Gelato

There's no shortage of this study break pick-me-up, but where to go for the best gelato? Not surprisingly, numerous places make this claim, but here's a short list of worthy contenders for the title:

Carabe
Festival del Gelato
Grom
Perche No!
Vivoli

Practice Italian & See a Film

A good way to familiarize yourself with Italian and enjoy an outing with classmates is to see a film at Florence's Odeon Original Sound cinema (Piazza Strozzi 2). Films are regularly shown here in English with Italian subtitles. See their upcoming schedule at the following link:

ODEON ORIGINAL SOUND

Getting Situated

As you settle into your new apartments and prepare for your classes, you may find that you need a thing or two. As has been advised at multiple meetings, it is best to wait until you have moved into your apartment before buying any items you think you might need (sometimes appliances and various household goods such as hairdryers or shavers have been left behind by the previous tenants). Once moved in, if you find you need a thing or two for your place, you can look for affordable options at Ikea (just outside the city center near the airport) or the 99 cent store (there are a few scattered about Florence, one is at via Pietrapiana 86), or Upim (some clothes, toiletries and house goods) or Oviesse (sort of like an Italian "Ross"!).

To get to Ikea, it's most convenient and affordable to take the free shuttle that operates on the weekend. Board the bus (a regular looking city bus but with "Ikea" noted as the destination on the marquee) across from the Santa Maria Novella train station at the Via Valfonda side. The bus stop is directly in front of the Ciao-Ciao and the Benetton stores. The bus goes directly to Ikea and returns to Florence from the same stop where you're dropped off. Click here for times (recall that 13:30 means 1:30 pm, 14:30 is 2:30 pm and so on):

IKEA SHUTTLE