Week 2: Exploring Flo With Chlo

San Diego Meets Florence

This past weekend, I got to visit so many of my friends in Florence! Two of my roommates from San Diego are studying abroad there and five of my other friends are traveling all throughout Italy for a few weeks so were all able to meet in Florence. I had such a blast enjoying all of the things that Florence has to offer. 

To fulfill a cultural activity, I visited the Uffizi Gallery where I learned about historical magazines in Florence and saw a lot of art and statues. I also got to see the Duomo which is so beautiful. 

We enjoyed gelato, pasta, and yummy sandwiches from a famous restaurant called All’Antico Vinaio. I also discovered my absolute favorite thing ever: pistachio croissants. I feel very passionately about how amazing they are and could go on forever about how they literally melt in your mouth. Hopefully, I’ll be able to find a pistachio croissant in Barcelona that is as good as the ones that I had in Florence.

Lastly, I got to shop around and saw the bridge with all of the gold shops as well as the market with mainly leather products. I had no idea Florence was so big on leather! If it was colder, I think I would’ve been tempted to buy a leather jacket because I saw so many that I thought were cute.

My friends and I also started doing “Dinner Questions.” This is where someone proposes a question at dinner and everyone has to answer. It could be something light-hearted like, “What Disney princess would you be and why?” or something deeper like, “If you could choose something for people to know about you before they meet you, what would it be?” I love this and want to do it at any and every dinner I go to with my friends. It’s bonding because you get to know people more but I think when the deeper questions are asked you also learn more about yourself. We did a mixture of both on our trip and when we got deep it was so wonderful how uplifting everyone was.

Overall, my time in Florence was perfect and I wouldn’t have changed a thing. The timing of seeing my friends was perfect too as we got to share the characters in our separate lives abroad and just catch up on the summer as well. Also, navigating the airport by myself was so easy and it made me even more excited and confident about my other weekend trips to come!

Intensive Learning Program

Back in Barcelona, classes started for my program! Right now we are in a two-week program called ILP (Intensive Learning Program) to learn Spanish and Catalan and we also do a few excursions. On Thursday, we did a tour of the Gothic Quarter which was super fun and informative. I think the Gothic Quarter might be my favorite part of the city. ILP is also a great way to make friends in the program and we all have something to bond over.

My Spanish is definitely getting a lot better! I’m excited to start my actual classes because I’m taking two that are taught in Spanish and I am very determined that I will be fluent by the end of my time abroad. I’m also hoping to start utilizing Spanish media such as books, TV shows, and music. The TV in my apartment only has two cable channels and one of them is Spongebob but in Spanish. I think this could be the perfect resource.

Aside from school, I’ve been exploring the city, enjoying lots of food, and building friendships with people in and out of my program. I’m still having a blast here and already know it will be extremely hard to leave (I’m plotting ways to stay or come back for an extended period of time).

Quote of the Week

“Molt bé”

This means “very good” or “muy bien” in Catalan and I just couldn’t stop saying it over the week. It’s perfect in every situation and it’s just fun to say. I loved teaching my friends in Florence this phrase.