la bella cittá

I simply cannot believe that this one full day I've spent here has felt like about three. I arrived yesterday morning at Pisa airport at 9am sharp, collected my bags in under twenty minutes and found myself a coach to Firenze which left at 10:20. I felt so grown up, sat on this coach without any air-conditioning, not taking a picture of the girl asleep next to me whose chin appeared to be swallowing her own face and not even laughing about it...!!

As I hoiked my enormous 'hand luggage' onto my back and wheeled my suitcase away from the coach, I started off in what I'd thought, from googlemapping, was the correct direction and confidently walked that way for five or ten minutes until I realised I was lost... very lost. I went back the way I came and, not wanting to appear touristy (as if the bags weren't clues enough), I peripherally read the map beside me, found myself and started off again. 

Next hurdle: standing outside the flat, I searched for the name of my landlord which was definitely not there... I rang him up. I don't speak Italian (hence the language course) so was not prepared for the awkward interchange, which I gather now translates as something like:

"Are you in via del melarancio?"

"I am sorry. I don't understand. I am in via del melarancio"

"So you are in via del melarancio?"

"I don't understand. I think I am here, in via del melarancio"

The conversation above, all in Italian and all over the phone was extremely frustrating. All I could understand was the road I was supposed to be on and not much more. It really highlighted the need for a language course before I begin proper studies...

Once inside, we discovered we both spoke French so I dusted off my A-level French and got by quite nicely. He told me that the other two would be arriving later, so I set off to explore the City.

I didn't stray too far, having  already got lost earlier, but I found my way to Il Duomo. And that first glimpse you catch of it is absolutely breath-taking: the first thing to make me truly smile since my arrival and despite only two or three hours' sleep caught here and there.

The other two girls arrived later that day, one in time for us to explore the City together and the other just in time for bed. One's German and one's French so we all speak in English. Very helpful...!!

Monday, the first day of the language course was spent taking a comprehension test (somehow, probably thanks to singing so much in Italian, I have managed not to be put in the very beginners' group) and being shown the sights of Firenze by someone who does know their way around. I cannot believe how much history this place is saturated with!

I look forward to my first real day of language-learning tomorrow, and to uncovering more of this city's delights.