Arrival to Florence

YAY! We finally made it! We arrived in Florence at 6:00 pm (Italy time) and were shuttled back to our new home away from home for the next couple of weeks -- 65 Via De Pepi. Once we were given the tour of the two apartments, we would be given time to relax and get adjusted.

After we were told the house rules, we had to choose which room we would claim. Thankfully, Paige and I hit it off really well from the beginning of the trip and had talked a little bit prior to meeting at the airport so we decided to room together. Once we hauled our luggage upstairs and changed clothes after the group meeting, we decided to walk around the town after unpacking. We really wanted to explore the territory, but we only walked down the street until the sidewalk ended as to not get lost on our first night there.

During the group meeting with Pascoe, we were told that he would meet us at the apartment at 8:00 where we would eat at Trattoria Zaza for dinner. The walk was so nice and peaceful accompanied by a good light breeze. After the 10 minute walk, we stood outside of the restaurant and kind of just took some time to breathe and take it all in. Once we were seated and able to look at the menu, I was overwhelmed! There were so many choices for main course meals, salads, side dishes, appetizers, and more. The menu was literally a small book with probably 25 dishes per each page.

I ended up ordering a side of special green sweet peppers cooked with onion, garlic, capers, tomato, and olive sauce Zaza Style. In addition to the side dish, I also ordered an appetizer of a 4 crostini plate (1 canape for each type).

1. Fresh tomatoes

2. Live pâté

3. Mushrooms

4. Tomato sauce

Pascoe came around the table to check out what everyone ordered and shared some of his fried artichokes which were so delicious. Maddie Drives, a girl who was sitting across from me, ordered some fried zucchini flowers that she shared with our end of the table. They too were quite yummy! We all shared whatever we ordered and exchanged bites of one thing for another. It was definitely an experience! Along with our food, we had the house wine which was so smooth and unlike any wine I had ever tasted before. I'm not really a huge wine girl in the first place, but this wine was shockingly good- almost refreshing. It was called rossa toscano di fattoria.

After dinner, we walked to the Duomo where Pascoe would treat everyone to gelato at Don Nino. I got lemon and it was wonderful but not what I was expecting. The flavor was fantastic; however, the texture reminded me more of Nestle's Outshine popsicles. I always imagined gelato to be more creamy smooth. In my mind, I thought it would taste like Talenti's gelato. Regardless, this was a great first night and introduction to the city. I was now more excited than ever to see what would be in store.