Settling in!

So we've been here a few days and it feels like we've been here weeks.  We have found our neighborhood grocery store ( The Penny Market where we bought wine, a huge jug of olive oil, parmesan cheese, and a bunch of other things for only 18 euro!), we have a coffee/aperitivo place to become regulars at and we've actually made some friends!

Our AMAZING aperitivo at Cuculia!!  7 euros for all this: a white bean soup, mini hot dogs and peas, a pea/cheese mousse, pasta with red sauce (SIMONA!), and a big hunk of cheese.  I realize I don't actually know the Italian names for any of these things...we kinda just guessed!  This is our new favorite place for sure!

We are still getting used to the time over here and find ourselves sleeping in until 11 or noon and declaring "Seriously, tomorrow we are getting up at 8!"  You'd think it would be easy since at 7:15 every morning the bells at the church in our backyard ring uncontrollably for 5 minutes.  At first Courtney and I thought a kid was loose in the church since there is no rhyme or reason to the ringing, seriously.  Somehow we've been able to go back to sleep after it though, and here I am once again getting up at 11:30.  Though that is also because last night we had our first taste of Florentine nightlife and didn't get home til 3:30 am!

I guess I'll just recap the day from the beginning...we woke up late again and then it stormed so we were basically just hiding out in our apt until it stopped.  We did get our Sorrento/Rome trip all planned out though so we weren't entirely unproductive!  Around 4 we finally ventured out to get our cell phones (forgot our IDs to get them. FAIL) then just explored.  We went past the Accademia where David stands in all his glory, but the lines made us just keep on walkin.  We stumbled upon a beautiful Piazza so we stopped to take pictures and I realized that this is the same Piazza I stayed off of when I came up to Florence in 2007.  I was excited since my mom and I were trying to figure it out and could not remember for the life of us.  We went into the Archeological museum in the square and I swear I'm allergic to museums...I literally have a yawning fit every time I go into one and immediately search for chairs because I feel like I'm going to pass out.  It's not good!  But we got through it and continued on to explore and find some food because after my allergic reaction I was starving!  On my friend Lisa's recommendation we went to this super cute square a few blocks off of the Duomo to find the Lion's Fountain Irish pub.  The outside seating was full so we went across the way for some wine and antipasti (prociutto, cheese and fried bread - YUM) and then headed over to the bar once the nightlife was picking up.

It was still pretty empty so the bartenders were just chatting us up and they were seriously the most friendly people ever!  And there was a girl named Giada and that's only my FAVorite person on Food Network...so I instantly loved her, duh.  The most friendly of them all was Jacopo (sounding Yacopo, not Jacopo as I was soon to find out).  He said that we were all going to be best friends and when he found out I knew Lisa he said "Ok now we're REALLY going to be best friends!" (thanks Lisa!)  They all treated us like we were regulars and then the college crowd came in being rowdy and he would roll his eyes at us, we were happy no one was doing that to us!  I had given him my credit card for drinks so when Court and I wanted to head home he refused to give it back saying we had to come out with him and the other bartenders after the bar closed.  This was at 11 so we were not ready to stay until 1:30, but he insisted so we just kept on hanging out.  We met 2 other great girls, one who is studying art restoration (so cool!) and the other is just along for the ride with her.  Finally 1:30 rolled around and we had to wait for them to clean up the bar and change and then we headed over to this bar that seemed pretty exclusive.  You couldn't tell it was a bar and a guy was just standing outside not looking like a bouncer, but as soon as we came up he put his finger to his lips so we'd be quiet and then quietly opened the door.  It was a pretty cool place, but basically right when we got there Court and I realized we were pretty tired and wanted to head out.  It was great night overall and we are just happy to have met some friends!!

Today we are going to get our cellphones (forreals this time) and head over to the train station to buy some of our tickets for upcoming trips.  The hordes of crowds here make us want to stay away from the big sights, but I think we are going to head over to Santa Croce and do a little more exploring.  So far I am loving it here, the food, the people, the sights...it's just a great city!  I also have found that people are super supportive of you trying to speak Italian, unlike what I experienced in Rome.  Even though mostly everyone here speaks English, they all will speak to you in Italian and if you don't understand they don't get annoyed, but try to work with you.  It's great!!  I have found that my Italian with ordering food is pretty great, but everything else...eh.  But I'm working on it and hopefully I can get there!

Pretty sunset on our walk to dinner