Florence

A good deal of the education we got in Florence was from Krystin’s family friend Pietro, both of us wrote about the conversations we had with him, so this will be limited to what we did in Florence.

Mainly we were in the heart of the city, where the tourists hang out.
I have been to Florence but never paid for much of the tourist sites. The Statue of David for instance is a fairly expensive ticket, especially considering there are 2 exact replicas in other parts of the city for free… (of course this will never be the same thing, but eh…)
Florence is usually swamped with tourists. It was sort of cold when we were there but we were very open to buying gelato (Italian ice cream) which is much better than American ice cream. We walked around the city for two days basically. Looking at the sites, shopping a little. Krystin spent a while looking at a pair of boots one night. We also had to pick up our tickets for the bus company that we were going to use.

Italy, especially the north is very fashion conscious, so I spent a lot of time looking at the people, young and old with their tight pants jackets and matching sun glasses. A number of school groups were visiting one of the tourist sites, probably the cathedral and I watched them talk on their cell phones, eat ice cream etc. It was interesting to note the way they had different styles as far as fashion- the “alternative” kids had piercings and oddly cut hair, often with different lengths or different colors. There were also groups with more high class fashion…like what we would associate with name brand Gap or Abercrombie etc. but these styles did not keep the kids from socially interacting with each other, the types of style expressions seemed acknowledged but not to the point of shunning anyone. (somewhat different than in the United States). I think when it comes down to it, many western Europeans get caught up in fashion but I didn’t see it being something that separates the people, or perhaps its more like as long as you are expressing a style with enough emphasis then its ok, but you have to put effort in to a style…

As far as American fashions, I really am not up to date or observant enough to know what would be fashionable. I often recognized American stores, but the merchandise often seemed catered to European trends. In Northern Italy and parts of France where fashion is especially highlighted, the most expensive stores are always Italian or French designers, where as American stores tend to sell more basic plain clothes.
The one recent trend in European clothing store that is an exception to the high price market would be “hip hop clothes”. I had never seen a hip hop clothes store in Europe before this trip, but I saw several throughout many different countries this time. These stores take mostly name brand jackets, sweaters and pants, all incredibly oversized and some quite flashy, and sell them for exorbitant prices. I saw some jackets later in Brussels that were probably 200-300 Euros for a regular jacket. The clothes tend to be modeled after American hip hop stars, or athletes. But rarely did you actually see someone wearing this type of style.

Pietro’s family were quite well off. His house was probably a few hundred years old, but had been remodeled on the inside with modern furniture, paintings, etc. The kitchen was especially new looking, but was sort of oddly shaped because of the original design.
We slept in a loft, a room that looked no different than any American room.

Pietro took us to a gas station while out driving one night and the gas station served alcohol. The owner was well known in the area for being a hard working man who had made tons of money. Pietro told us about how the man was very humble and lived modestly but every few years would buy the newest most expensive car, or an old rare muscle car….
We were shocked that they served alcohol to drivers.
We also went to a bar one night that was supposed to be like an Irish pub, and though the man spoke English at the bar, it didn’t seem very Irish, or English.
While at the bar, we heard a lot about how they perceived Americans, and their trips to the former Yugoslavia complete with alcohol and tobacco smuggling.