Sleep, Orientation, and Chocolate

Hello, Ciao, Buon Giorno!

Well everyone, I survived my first ever adventure into Florence last night.
STORY: So, a bunch of us rascals decided it would be a cool idea to walk downtown for the night and aimlessly wander through the city. We all concluded that if we didn't get hit by a moving vehicle (see below) and we all made it back to the Villas, it would be a successful evening.

DRIVERS IN ITALY: Let's see. So, for all of you people out there who operate a motor vehicle, please visualize the worst possible driving scenario at a traffic circle. Now, take out the yield, stop, and one way signs, a few stop lights, add about 1,000 pedestrians, decrease the size of the circle to a 5 foot diameter, and add a few crazy motorcyclists into the mix. Congratulations, Benvenuti in Italia!

CONTINUATION OF STORY: So, we all went off downtown, some of us went looking for bars, while myself and a few lovely ladies ventured off into the park and got lost. Woooohoooo. Although, it was a super nice evening, weather wise and we were all happy and excited to be in Florence, that we didn't notice that we were lost until someone asked.... "Where are we?!?" After following a bunch of "I thought you knew the way"s and "This is my first night, I couldn't possibly know where I'm going", we pulled out our handy dandy maps and tried orienteering our way home. EXCEPT. the map was wrong.

TO MAKE THE STORY A LITTLE BIT SHORTER FOR THE ENDING, We all finally found the road that led back to campus, and after walking a grand total of about 4 miles, we made it safely back to  the campus and we did NOT get hit by a moving vehicle, even though we came really close to it....

NIGHT: Success

....I may have also forgot to bring my NYU ID card on the trip sooooooo...... yeah.

WARNING: Today should be the best of your weekdays, make it count. How should I know? Well, I'm 6 hours ahead of you, so I'm experiencing the day before you. At least I think I am.

WARNING 2: Swiss Chocolate, although extremely delicious and seemingly addictive, is probably the most fattening substance in Europe.

WARNING 3: Just because the guy in the dark corner on that alleyway in Florence looks creepy, doesn't mean he's a bad person. EVERYONE IN ITALY IS SUPER FRIENDLY.

LAST WARNING: The sunrises here are magnificent. I'll try getting a picture for you all :)

Today, I'll be attending Freshman Orientation :) I hope to be on Facebook shortly after 10:00A.M. (your time).

Until the next post,

Joel C. Yates
Italian Language Butcher-er