ITALY Part I: Florence/Firenze

So before I went off to France in late September, I was already looking forward to returning to Britain after having finished the cumbersome and annoyingly obligatory Year Abroad. Eight months later, I would be returning home for the grand total of 10 days before jetting off to the previously unexplored land of Italy.

Venture 100m off the beaten track, and I guarantee that
you will find the gelateries with the best value and flavour

The roots of this decision lie in my disappointing AS Politics exam results, which led me to ponder if I should changed from "French and Politics" to "French and Something Else". Enjoyment of A Level Classics (based on two very enthusiastic teachers and basically reading stories for two years) combined with an enjoyment of FOOD led to the possibility of the "Something Else" being Italian. Nonetheless, history's course was maintained with a dramatic re-mark and an exam re-take, and I found myself at Exeter doing the degree I had originally intended upon. Three years later, however, a curiosity to explore this country, its language and its cuisine was still lurking in me.

So, on Sunday 12th May I flew out to Pisa from Gatwick, with my stomach full of nerves and my rucksack full of bits of paper with maps, addresses, emergency contact numbers and prepared conversations for scenarios in Italian. It was like starting out on my YA again, but this time I couldn't speak the language... Yes, I had bought myself a grammar book in France and been quite enthusiastic at the start, but then the Final Month in France kicked in and completely pushed Italian into a corner of my mind's priority department. Not least because my Oral Exam in September '13 will be in French, not Italian!

The Italians just LOVE their scooters

After soaring over the snow-topped Alps and the blue Mediterranean sea, I was in an arrivals lobby buying a train ticket from a woman who clearly wished everyone would just leave her in peace. Upon asking where the train station was, a hand was flung in my general direction from which I understood it was behind me. I left her in peace. I did find the train station (after asking for directions again) and was presented with a departures board asserting that the train to Firenze San Marco was leaving from Platform 12. In front of me were platforms 1 and 2. There were no others. Above Platform 1 was another sign, saying the train there was heading to my destination. I got on. The driver announced he was going to Pisa Centrale. Firenze SM wasn't mentioned. In the end, thankfully, the driver did admit he was also going to Firenze SM. Italy was clearly going to be a bit different to France.

I arrived in Florence to the pouring rain and a long taxi queue. When I reached the front of the queue and was asked my destination, my throat closed up, my mind blanked and I resorted to thrusting the written address in the driver's face. I had never known such shyness on my own part, and it made me feel pathetic!!

The view from the family's terrace

(Not to mention mean for getting frustrated at identical behaviour on the part of my students...) I was dropped me off at the apartment which would be my home for the following five days, and Bernardo (the son of the family, aged 21) showed me around. The apartment had excellent views of Florence - although I only discovered this later due to the storm still raging - and my bedroom and ensuite were perfectly alright. The family was completed by parents Elisabetta and Dario, and the family are 100% my FAVOURITE ITALIANS EVER. They were constantly kind, welcoming and helpful.

I thank my American Biffle for suggesting the accommodation of a half-board stay with a family for Florence. On the first night two of the family's friends joined us for dinner, and we muddled through conversation with a mixture of French and English. We ate gnocchi cooked in broccoli; then turkey cooked with mushrooms, and courgettes, and cress stuff and cured ham; pudding was a fruit tart and then home-made ice-cream! We also had some nice wine (although not as good as in France!). It was an excellent start to my Italian experience. I was regretting not having done more language preparation while in France, but felt very excited for starting lessons the following morning.

The classic Florentine image: Ponte Vecchio
Note: shops bursting over the edege, and the Medici
family's private walkway running along the top

We had a breakfast of tea and biscuits at 8.30 on Monday morning (and I would be having this highly nutritious breakfast for the rest of the week) and I arrived at Il Centro Italiano di Firenze at 9am. I did a short test to ascertain my level, then just got bunged in a classroom with the teacher, Elenore, and the only other student, a 50 year old American called Isabel. My level in Italian soared over the five days I was at the school; it was incredible how much vocabulary I learnt just by listening to the other two. We had four hours of lessons per day, 9am-1pm with a break in the middle (to give the teacher her coffee fix), and we focused on learning the imperfect tense (thankfully I had mastered the present and past on my own) and situations to teach us vocabulary.

Me on Ponte Vecchio

Throughout the week in the afternoons, I explored on my own:
Monday: (after returning from school and setting the apartment's burglar alarm off, nearly getting the police sent round) was spent wandering around Florence in the blazing sunshine, drinking in the sights, some of which I had seen in the film 'Room with a View' the night before I left. I wandered along Fiume Arno, looking up at Fort Belvedere (one of the Medici family homes), and went along to Ponte Vecchio (the only Florentine bridge not blown up in WWII by the retreating Nazi forces) and up to Palazzo Vecchio and Piazza dell Signoria. I bought an over-priced melon gelato for 4€. The afternoon was spent at the church of Santa Croce with an audio guide, admiring the frescos, the marble patterned floor, the decorative tombs (some filled, some not) and much more.

In the evening, Bernardo gave me a moonlit tour of the town, including the ancient centre of Florence (Piazza della Republique) where the two main Roman roads cross, and culminating in Il Duomo (the cathedral), bathed in floodlights. It was magnificent. Not so great were all the men selling junk and pestering everyone.

Firenze's cathedral (with dome) and tower,
infront of which is the Baptistry 

Tuesday: I went inside the cathedral, empty and vast, but with a beautiful fresco within the dome illustrating hell, heaven, and those excluded from both. I also walked up to the church of Santa Maria Novella, but was all church-ed out so didn't bother going inside. I tried to find Museo di Firenze, and failed. I had been told it was near the town library. I found the library, but could not for the life of me find the museum. Upon reporting this to the family that evening, I was told that you have to go inside the library to get to the museum. Is this signed? No. Don't be silly; I was in Italy. In all honesty, one of my greatest criticisms of Italy was its signage (ranging from advertising seating charges in restaurants, to its supposed tourist attractions and monuments). I saw the outside of Dante's house and peeked inside his personal church opposite, and I bought another gelato (half white choc, half milk choc) from 'Perché non?' which translates as 'Why not?'



Wednesday: this was guided tour day, as arranged by the school. We chatted in Italian all the way around, and I learnt quite a bit but also just chatted in general. She led us to the BEST gelaterie in Florence, where a small tub was 1.50€ and the quality was beyond anything imaginable.

View of Firenze from Piazza Michelangelo

Thursday: The day started in a most positive fashion. I successfully caught the right bus up to Piazza Michelangelo which is a viewing point over the town. I then got on another bus to go and see Fort Belvedere. Now, I suggest future Italy travellers listen to the following with care: you MUST validate bus tickets. To cut a long story short, I had my ticket checked + I hadn't validated it = 50€ fine on the spot. Rest of day was ruined as I didn't have the cash so I had to wait on the bus beyond my stop, then the bus conductor marched me to a cash machine (like a criminal!). I was so angry with myself I went straight home. At dinner that night, the family had put two little chocolates in my place at the table to try and make my feel better, hence part of the reason why they were my favourite Italians! The following day I explained what had happened at school, and Isabel reassured me by saying that if that was the worse thing that was going to happen to me in Italy, it was OK. And she was right. It was my contribution to the Italian economy.

San Miniato (the interior is amazing)

Friday: I visited Palazzo Pitti (another former Medici family residence) and its gardens, and also Giardino di
Boboli which had nice views and kept me occupied. I then re-visited the amazing gelaterie and the cathedral. After returning to the apartment, Dario asked me whether I had been able to see Fort Belvedere or San Miniato after my humiliating fine experience. I said no, and he said that they would take me there. So Dario, Elisabetta and I went out in the car to see the old city walls (now mainly destroyed to make way for the roads), Piazza Michelangelo, then the walls of Fort Belvedere, and San Miniato which is one of my favourite churches in Florence. It's interior is so old and beautiful, and there was a service going on with some monks when we visited which made it feel even more special. It also has a stunning view over the rest of the town: red rooftops with the Duomo rising up in the middle, and the green hills looming over everything else.

Almost before I knew it, it was time to say goodbye to my favourite Italians. I had had an incredible five days in Florence, made all the more authentic, worthwhile and enjoyable by the family I stayed with. By the time Saturday arrived, my Italian had already progressed considerably, and I felt like I was going to Naples with a good basis for the challenges which would undoubtedly arise there.

A Short Suzie Guide to my Highlights of Florence:
Churches: Santa Croce, the Cathedral, San Miniato, Orsanmichele
Gelateries: Perché Non? and the most amazing gelaterie I visited... and whose location I do not know.
Museums: well, I didn't visit any, but I can tell you that you can see a replica of Michelangelo's David for

Hello there, David

free by visiting Piazza della Signoria, without queueing for hour upon hour at Gallerie dell'Academia. I also advise a portable seat for Galleria dei Uffizi, judging on the queues I saw.
Food: I didn't eat out anywhere (since I was staying with a family), but I can tell you what we ate at dinner:
* Pasta in bolognaise sauce to start, then chicken cooked with courgette, accompanied by bread (again, I think the French do a better job), and strawberries for pudding.
* Asparagus risotto and salad, then pudding was ricotta with nutella / coffee / jam (as you please)
* Taglietelli with spicy sausage and tomato sauce, then a variety of plates including baked artichokes, thick, crepe-like things, beetroot, and sardines in a tangy marinade. Ricotta and nutella for pudding.
* Bean and pasta soup, then slithers of cured pork carved off a huge slab with tomatoes and raw artichoke. Finished off with biscotti dipped in very strong alcohol.