Bread and Nutella: The Breakfast of Champions

Cereal is so out of style. Here in Italy, breakfast is less important, and a little more simple than those big filling breakfasts we're used to in the States. A piece of bread or a croissant is your typical Italian breakfast, accompanied by a cpu of coffee or espresso.
Being the poor college student that I am, going everyday to the coffee shop across the street from my apartment is pretty much out of the question. Yeah, I said i'm poor, and you're gonna hear a lot of that from me in the next couple of months. I have to settle for instant coffee I brought with me from the states, with some french vanilla coffee mate. It works for me, it's fast and it doesn't make a mess. I feel that for food in the morning, the best thing to do is just spread some Nutella on a roll. For all of you peanut butter loving Americans who are unfamiliar with Nutella, it's a chocolate hazelnut spread that's everywhere in Italy. I also hear this stuff is surprisingly healthy, with a lot of essential vitamins to get you through the day. I could probably eat this stuff all day, it's that good. As in better than peanut butter good.

The Best View

There really arent many places in Florence where you won't be stunned by any of your surroundings. Just walking down a street is an amazing sight, but today I got the best picture of Florence since I arrived on Wednesday. Florence, which is situated in a valley between mountains, is a generally flat city, save a few random hills that pop out of the landscape. One of those hills, Michelangelo's Hill, is located across the river from my apartment, not far from the center of the city. Me and my housemates took a walk and decided after seeing the hill that we would try and find a way to get up there. We walked up a hilly street, and then up a couple flights of stares. The trek was kind of tiring in the end, but when we got to the top, we saw an amazing view of the city. at the peak was a 360 degree of Florence and the surrounding areas. I even saw a snow capped mountain in the distance. The best part about this whole thing was it's FREE, unless you need to use a public restroom. That will cost you 50 cents

I have arrived: the introduction

So it has taken me 4 days being here to start this blog. The first four days have been pretty hectic: exploring the city, orientation, going out at night, and beating this godforsaken jet lag. My schedule is still way off. I have been coming back from the pubs at 3, going to sleep at 4, and waking up at around 2. So as you can imagine, days are short here. Florence, however, is just as stunning at night as it is in the day. As I sit here in my living room, I look out my balcony window, with the streetlights illuminating against the rustic architecture across from our 2nd story apartment. It would be an understatement to say I have some good digs here. I'm literally just steps away from the duomo (main cathedral and center of the city), a behemoth of a place that towers above the rest of the surrounding buildings. In the opposite direction, I am just a 5 minute walk from the Arno River, near the Ponte Vecchio. This city is stunning, everywhere I go is just as amazing as the next. I havent even seen a quarter of what there is to see, maybe less. By the end of this semester I plan to know this city by the back of my hand, and hopefully brush up on my Italian and become fluent. I will keep you updated over the next four months of all my adventures (and maybe misadventures) throught Florence and Europe. Ciao