Friday: Arrival and Exploration

The Alps pierced soft, lofty clouds as we prepared for our final descent into Florence, Italy. After a long day and night of flying, my sore back and I were more than ready to be in Italy. As the mountainous terrain transformed into to the soft hills of Tuscany, I felt my stomach clench. Months of waiting had brought me to this moment, this new country—and I couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

Taxis took our group past butter colored buildings on our way to the Avanti Bible School. Our taxi driver was confident, but her quick turns and traffic merges caught me off guard. She would have made Texas drivers proud. Cars here fight for space in lanes, fitting two cars into what would be a one-car lane in the U.S.. After we made it safely to the school and moved in our luggage, we had just enough time to change clothes and brush 24-hours worth of grime off of our teeth before heading to the Villa.

We literally arrived to the open arms (and rambunctious cheers) of our friends at HUF, and then enjoyed our first meal at the Villa—bow-tie pasta. As a pasta lover, I knew that Italy would be a good match for me! After lunch, we headed into Florence via the bus system to help win the battle against jet lag.

My group trudged through the bitter cold wind, down cobblestone streets and to the front of the Duomo. As I stood before the architectural gem of Florence, I had my first “I'm really here” moment. I was done with plane rides and finally standing in the streets of Italy. I stared at the intricate designs carved into the building, realizing that I could spend hours looking and still miss countless details of the architecture. Because we were limited on time, we weren't able to do much more than stand there for a few minutes (I'll get to go back later in the week) before heading back for pizza at Gallos.

By the time we got to the restaurant and sat down, I was so tired that I almost fell asleep at the table. But as the pizzas emerged, I found the energy to indulge in the glory of cheese, tomato sauce and olive oil. Waiters served pizza after pizza to our tables— margherita, ham, cheese, pepperoni...The slices were thin and crispy, all dripping with flavor. I'm not sure if it was hunger or the seasonings on the pizzas, but it was probably one of the most delicious meals of my life.

Now it's time to settle in, get some long awaited sleep and hope for a good day tomorrow.

Prego!