My move to Florence was long, yet relatively seamless. The journey from Düsseldorf to Munich found me making a new friend and chatting in German for the five hours. This meant that I had company for my five hour stop over in Munich and was able to go exploring for a bit. The night train was definitely an experience, I shared a couchette with a Romanian nun, an elegant old German lady, a businessman and two other Italians. It was cosy and I spent most of the night dozing restlessly whilst being strapped to all of my belongings. I did feel incredibly safe though and would definitely consider doing it again.
I arrived in Florence at 6am and suffered one of the biggest doses of culture shock I have EVER experienced. I arrived at my apartment half an hour early and sat on the steps trying not to fall asleep and/or wet myself until this tiny little Japanese lady turned up to let me in. She spoke neither English nor Italian, which made communication almost impossible and by the time she left I sat down on my bed and had a bit of a weep. Everything felt so new, foreign and lonely.
However, unwilling to let myself mope, I slept for an hour, then grabbed my coat, phone and camera along with the map I had bought myself at the train station and decided to go exploring. It was the perfect day for getting lost in Florence: cold, yet bright and sunny. I walked passed a cinema showing Les Miserables posters and made a decision to go the afternoon showing. I then wandered round a corner and nearly had a heart attack when I came face to face with the Duomo. It's stunning and HUGE. I then found a little cafe with wifi, so sat down with the most delicious cappuccino to reconnect with home and tell everyone that I was alive.
Whilst sitting in the cafe I noticed the TIM phone shop that a friend had recommended to me and went straight in to sort out an Italian SIM-card. The lady was so lovely and friendly. It's amazing how one positive interaction with another human being can make you feel instantly better.
By the time I arrived back at my apartment I was no longer alone. Tessa was back from visiting her Grandma and Brynne had just turned up. Both girls are wonderful and I know we're going to get on really well, so much so that I don't even mind that I'm not living with Italians. I feel like this month is about easing my way back into the Italian language and simply enjoying myself in this beautiful city with my new found friends. We then headed into town, I caught the afternoon showing of Les Mis (FINALLY! I will probably be going again this weekend.) I then returned home to a homemade chilli and a gaggle of American ladies. It was wonderful. I don't have Internet in my house, so blogging in Italy will probably be a little bit random, but that makes it more of a challenge and suitably Italian, non?
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