Settignano & Villa Morghen

We have made it! It was a beautiful day in Florence, Italy, when I awoke this morning. Fathoming an unpleasant day is almost impossible for me. The whole town has me in awe. Europe finally seems real to me; I will be immersed in this culture longer than I had ever imagined and it has me excited to experience everything this wonderful country has to offer. I just got here and part of me doesn't want to have to leave, even though I know that it isn't for another three months. So we hopped on the number 10 bus out of San Marco square and took the forty minute bus drive up the hills into Settignano. We checked in (Room 33) and relaxed, showered, and unpacked.

Florence from Settignano

Nathan and I walked around the Villa exploring our new home. Around one we had lunch. I was expecting a simple lunch with just pasta or something similar. Boy was I mistaken. We had a four course meal complete with pasta, chicken, fish, wine, and bread. It was absolutely awesome. There was a lull between lunch and the second wave of arrivals, so we relaxed in the room since we didn't really have anything else to do. Lauren arrived around four, so we caught up on travels and set out to explore Settignano and Florence. We walked for about an hour and a half. It was an amazing walk through a beautiful town. We just got out of mass at six and will soon be eating dinner at seven fifteen. Classes start tomorrow. It seems like it has taken forever for us to finally get here, but I'm glad to be onto Italiano and such. I have all of my photos up online, if you'd like to look through them I can send you the link.

I was looking through my pictures and I was surprised at how many instant memories and good feelings sprung from those pictures. My pictures from Connemara and Cong are now my shuffling background. I feel like in some of my posts, especially recently, I'm leaving things out. As much as I try, the inner monologue in my head is always saying more than my fingers can put into the keyboard -- especially after I'm done with the post. I'd love to go off on tangents about the buses, and the buildings, and the people, but it's just difficult to get it concisely done inside my head. Anyway... you might see some of my posts that are done earlier in the night updated with new information. So scroll down a little, see if something has changed, you might be surprised how much I edit these in one night.

Blessings from Settignano, Florence, Italy!