Mediterranean weather brings smiles...

First night settled into our new apartment in Florence, each of us with our own bottle of wine :)

Duomo Bell Tower

View of the Arno River

I think Italy may end up being my favorite country on this trip.  Not only is the weather much warmer than our previous locations, but Florence is a beautiful city and the architecture is pretty incredible!  However, with that said, I could definitely get used to the Mediterranean climate! There are still a few tourists lingering around, but I think we will have a much different experience here than the other cities we visited.  It's really great that we have our own apartment, which is located outside the city center... cheaper to live and trying to get a feel for how the locals do things.  We can do a lot of cooking together and less eating out since we have a full kitchen too, sans an oven...  Of course I am still getting my fill of pizza, pasta, gelato, cannoli and wine!

We haven't done much as far as class goes quite yet.  We had a welcome dinner with our whole group and have been settling into our apartments.  We have gone on a few walking tours of our neighborhood and the city center to get a better grasp on the city and where things are located.  Tomorrow, we climb to the top of the Duomo, which I can't wait to do! I'm sure it will provide another great view of the city and also allow me to see the interior of the church we have been meeting at every morning.

More to come as our experiences get more exciting!

Oh, and my cousin and aunt arrived today! So I am heading out to go visit with them! Soooo incredibly excited to have some family here :)