Before I start of on any abroad thoughts here is my #1 tip from studying abroad in Firenze:
THE COUNTRY OF ITALY RANDOMLY HAS TRANSPORTATION STRIKES!
Be prepared to know when they are being planned ahead of time (because Italians plan and post the strikes online) so you do not run into the issue like my friends and me dealt with on our trip back from Paris and being stranded in Pisa. I do not know how I was not informed of this fact before I left but I would have been the most useful to know.
Moving on! (Though expect A LOT of sidenotes throughout this)
Packing: Say it with me... I will be okay with the fact I will wear the same 7-10 outfits for the next 4 months. Im serious.
General tips:
- Do not pack flip flops or sandals (aside from $2 Old Navy ones to use as shower shoes), the entire city is cobblestone and you will learn that REAL quickly.
-BUY SPACE BAGS! Go to Target and get the kind you can roll out the air. They will literally be your saviors for studying abroad. Saved me tremendous amounts of space in my luggage and backpack.
-Accept repeat outfits. I traveled to London and Ireland for a week and space bagged that week and a half into one regular sized backpack. Am I wearing the same 4 outfits all throughout all my London/Ireland photos? Yes, but who cares. You gotta do what you gotta do.
-Bring plain clothing (now I don't mean boring I mean simple). This is just easier because of the simple fact you will be repeating clothing and mixing and matching solid color shirts is helpful.
-Bring one or two pairs of jeans MAX. No one will notice or care you haven't washed your jeans in two weeks, everyone will be doing it.
-There are no driers in Florence. I repeat.. NO DRIERS! Everything will have to air dry, be aware of this.
-Bring bulk of things you will want the whole time you are abroad (AKA: get the largest size bottle of shampoo, body wash, contact solution, shaving cream etc you want) This is helpful because it will probably save you money, you won't worry about the products you are using, and these are all items you can toss before you go home so more space for all the gifts you bought while abroad. BRING EXTRA DEODORANT Italy doesn't have any.
-Buy PRACTICAL gifts/t-shirts/items. You will want to buy next to everything you see but be cautious in your purchases please. Buy the type of clothes you will be proud to wear for years to come. Do not buy the tacky touritsy Italia bullshit items. Be prepared if you are traveling someplace you will have room for that item coming back. I wore legitimately seven outfits coming home from Ireland, but hey I have a killer Ireland rugby and many other clutch lifelong purchases to prove I was there.
-If your parents or someone from America decides to visit you while you are abroad... have them take a huge portion of your clothes and gifts home with them. You may think some items are necessary, but take everything you think you need and cut that in half. No joke. You do not want to end up being that girl who brought and bought far too much abroad and will have to pay hundreds of extra euros for not packing lightly.
-Do not bring anything you are extremely attached to or would be devastated if you lost. Worst case scenarios could happen to you. Your luggage could get lost, or you could spill red wine on your shirt and be one shirt down one week into abroad like I did. Accept the uncertainty of living abroad and traveling.
-Weigh your luggage before you leave and wear your heaviest clothing on the plane ride over. That means just deal with the fact its late August / early september heat and wear layers and your heaviest shoes. Just do it.
-Don't bring pens, paper, school supplies with you over. Buy them in the Tutto 99 cent store. Everyone at your school will have the damn 99 cent notebook with the random Polar Bear or Tiger on it, it is socially acceptable. Plus you won't want to bring any of your school stuff home with you, so this helps you feel less compelled to.
-Your program will most likely give you a ton of info and things on Florence, including your lifeline type of map of the city so do not feel the need to buy one before you go.
Packing: Say it with me... I will be okay with the fact I will wear the same 7-10 outfits for the next 4 months. Im serious.
General tips:
- Do not pack flip flops or sandals (aside from $2 Old Navy ones to use as shower shoes), the entire city is cobblestone and you will learn that REAL quickly.
-BUY SPACE BAGS! Go to Target and get the kind you can roll out the air. They will literally be your saviors for studying abroad. Saved me tremendous amounts of space in my luggage and backpack.
-Accept repeat outfits. I traveled to London and Ireland for a week and space bagged that week and a half into one regular sized backpack. Am I wearing the same 4 outfits all throughout all my London/Ireland photos? Yes, but who cares. You gotta do what you gotta do.
-Bring plain clothing (now I don't mean boring I mean simple). This is just easier because of the simple fact you will be repeating clothing and mixing and matching solid color shirts is helpful.
-Bring one or two pairs of jeans MAX. No one will notice or care you haven't washed your jeans in two weeks, everyone will be doing it.
-There are no driers in Florence. I repeat.. NO DRIERS! Everything will have to air dry, be aware of this.
-Bring bulk of things you will want the whole time you are abroad (AKA: get the largest size bottle of shampoo, body wash, contact solution, shaving cream etc you want) This is helpful because it will probably save you money, you won't worry about the products you are using, and these are all items you can toss before you go home so more space for all the gifts you bought while abroad. BRING EXTRA DEODORANT Italy doesn't have any.
-Buy PRACTICAL gifts/t-shirts/items. You will want to buy next to everything you see but be cautious in your purchases please. Buy the type of clothes you will be proud to wear for years to come. Do not buy the tacky touritsy Italia bullshit items. Be prepared if you are traveling someplace you will have room for that item coming back. I wore legitimately seven outfits coming home from Ireland, but hey I have a killer Ireland rugby and many other clutch lifelong purchases to prove I was there.
-If your parents or someone from America decides to visit you while you are abroad... have them take a huge portion of your clothes and gifts home with them. You may think some items are necessary, but take everything you think you need and cut that in half. No joke. You do not want to end up being that girl who brought and bought far too much abroad and will have to pay hundreds of extra euros for not packing lightly.
-Do not bring anything you are extremely attached to or would be devastated if you lost. Worst case scenarios could happen to you. Your luggage could get lost, or you could spill red wine on your shirt and be one shirt down one week into abroad like I did. Accept the uncertainty of living abroad and traveling.
-Weigh your luggage before you leave and wear your heaviest clothing on the plane ride over. That means just deal with the fact its late August / early september heat and wear layers and your heaviest shoes. Just do it.
-Don't bring pens, paper, school supplies with you over. Buy them in the Tutto 99 cent store. Everyone at your school will have the damn 99 cent notebook with the random Polar Bear or Tiger on it, it is socially acceptable. Plus you won't want to bring any of your school stuff home with you, so this helps you feel less compelled to.
-Your program will most likely give you a ton of info and things on Florence, including your lifeline type of map of the city so do not feel the need to buy one before you go.
Florence: The city is extremely beautiful and cultured (a bit dirty but you get past that) and has a ton of restaurants and places to shop (though not about to recommend going to Fendi or Gucci on an abroad budget). I definitely recommend going to the shops and store that are the hole in the wall types of places. The closer you get to the Duomo the more expensive everything gets, damn tourists.
Speaking of tourists: there are A LOT of tourists that frequent Florence. The first month or so you are there it is still high travel season, but I promise it will die down a bit and then start to pick up more right before you leave, but you will learn to ignore them. I definitely recommend listing to your iPod on your way to class. Personally, I found it extremely useful because then you don't instantly look like a lost tourist and it gives you an excuse to not care about photobombing the hundreds of photos you inevitably will do as you're trying to get to class. Not to mention, it really is a nice distraction to enjoy some music, I found it comforting to just get into your own zone while walking around. The amount of times I listened to "Good Life" while walking past the Duomo and loved life was a ton.
Gypsies: You will learn to be a complete bitch to people while studying abroad. I know this sounds very harsh, but it is so true. The amount of people that will try to shove fliers (I'm looking at you Fish Pub and Bus to Alps employees) and gypsies that will get all up in your personal space, all I can say is ignore them and do not feel bad about it AT ALL. Every city you visit will have hawkers and you will have to be mean to them otherwise you'll be euros down.
Mosquitos: Window screens do not exist in Florence. Get the bug spray plug ins for your apartment, just pay the expense for it you will not regret it. It gets hot and you will want the windows to be open during the night.
Piazzale Michelangelo: GO HERE THE FIRST WEEK YOU ARE IN FLORENCE and literally just sit there and enjoy the views of Florence, it will change your life. Your perspective on life will actually be altered from this view, or at least it did for me. Your life is put into perspective when you go here on top of Florence over looking the city and the Arno River. Go here, watch the sunset, maybe get gelato before or after you go. Life is so not real life abroad that you cannot even imagine its actually happening, all the more so when you get back that it even happened, but this view will forever be engrained in my mind. Go here multiple times and then a few more times after that. Bring friends.
The Duomo (aka the North Star of Florence): If you are lost, go to the Duomo and find your way home. It is difficult to navigate but once you find your paths it makes life easier, but no doubt that first month or so utilize the Duomo to help navigate. Climb the Duomo, but save it for maybe when some of your friends are visiting you in Florence because then its a great way to experience something new for yourself and for them to experience Florence as well. I did this with 2 visiting friends and my Florence friends and it was amazing for us all. Best 8 euro I ever spent.
Giotto's Bell Tower: Climb to the top of this as well. 6 euro and it's so worth it because you get to actually see an amazing vantage point looking at Florence and the Duomo. I would recommend waiting until maybe November or December to do this because tourist season will be down and also do this on a random Sunday morning. I did that and the 4 of us that went had practically the whole tower to ourselves. Plus you'll walk past this and the Duomo daily so you'll never forget that you still need to climb it.
Food: Your eating habits post Italy will be forever ruined, accept it now. Nothing will EVER compare. You will have some of the best meals with your program no doubt, from my experience I will be honest I did not go out to eat a ton while in Florence, partly because I could not afford it and because I knew I would have to when I traveled to other countries but I still enjoyed Florence food so much.
Random thoughts about food: Honestly drink the frizzante water, it is so good I miss it. ALWAYS get the house wine it is cheaper. I hate wine but I still learned a ton about it in Italy (Rome had the best in my opinion) and GSE took us on a fantastic wine tasting day in Chianti. Wine is cheaper than water so learn to like it. I tried profusely to be its friend, but I just do not like that taste of it but i'm weird and I am sure you will befriend wine 24/7.
Places you HAVE to go to:
Acqua al due: pricy, GSE took us for our final meal here so check if you're with that program.
il Pizzaiuolo: This is where Chiara (program director who was our savior and AMAZING) took us randomly on a Sunday. Without a doubt one of the best pizzas I will ever have in my entire life.
Gusta Pizza: Okay I do not even care this is a massive American abroaders destination. The pizza was so cheap and SO DAMN GOOD. Go here anytime a friend visits. Actually go here at least once every 2 weeks. Im serious.
McDonalds: I'm being 100% serious about this. You do not realize how nice it is to taste something from home, even if it is deep fried. Especially on long travel days.
Find a hole in the wall Aperitivo restaurant: Aperitivo is worth it. It's buffet style Italian food with 1 drink for a flat price. Early on a bunch of us randomly went to one we walked past all the time on Via San Gallo and it was amazing.
ZaZa: It was a hotspot for my friends Faith and Jenna who helped prep me for Florence as they studied the year before me. The restaurant menu is in Italian or in English (bonus points) and the food is GOOD here, even if you just got the 6 euro plain pasta with sauce... the best. I would recommend going here once in the first month and or when friends visit. Its a good place to start to transition before going to more legitimate Italian restaurants.
Restaurants and places to eat in general in Italy and abroad: there will be an extra charge for sitting down especially in places near anything famous. Be aware of this.
Aside from all the amazing food you will eat out for, go to the markets and grocery stores and cook for yourself! You will save hundreds by doing this. Make families meals with friends if you are inclined to do so, but even just buying your own food you know how much you are spending. Suck it up and eat a lot of 1 euro pasta, you will never be able to study abroad ever again in your life so live it up, but be responsible about it too because food is within your control to save money on especially while in Florence. (Sidenote tip: grocery stores have plastic gloves to put on before you touch any produce and then after you do this you will have to weigh the fruit/veggies on a scale and get an exact price sticker for the food.. just be aware). Also, you will not find practically any brands you will recognize, get past it and get what is cheap, but yes splurge for the occasional Twix or Pringles if you are homesick.
Money Sidenote: I would also recommend do not eat only one meal a day! I hard trouble in my adjustment and stressed myself out to the point I only ate one meal a day the first few weeks. DON'T DO THIS. As much as this was a hard thing for me to realize, you will spend pretty much your entire savings, but its BEYOND worth it. I tried budgeting my money early on but that stressed me out so harshly I stopped and just enjoyed life only weekly checking out how much I was spending and not nitpicking every purchase, but to each their own. All in all, even if you have to eat practically only pasta for a month like I did (which most students didn't, I was extreme) you can do it. You will figure out how to budget to get what you want out of Florence and Europe, I wanted to travel so I sacrificed having diverse grocery options.
ZaZa: It was a hotspot for my friends Faith and Jenna who helped prep me for Florence as they studied the year before me. The restaurant menu is in Italian or in English (bonus points) and the food is GOOD here, even if you just got the 6 euro plain pasta with sauce... the best. I would recommend going here once in the first month and or when friends visit. Its a good place to start to transition before going to more legitimate Italian restaurants.
Restaurants and places to eat in general in Italy and abroad: there will be an extra charge for sitting down especially in places near anything famous. Be aware of this.
Aside from all the amazing food you will eat out for, go to the markets and grocery stores and cook for yourself! You will save hundreds by doing this. Make families meals with friends if you are inclined to do so, but even just buying your own food you know how much you are spending. Suck it up and eat a lot of 1 euro pasta, you will never be able to study abroad ever again in your life so live it up, but be responsible about it too because food is within your control to save money on especially while in Florence. (Sidenote tip: grocery stores have plastic gloves to put on before you touch any produce and then after you do this you will have to weigh the fruit/veggies on a scale and get an exact price sticker for the food.. just be aware). Also, you will not find practically any brands you will recognize, get past it and get what is cheap, but yes splurge for the occasional Twix or Pringles if you are homesick.
Money Sidenote: I would also recommend do not eat only one meal a day! I hard trouble in my adjustment and stressed myself out to the point I only ate one meal a day the first few weeks. DON'T DO THIS. As much as this was a hard thing for me to realize, you will spend pretty much your entire savings, but its BEYOND worth it. I tried budgeting my money early on but that stressed me out so harshly I stopped and just enjoyed life only weekly checking out how much I was spending and not nitpicking every purchase, but to each their own. All in all, even if you have to eat practically only pasta for a month like I did (which most students didn't, I was extreme) you can do it. You will figure out how to budget to get what you want out of Florence and Europe, I wanted to travel so I sacrificed having diverse grocery options.
Travel: I traveled to Paris, London, all around Ireland, Cannes/Nice, and around Italy (Pisa, Lucca, Venice, Rome, Cinque Terre, Perugia). Most of the Italy travels were with my program and aside from that using trains from the Firenze SMN train station (10-15 min walk from the center of Florence) and Ryan Air (and honestly do not take anyone "horror" stories from Ryan Air seriously, I flew Ryan Air leaving from Pisa every time I traveled (except AirFrance for Cannes/Nice).
Use websites like RyanAir and Hostel World. Plan out your trips. Leave room for spontaneity for sure, but don't be stupid. Research hostels if you need to and I am sure you will find great ones (but recommend never staying at one that had below a 90% cleanliness rating... just saying).
Take the train from Florence to Pisa to travel. Use Firenze Santa Maria Novella train station for all your train travels. There is one that easily goes to Pisa Aeroporto. Ryan Air flies to and from Pisa, its a cheap train ticket to and from Florence and flying from Pisa saves you SO MUCH. With regards to Ryan Air or any flight service, PLAN YOUR TRAVELS WITHIN THE FIRST TWO WEEKS YOU ARE ABROAD! You will save tremendously by booking ahead of time. Most websites get more expensive the lesser the seats get available. I had a bit of difficulty trying to coordinate with some of my friends and I regret not trying to be more active in planning earlier because it would have saved me so much money. You get your schedule for classes, you get your travel schedule with your program, and you know which places you want to visit and which friends you want to visit so amidst your culture shock, just do it anyways do not wait, you'll pay for it... literally. Go to your program's travels because 1. they are mostly free 2. you may go to someplace you would never expect to and it may be your favorite place ever (Cinque Terre for me). 3. unless it is a day event that is in Florence, you can always do those on your own.
This is one of my biggest tips for studying abroad and its probably the main reason I choose Florence, TRAVEL ALL THE TIME. You will never be this young and this active in your life. You will do things like steal toilet paper from hotels to save euros, but you do it anyways because any problem or struggle you face abroad is life experience you can't every trade for anything. See as many places as you humanly can because you genuinely will never be able to travel all around Europe and visit other friends and stay on their floor and actually live life to the fullest. Florence is in a great European location because it makes it super easy to travel accessibly within Italy and to other European countries. My top three (if I even could narrow it down) places I highly recommend traveling to from Florence are Paris, London, and Rome. Now I do not care what anyone says about these three being massive tourist destinations. You will find love in any city you visit, but for me the French culture/food is incomparable and the Eiffel Tower is life changingly breathtaking, the London atmosphere, sight seeing, and to be fair the addition of English language back into your life will be much needed, and Rome is massive and has so much to offer to see and do. But if you want more travel destination opinions and advice, just ask me! I could write 5,000 more words about each place I visited easily.
Gelato (set aside a budget for this, it's worth the impulse buying): I had three favorite gelato places in Florence. Go to Grom, screw the fact it is an Italian chain because it was the first gelato I ever had and will always be the best tasting (not to mention the way they make it and store it honestly does make it taste better). Some flavors are seasonal there, you can get two flavors in one cup (but you can pretty much do that for any gelato selling establishment). Grom is right near the Duomo hidden down a side street, just do it. Other places: Gelatissimo, If you are walking to the Ponte Vecchio from the Duomo direction it's right before the bridge to the right. It has a rewards card program (obviously you cant pass up free gelato) and if the cute girl that always worked there is still there she wuld punch extra holes in the rewards card all the time. Plus the portions are MASSIVE here. Festival del Gelato: I actually did a business psychology project about this store for one of my classes, its closer to Piazza Repubblica (the one with the carousel) and probably has the most options of any place I can remember. Please try the gelato cinque cereal (5 cereals), sounds random but it was really good. FLAVORS: Tiramisu you cannot ever go wrong with, try the fruit ones too Rasperry, LEMON, Apple, do not ignore them just because it's not technically gelato.
Use websites like RyanAir and Hostel World. Plan out your trips. Leave room for spontaneity for sure, but don't be stupid. Research hostels if you need to and I am sure you will find great ones (but recommend never staying at one that had below a 90% cleanliness rating... just saying).
Take the train from Florence to Pisa to travel. Use Firenze Santa Maria Novella train station for all your train travels. There is one that easily goes to Pisa Aeroporto. Ryan Air flies to and from Pisa, its a cheap train ticket to and from Florence and flying from Pisa saves you SO MUCH. With regards to Ryan Air or any flight service, PLAN YOUR TRAVELS WITHIN THE FIRST TWO WEEKS YOU ARE ABROAD! You will save tremendously by booking ahead of time. Most websites get more expensive the lesser the seats get available. I had a bit of difficulty trying to coordinate with some of my friends and I regret not trying to be more active in planning earlier because it would have saved me so much money. You get your schedule for classes, you get your travel schedule with your program, and you know which places you want to visit and which friends you want to visit so amidst your culture shock, just do it anyways do not wait, you'll pay for it... literally. Go to your program's travels because 1. they are mostly free 2. you may go to someplace you would never expect to and it may be your favorite place ever (Cinque Terre for me). 3. unless it is a day event that is in Florence, you can always do those on your own.
This is one of my biggest tips for studying abroad and its probably the main reason I choose Florence, TRAVEL ALL THE TIME. You will never be this young and this active in your life. You will do things like steal toilet paper from hotels to save euros, but you do it anyways because any problem or struggle you face abroad is life experience you can't every trade for anything. See as many places as you humanly can because you genuinely will never be able to travel all around Europe and visit other friends and stay on their floor and actually live life to the fullest. Florence is in a great European location because it makes it super easy to travel accessibly within Italy and to other European countries. My top three (if I even could narrow it down) places I highly recommend traveling to from Florence are Paris, London, and Rome. Now I do not care what anyone says about these three being massive tourist destinations. You will find love in any city you visit, but for me the French culture/food is incomparable and the Eiffel Tower is life changingly breathtaking, the London atmosphere, sight seeing, and to be fair the addition of English language back into your life will be much needed, and Rome is massive and has so much to offer to see and do. But if you want more travel destination opinions and advice, just ask me! I could write 5,000 more words about each place I visited easily.
Gelato (set aside a budget for this, it's worth the impulse buying): I had three favorite gelato places in Florence. Go to Grom, screw the fact it is an Italian chain because it was the first gelato I ever had and will always be the best tasting (not to mention the way they make it and store it honestly does make it taste better). Some flavors are seasonal there, you can get two flavors in one cup (but you can pretty much do that for any gelato selling establishment). Grom is right near the Duomo hidden down a side street, just do it. Other places: Gelatissimo, If you are walking to the Ponte Vecchio from the Duomo direction it's right before the bridge to the right. It has a rewards card program (obviously you cant pass up free gelato) and if the cute girl that always worked there is still there she wuld punch extra holes in the rewards card all the time. Plus the portions are MASSIVE here. Festival del Gelato: I actually did a business psychology project about this store for one of my classes, its closer to Piazza Repubblica (the one with the carousel) and probably has the most options of any place I can remember. Please try the gelato cinque cereal (5 cereals), sounds random but it was really good. FLAVORS: Tiramisu you cannot ever go wrong with, try the fruit ones too Rasperry, LEMON, Apple, do not ignore them just because it's not technically gelato.
I'll write another post with other tips, especially where to go out, but I wanted to give you all this as soon as I could!
