Here I am, in a hotel in the center of a city full of life, history, and beauty. It is strange to finally personally encounter something that I’ve imagined for many months now, but Florence is every bit as beautiful as I’d foreseen. I am here a day early, because I was careless enough to book my flight a day before the scheduled arrival, making my first international experience all the more interesting. Because of my early arrival, I wasn’t picked up at the airport, and my apartment is not available until tomorrow. So, after never leaving the state of Pennsylvania without friends or family by my side, today I navigated a foreign language speaking country on my own in order to find my hotel for the night, and I made myself proud.

But first, I had to take an airplane from Philly to Frankfurt to Florence, which was an experience in itself. I must say, I was pretty nervous to travel alone, but after getting on my first flight in Philly, I loosened up and was able to relax a bit. The flight was long and I didn’t get to sleep, but the food wasn’t bad and they had a good selection of movies. I really enjoyed my second flight from Frankfurt to Florence, and I recommend that if you take that trip you get a window seat! I got to see several small towns along the way, but the best part was flying over the Alps, where there was still snow all over and it was amazing how they jutted up through the clouds! Upon landing in Florence, it was extremely easy to get my bags and go, and then the fun began. I grabbed a taxi with an older Italian driver who was very helpful. I was in total shock by the way people drive here though: I was anticipating an accident at literally every turn. After the roller coaster to my hotel, I became even more confused. You see, in America, all hotels front desks are located on the first floor. My hotel wanted to mess with me, so the first 3 floors of the building is comprised of a stairwell and a few signless wooden doors. I’m pretty sure the man at the front desk saw a dude with luggage being confused on camera though so he came down and told me that the hotel was on the 4th floor. This was about 5 minutes after I paid a man outside 5 euro for an umbrella in hopes that he would help me find the hotel, but I’m pretty sure the only english he knew was “yes”.

However, once I found my hotel, I was in the clear. I got to walk around the Piazza della Repubblica and its surrounding areas, all of which are beautiful. A few hours ago, I treated myself to an incredible dinner. I had a few glasses or red wine, AWESOME lasagna (like seriously awesome), roast beef and potatoes, a salad, and some bread. Afterwards, I came back up to my hotel, and here I am. It was certainly an exciting first day, but I am excited for tomorrow. I have an appointment at my hotel at 10:30 and then after that I’m going to do some more exploring.

Thanks for reading and wish me luck! 

Location: Piazza della Repubblica, Florence, Italy