“To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted.” - Bill Bryson

Today was my first day in Italy. I'd known for months that I'd be living here for this semester, and today it was finally real. I stumbled off the plane this morning in Firenze at 11am local time, (5 am EST) full of excitement, regardless of sleeping a mere 4 hours on my overnight flight. The satisfaction of finally arriving at the place I'd been anticipating visiting for so long hit me as I stepped off the plane and onto the tar-mac.The weather was a beautiful, brisk 50 degrees, and any feeling of sleep deprivation had left my mind instantly. I was finally here.

My journey began in a manner that was a bit un-orthodox, but I'm thankful for my slight delay. I think the unexpected 'dilemma' I experienced two days ago made me more appreciative of what I was to experience. Despite the 16 inches of snow we'd received in the days leading up to my arrival, I'd made it out safe and sound, with nothing but a 'bumpy ride' to tarnish my trip. How can I complain? I'm in Italy, and loving it.

This afternoon wasn't super eventful. About an hour or so was spent in orientation, a good amount of time was spent wandering around, and the majority of the time was occupied by my frequent, loud outbursts exclaiming my love and excitement for what was to come. The only thing I bought today was food. And oh, it was so worth it. I had a wonderful pomodorini provolone pizza for lunch, followed by an afternoon cappuccino to keep me alert until the evening. Around 5pm I drank the best drink I've had in a long time. A cappuccino, with....NUTELLA. Words can not even describe the awesomeness that this cup contained. Every sip was like a magical explosion of chocolate, hazelnuts and coffee. And to top it off, the waiter made a butterfly out of the foam on my cup. Obviously, this was an amazing experience for me. For dinner, my roommate Amy and I went to this place a few streets over. I can't even remember the name, but I ate a tuscan vegetable soup, and we drank the house wine. The meal was very good, not exceptional, but very good. The waiter, though, was great. Just after we'd finished eating, I asked for il contro, the check, and he denied my request. He pointed out that we still had wine left in our glasses, and told us to calm down and relax. After all, tomorrow is Saturday, and we don't have class. So we sat, for a good while, drinking our wine and chatting. And when we had finally finished, he brought us our check. It's interesting how sometimes it takes someone that you have never met to get you to do something that is so hard for you to do. Maybe the waiter has been reading my blog. ;)

Today was great. By all means, everything I did was average. I ate pizza. I drank wine. I drank a cappuccino. I walked. (I think it's obvious the nutella cappuccino was far above average, but that's beside the point.) Anyone observing what I did today would have the reaction of "meh." Nothing I did was outstanding. But, I experienced all of this in Italy. Being here allows me to see activities that I would normally consider 'average' as exquisite. It allows me to gain a greater appreciation for the things I do everyday. And for that, I am grateful.

“A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.” – Lao Tzu

Yesterday was a learning experience. After weeks of preparation, I was all packed and ready to leave for Italy. I had carefully made lists of everything that needed to be packed, purchased before departure, and purchased upon arrival. I had chosen outfits, removed many items from my suitcase, and was finally all ready to leave. The afternoon of January 25th, my mom and I left for JFK airport in Queens, NY. Living in Jersey, we knew this would be a bit of a trek, given we'd have to cut through NYC, and the tunnels and bridges are always a parking lot. So, we planned ahead, leaving almost 5 hours before my flight, to drive what mapquest said should take an hour. What we could not plan for is an accident on the George Washington Bridge, that shut down the entire top level of the bridge. My mom and I sat, literally sat, in the car for at least half an hour. The entire journey, after encountering another accident in Brooklyn, took us over three hours. Needless to say, I'm going to try my hardest to fly out of Newark when I can.

So finally, after a long journey, my mom and I arrive at JFK and meet my dad in the lobby. Right when I get into the check-in line I realize I don't have my passport. For some reason, at that point I knew it was not in my purse where it had been earlier. I knew that I had left it in the copy machine at Staples, where I had made copies of it earlier that morning. I could not believe this. I am a very organized person, and the one thing I really needed I forgot. And not only did I forget it, I left it at a Staples on the copy machine glass, where someone could have stolen it and completely prevented my trip from happening. I was incredibly flustered, and had no idea what to. Even if someone could bring my passport to me, there was no way I was going to make my flight that left in two hours. I frantically called my friend Gary, who was awesome, and went out of his way to pick up my passport for me. There was a possibility that I could make a later flight to Milan, so the plan was for Gary to drive my passport to JFK and hopefully I would make the later flight. But after much deliberation, it was evident I was not going to be flying to Italy that night. And combined with an impending snow storm hitting the North East the following day, I was not going to be leaving until Thursday night.

I can't describe how hard this was for me. I was so excited, and what prevented me from getting to Italy on time was completely my fault. Granted, I can't really complain, I've only been postponed two days, and I still get to spend an entire semester in Europe. But, in all seriousness, this was a bump in the road that I in no way expected. So, from this experience I have learned to ALWAYS check multiple times for my passport/ID whenever traveling. I'm trying to look at the whole situation as part of the journey. After all, a trip without issues is pretty boring, right?