The size of this cup was smaller than any ice cream cup you could find in the United States, and yet it was filled so perfectly with just enough gelato.
There are many important Italy food lessons one must learn that goes beyond the scope of gelato, and I am comfortable admitting that I have learned a few too quick...or maybe just in time! European spending lesson number two: water is not free in restaurants. We are not in Kansas anymore! It is difficult to spend 3 euros on a medium sized glass water bottle in a restaurant when the house wine is often cheaper; however, I do not enjoy wine even though I really want to! Even though I do not drink ever I feel as though I should drink the wine in a place where its
is such a large part of the culture. Unfortunately, I don't think I can so here I lie with my 3 euro water bottle.
Food lesson number three: if you sit down to eat there will be a table charge and the check will not be split; you should know how to count your money! The pizza was great, but not so great when you have a table charge and you and your friends are having a really hard time figuring out who's paying how much and with what money. In other words, the "take away" pizza are just as good, cheaper, and easier to pay for! They all relatively look like the picture of pizza included.
Food lesson number four: a small, Italian buffet isn't for you if you don't drink alcohol! Just like any buffet, there is a one time fee and you can get as many plates of food as you like. Italian buffets are even great if you like to drink because this one time charge includes basically any alcoholic drink you could want and its cheap! All you need is a whole 10 euros for unlimited plates of food and a glass of alcohol at Moyo, but the price is also the same for a glass bottle of water. Good news is that the food was great and now I own a glass water bottle to take with me everywhere.
My final food lesson of the day is to be willing to try anything and everything as long as it is within your budget. I'm sure it is obvious that food is my favorite part about traveling.Going out of my comfort zone isn't so much being willing to physically taste new foods, but rather to be willing to ask for these new foods from people who speak a different language. Yesterday I practiced ordering food from someone who did not speak English and I am so glad that I did because I had the best sandwich of my life. This place, Panino de Chianti, has thirteen different panini's to try from their menu and I will be trying each one of those before I leave Florence! I swear this sandwich (picture included) is the prettier than me.
By the end of the trip my hope is that I will be able to say "grazie!" without being uncomfortable. For some particular reason I am having trouble saying thank you in Italian even though I know how to say it. Tomorrow is day three and the first day of class and I am ready to learn some Italian!
Steps walked each day while in Italy:
January 5th (half day) 8,225 steps
January 6th (day 1) 17, 846 steps
January 7th (day 2) 19,746 steps
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