Florence... The Beginning

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We arrived into Florence a little over one week ago. The experience so far has been amazing. Our apartment is way more than we ever imagined them to be. I live in an apartment with 4 other girls. They are all great. Danielle and Andrea share a room, Alex has her own room, and I share a room with Bailee. The area we live in is right in San Lorenzo. About two seconds from the San Lorenzo Market. There are Street vendors everywhere, and they are selling anything from jewerly, leather, bags, purses, Scarfs, postcards, clothes... etc It is fun to walk around and see the variety of items. Also in San Lorenzo is the food market. I go there about every day or every other day to get food to cook. The market has every type of food that anyone would need. Such as... Vegtables, Spices, Fruit, Meat, Wine, Bread, Cheese, and more.. and the best part of it all is that they have great prices. Our apartment is also near the Lorenzo De' Medici school, and our API programs office. It has been really easy to find all of my classes thus far. The first day we were in Florence we were given the grand tour of the city. They showed us all the historical buildings, art, sculptures, museums, shopping, post office, the famous bridge (Ponte Vechio)...etc. It tour made me realize that I am really here, in Florence, Italy. At first I seemed that I was just here to Travel and I would be home in a week or so.. but once we got settled in to our rooms, and went out into the city exploring, we knew we were going to be here to stay.
I have met the most amazing girls after just being here a short while. We all get along great, and none of us knew eachother prior to coming to study in Florence. Everyone has been so kind, and really made this transition really smooth. We all have the same interest, and are all looking for the same experience while studying here and traveling.
Already, we have started to plan the trips that we are going to be taking while here. A few are Venice, Tuscany (Wine Region), Cinque Terra, Barcelona, Nice, Orvieto and Civita di Bagnoregio, Pisa, Lucca, and more.
Florence has been such a great experience so far. I feel like it is great that some of the italians can speak English, it helps with the transition process. I am trying to learn Italian but it is a hard language to learn.
About my Classes...
We started classed on Monday. I love all of mine.
I am taking italian, Global Marketing, Pairing Food and Wine / Cooking Class, Natural Resource /Management, and Web Design 2. My favorite class so far is the Food and Wine class. I feel that that is the class that I will be able to learn the most from, and share what I learn with my family and friends back home. We get to cook a 4 to 5 course meal every time we meet for class, and then pair each course with a wine.
The second day we were in Florence we decided we wanted to go exploring. We walked across the Arno River and walked up the side of the hills of florence to the Michelanglo Park. We could see the Whole city and beyond. It was gorgeous, and the weather was perfect (bright blue sky, and warm air). I believe that that place will come in handy when I need a place to get away from city life, relax, and read a good book.

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Photos

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The view from the top of the hills in Florence.

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The view from the top of the hills in Florence.

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My friends and I standing on a bridge over the Arno River!

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The Batistry Doors. Near the Duomo.

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The Duomo.

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Ponte Vechio Bridge

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Standing near what once of the Medici Palace.