Since being in Florence, my friends and I would pass different places and just say that we had to go there. So this weekend, we decided it was time to start checking things off our list. Since it is midterm time and we have been busy with school work, we decided to go to dinner Friday night at a place near the studio that offers appetizers, a main course, and a drink all for 14 euro. This restaurant is on the other side of the Arno, so as we were crossing one of the bridges we saw the sunset and took a few minutes to just watch it. This does not really seem like a big deal, but every time I cross the bridges I am going around people stopping to stare. And my friends and I would always laugh at the tourists that were always in our way. But as we were watching the sunset we were talking about how all of this has become so normal to us. Our first week here we also would stop and stare at the water and the views, and slowly we stopped really noticing how beautiful everything is. That time that we took made us all remember how cool the place we are is.
Eventually we got to the restaurant and were so tired from how much work we had done all day that we did not even attempt Italian when ordering and explaining how we wanted their 14 euro deal. Before I came here I was really worried about the language barrier but it has not really been an issue. The people here for the most part do know English, and are patient with you as you communicate with them or even attempt Italian. The Italian dining experience is also very different. It is much more relaxed than anything you experience in America. Their service is significantly faster, and they also never rush you out. The people here really enjoy their meals and the time that they spend with the people that they are eating with. I have seen groups stay hours past the time they came to the restaurant just to talk and enjoy. The restaurants never show any signs of rushing them out. In fact, every single time we have had to ask for the check and go up to them to pay so that we could leave. At the beginning of our time here we did not get what was happening and why people were not moving faster. But living here has made us more accustomed. There are still times that we want to have things go faster so that we can get all the things we want to get done out of the way. But I think the way people see things here is just so much more relaxed compared to America. While eating dinner, we talked with our waiter and slowly left as we went on a quest for gelato
As we were walking around, we realized we were in a part of Florence that we had never seen! The whole dinner experience just reminded all of us how much we love Florence and to appreciate the places that we are used to now, and to continue to explore other places.
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