These are all in no particular order…
Top 5…
Foods I Miss:
1) Doritos – I haven’t even seen any here.
2)Plain Cheese – The cheese is so strong here but apparently I’m the only one who feels that way. And they don’t have cheddar…
3) Krispy Kreme – They don’t really have doughnuts here…But I crave these at home anyway!
4)Sandwich meat – One of the downfalls of not having preservatives. You just get meat right off the animal. They don’t really slice anything except salami.
5) Cheap Peanut Butter – A jar about the size of my fist costs about 6 or 7 US dollars (A jar of nutella 3 times the size costs the same price)
Foods I will miss:
1) Prosciutto Pizza – I have a feeling pizza won’t appeal to me as much when I go back.
2) Pane Tuscana – I will probably miss this the most. It’s the typical tuscan bread. You can buy it freshly made at the market.
3) Gelato – It’s basically awesome
4) Hot waffles served with melted nutella – Mmmm but this is quite expensive and I’ve only had one but I can make these at home (you should try it out too)
5) Calzone con prosciutto e formaggio – I had this in Rome and was a little wary but it is now one of my new favorite meals!
Things I miss:
1) Lined paper – They use graph paper here as regular notebook paper. It gives me a headache to write and study.
2) Smooth roads – The roads are very uneven and I frequently trip (although I no longer jump over the chains). You always have to look down when you walk so you don’t wipeout and it’s hard to wear anything but tennis shoes or flats.
Things I will miss:
1) Walking everywhere – I love being able to just walk wherever. Even if it’s 30 minutes away (that I consider a short walk now!)
2) Being able to take a train wherever – the trains are cheap here. I can go an hour away to like Sienna, Pisa, Assisi for about 20 US dollars round trip.
3) The Market – I love buying from the market. They always have the freshest produce and breads and meat.
4) Window shopping – The Italians take great pride in their window displays. They always look perfect. The downside is, if you go in, they expect you to buy something because you should be able to tell if the store is in your price range or not and if you like their clothing based on the window display. Needless to say I do more window shopping than actual shopping.
5) Hearing Italian – Although not much is spoke in the center, it really is a beautiful language.
Places in Firenze:
1) Villa Bardini – This is a garden that overlooks the city. I love going here because I feel like I’m not in the city even though I am.
2) The Arno – Everything is more peaceful here. Not as many tourists. Plus I can see mountains from here!
3) Piaza Michelangelo – You can see all of Florence here and is beautiful.
4) Santa Crocce at night – The church is so big and at night it is just amazing
5) Oltrano – I can get lost in the streets here because it is so quiet and peaceful
I will be posting more frequently the next couple of weeks because after that I probably won’t have as much time since I will be having even more work to finish this half of the semester.
>I read your blog and yay Skype!!!