Housing in Florence

Honestly i think the API packet prepares you for the worst where, in reality, all the apartments I saw were amazing.  As soon as I landed I prepared myself for a tiny, dilapidated apartment with bunk bed stacked three high.  I figured the program directors were just candy coating the pathetic truth when they wrote "The apartments are quaint, authentic Italian buildings...the rooms are normally sized for Italy but will be smaller than you are used too..Hot water is limited so be sure to turn it off when you shave."My only thoughts were, YIKES!  Instead I had a beautiful, spacious apartment with french door windows and white linen drapes reaching from ceiling to floor.  It was picturesque.  My room was almost too big, my roommate and I did not need that much space.  We had a small European kitchen with a hotel room sized fridge and a dinning room.  There was a little TV in a sitting area but it pretty much went un used.  We have two bathrooms for 8 girls  which turned out to work out just fine.  The tenants who lived there previous left blow driers and electrical adapters.  Every girl seemed to bring her own towels, a few of us borrowed some from the hotel next door, they were pretty willing to share with us.  It was only me and one other girl who brought sheets, the ones they had were surprising fresh looking but I still preferred my own.  We didn't have a problem with bugs like the manual prepares you for but we can probably attribute that to the scented bug-be-gone plug ins we put around the apartment.  I don't know anybody who did a home stay in Florence but all the apartments I saw were just as nice.  All were pretty close to one another which was centrally located, only a 10 or 15, if you like to mosey, minute walk to most classes. 

Just as a side note for those who are nervous about randomly assigned roommates, I don't know anybody who had a problem.  I had 7 flatmates and 1 roommate and I adored 5 of them and got only with all of them.  You have to remember that by picking Florence, out of anywhere else in the world, you already have something in common. Also being away from home and unsure about your surroundings helps you bond.  You will have roommates that want to see something or shop someplace you do so its an automatic buddy system.  I couldn't be happier with group of people in API, I would have lived with almost all of them. 

Until next time,
Brittany

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