Living in Florence

The highlights of living in Italy...
What's the word limit? 200? Not enough.

Quick Tips:

The most obvious, yet important, tip is to learn Italian. After that, be sure you'll have some sort of income overseas, whether with an Italian company or freelancing for the expat community.

Best Way To Get Around:

Walking is recomended in most cities, a bike is also a good idea. For day trips, or international trips, the trains are the way to go. If you want to take the scenic route, beware that roads are VERY CURVY in Tuscany.

I hesitate to tell anyone about this bakery shop for selfish reasons. I don’t want it to become a tourist trap, and therefore lose its dedication to making quality pastries, cookies and cakes. But as an IgoUgo editor, I have a commitment to bring you the best Florence has to offer. So if you want a taste of pastry heaven, head to Cosi`. Ask for a warm torta alla nonna.

If you need to check your email, do some Internet research, or print out a word or Excel document while on vacation (or more likely while on a business trip) the Net Gate Internet Cafe is a great choice. Computers are fast, rates are low (especially for students) and you can print as many pages as you’d like. There is hardly any wait time and the staff is helpful. Keep in mind that Italian keyboards differ a bit from American ones so it may take a little getting used to before your fingers are typing away. For example, the @ sign is to be found on the right side of the keyboard, next to the blank key. Type it while pressing alt gr. Delete is canc (for cancello) etc.

Prices: 6,000 for an hour
Hours: 10 am - 9:30 pm

Getting your hair cut, never mind highlighted, in a foreign country where your knowledge of terms like "layers" and "straighten" is mediocre, can be a little scary. You might walk out with your hair the color and shape of none other than the bloated eggplant. I took a chance and entrusted my curly cues to the hands of Stefania at Rinascimenti on Via S. Elisabetta.

Two things to know about salons in Italy: you don't make appointments and you pay for each service. My consultation was $5.00, the wash was $15.00, the cut $20.00. Highlights, or contrasti, are about $30.00 with a special conditioning treatment running you another $5.00. All in all, it cost me about the same, if not a little less than what I would have paid in New York.

Using my hands, an ad with Penelope Cruz (for color ideas), and very basic vocabulary terms, I ended up with a great cut and exactly the color I was looking for: honey.

The tourists haven’t discovered it yet but like Rinascente, the other department chain in Italy, COIN is where to shop for styles from a host of designers, including American, at reasonable prices. Take advantage of the great sales at the end of each season, especially in August when many other clothing shops are closed for Feria (holiday). Departments include men, women’s, children and household goods.

Although there is the occasional stolen bike painted over in black, most can be found for sale in La Pulce, available Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at all newsstands in Florence. You shouldn’t pay more than 70.000 lire, as most of the bikes here are old. Try to buy or rent a bike with a bell, to ring at tourists and other bikes in the middle of the street. Buy a lock that can reach through the body and wheel, and never just leave your bike leaning against a wall or lamppost unless you want it stolen and painted black.

In the summer, especially on weekends, join the Florentines for a stroll in the Piazza della Signoria or Repubblica or down Via Calzaioli after dinner. Tourists and locals alike stay out well into the night, sometimes as late as one or two in the morning. Street performers of the moment include human statues that move only when someone drops lira into their hat or cup, fire-eaters and twirlers, singers and slapstick comedians and can be found mostly near Piazza della Repubblica.

Didn’t get all of your souveneir shopping done during the day? There are posters of famous Italian paintings or cityscapes, African art, fake Gucci bags and spray paint posters to buy.

Occasionally there are outdoor concerts in the Uffizzi walkway or Piazza della Signoria. Landmark caffes are open late, gelaterias aren’t.

Don’t walk around areas you aren’t familiar with by yourself and definitely avoid the Cascine Park at night, especially if you are a woman traveling alone.

One of the magical things about Florence is the sound of Giotto¡¯s Campanile and the occasional glimpse of the simple bells slowly rocking in and out of such an ornate tower. The bells ring every day beginning at 8 am and ending at midnight, and are even more melodious on Sundays at 8 and 10:30 am when they remind everyone to come to mass.

Pamphlets are available with the readings and prayers printed each week as you walk in so that foreigners can try to follow the mass, which is said in Italian. Be sure to dress properly: sneakers and jeans are permitted but short skirts and shorts, tanktops and sleeveless shirts are not.

I recommend going to the 10:30 mass, but arriving at 10 to listen to the priests chanting and to look up at the fresco of the Last Judgement on the interior of Brunelleschi¡¯s dome. Seating is available in the semi-circle surrounding the altar. At 10:30, right before mass begins, the Gregorian chanting ends with echoes and the ringing of the bells.

Mass at Santa Maria dei Fiori is held at 9, 10:30 and 12 am, with Gregorian chanting at 10.

To be in Florence is to be constantly inspired by art: architecture, painting, sculpture, cuisine and fashion. Frescoes of the Madonna or the stone heads of local patron saints pop out of the corners of buildings or nestle comfortably in the mustard-colored walls. In churches, eyes sculpted out of marble or painted in oil look out from between marble columns and the soft glow of candles. Even in the supermarkets, Venus’s hair is seen on a bottle of shampoo, flowing in Botticelli’s wind.

Inspired to create some art of your own? A great shop for supplies is the BATI Art Supply Store, located on Via Verdi, at the end of the more popular Borgo Albizi. Watercolors, oils, pastels, charcoal and colored pencils are displayed in a rainbow of shades as well as a variety of papers, brushes and other necessities for arts and crafts or a simple sketch. Prices are reasonable, with discounts for students.

Keeping a sketchbook, like a travel journal, is a great way to remember small details of your trip. In trying to recreate a favorite work of art or building, you’ll gain a new appreciation for the level of talent and expertise with which so many of Florence’s treasures were made. You can even upload your best sketches to your IgoUgo travel journal and share your creative expression with other guides.

Newspapers and magazines can be purchased at outdoor kiosks on the street corners of main piazzas and intersections throughout Florence. A wide selection of papers from Germany, England, and the United States (USA Today, The International Herald Tribune and the Sunday New York Times plus news weeklies like Newsweek and Time) are displayed next to Italian dailies like La Nazione, La Repubblica, and Corriere della Sera.

An even wider range of magazines, including many from the States and England, are on display relatively soon after printing. Italian Vogue, Elle, Glamour and Cosmopolitan, plus other international editions of fashion, architecture, gossip, home and design magazines, are worth the 8-10.000 liras if you want to be ahead of the styles back home.

Those interested in renting an apartment, finding a job or buying a used bicycle in Florence should purchase La Pulce for 2.500 liras. Published every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, this is the source for all local advertising.

Italy Daily is a daily section of The International Herald Tribune that focuses on Italian news, travel, cultural events and food. Notebook, the back page, provides a list of museum exhibits and concerts in major Italian cities.

Dylan Dog and similar comic books are popular with both Italian youth and young adults. Dylan Dog is surprisingly philosophical; the series has had a sort of religious following for many years and are long enough to keep one entertained on a flight or train ride.

TIPS:
1. When paying for any publication, simply select what you want, bring it to the vendor and either hand him/her the total or place it on the plastic dish half-hidden among the magazines. You will take any change and a receipt from this dish as well.
2. All major headlines are printed on posters, then hung or displayed on boards near the kiosks. The name of the corresponding newspaper is also usually printed somewhere on the poster.

Everyone has a cell phone in Italy. You should too. There are three main cell phone carriers: Telecom Italia, TIM and Wind. Differences in the plans are minute and depend on what you use your cell phone for: local calls, international calls or email. You’ll pay as you talk along: buy a 6 hour card for about $25.00 (50.000 lire) instead of paying a fixed price each month. A 50.000 lire card could last you anywhere from 2 to 6 weeks depending on how much time you spend on your cell phone and whether or not the call is local or international. If you and a friend have the same phone carrier, you’ll save money on calls made to each other as calls cost less when made from one TIM or Omnitel phone to another.

Another great feature of Italian mobiles is the ability to send written text to other phones instead of placing a call. This is much less expensive and sometimes quicker for getting your message across.

To add more time, i.e. money, to your phone, you’ll have to buy a rechargeable card from a tabaccheria (a store with a black T posted outside). The usual is a 50.000 card that gives you about 25 USD worth of time (can last up to a month) and is sold at 60.000 lire to accommodate those inevitable Italian taxes.

TIP:
Hello=Pronto
Goodbye= Ciao ciao ciao ciao

Be prepared to wait at least two hours before the Italian washing machine decides that your clothes are once again clean enough to wear. After countless cycles and frustrating pauses where your clothes have time to soak for no apparent reason, you’ll have to drape your wet jeans and underwear, even king-sized bedsheets, over banisters, chairs or a line in the backyard. Dryers seem to take up too much energy. Your energy, instead, will be spent doing laundry all day and then waiting for everything to dry, without the scent of your favorite fabric softener.

There are many laundromats in the big university towns, including Florence, and these usually take up less of your time and offer dryers.

If you were interested in moving to Florence, and thereby renting an apartment, I’d recommend getting here first, then looking. Any search done from home will yield the more expensive options, as Florentines are well aware of the fact that you aren’t familiar with their real estate market. If you can spill 1,000 USD and up per month, by all means go online and call the advertised house agencies. If saving your money to spend on clothes, food or travel is more your style, stay in an inexpensive hotel upon arrival. You should be able to find something within two weeks, depending on your expectations.

What will you find? It varies. The main options are the usual apartments, studios, and then shared rooms either with a family or university students. Prices range from 600.000 lire to 3 million lire. I found an apartment on Via Ricasoli, with windows overlooking the duomo’s sculped pink and green walls, for 300 USD a month- a shared space with six Italian girls studying at the local university.

Be sure to ask whether spese (water, electricity and heat) are included or not. If living with a family, discuss things like use of the kitchen, washing machine, keys, visitors and curfews.

Local Real Estate Agencies

Florence House
Via De¡¯ Pucci, 4
055-289-947 or 055-219191
www.florencehouse.it

Florence Real Estate Agency of Luca Gandelli
Piazza G. Salvemini, 7
055- 240-612

Filaci Real Estate
Piazza Salvemini, 16r
055 23 44 447

Miet Wohn Zentrale Florence
Via Orti Oricellari, 10
055-287-530
www.chez.com/mwz

1. Buy a phone card, or carta telefonica, at a corner store with a captial T displayed near the front or at a newstand in the train station. Phone cards are sold in increments of 5,000 lire and 10,000 lire. A card worth 10,000 lire, or about 5 USD, should be sufficient for calling overseas.
2. Tear off corner triangle along dotted line.
3. Insert card into slot on right hand side of the phone. The amount of money left on your card will show up on the screen. Be sure to have at least 2,000 lire to make a phone call.
4. Dial the number. For international calls to the US, dial 00 then 1 plus the zip code and number. For dialing within Italy, start with the city code then dial the rest of the number.
5. As you speak, you can see the total amount of money on your card decrease on the screen. When your money runs out, the card will eject itself from the phone. If you end your conversation with lire left on your card, simply push the silver button near the card slot to eject your card.

Though every tourist in Florence knows where to buy a postcard, not everyone knows how to send one. In Italy, to avoid the notoriously slow pace of mail, sneak your postcard into a regular mail envelope. The postage to the United States costs the same (1,500 lire) and it will get there ten times faster. Be sure to ask for priority stickers and remember, like everything else, postcards are ten times cheaper when bought off the beaten path.

Vista Magazine
Vista Magazine was founded by a Boston University alumna who has lived in Florence for the past ten years and is a well-respected journalist for papers like Corriere della Sera and the International Herald Tribune. Vista is a magazine about Florence and Tuscany with in-depth articles usually addresssing less well-known artistic and cultural itineraries.
Vista Magazine also offers an extensive calendar, Month by Month, which is available at all American Universities, the Florence Tourist Center and selected café’s and bookstores. It is an invaluable resource for concerts, exhibits, theatre, English-language movies, and excursions into the Tuscan countryside. Vista can be purchased at selected bookstores, cafes, and by writing to:
Vista Magazine
Borgo degli Albizi, 15 - 50122 Florence, Italy
Subscription: (4 issues, payable in advance) Europe $35 or Outside Europe $60

The Informer
www.theinformer.com
This websiste is the only online resource for Americans interested in moving to Italy and is worth a visit just for the information on cutting through Italy’s red tape. It is geared more towards those living in Milan or Rome, with activities and meetings for expatriates in those cities.

Living, Studying and Working in Italy
By Travis Neighbor and Monica Larner
This is the bible, the book of all books, for anyone interested in making the move to Italy. You’ll find all the information you’ll need, along with addresses and phone numbers, for buying a house, finding a job, going to school, and just living here in general. Resources in the United States, as well as American companies with overseas offices, are listed as well as practical tips of what to avoid, expect and appreciate. A must-read.

The Italians
by Luigi Barzini
Written in 1964, The Italians is still an invaluable peek into the consciousness of Italian culture and history. It gives a complete review of the basic aspects of Italian life, including the Church, the Mafia and the Family, as well as fascinating examples of major figures in Italian history and their role in perpetuating the sentiments of their times. If you want to know the Italians at all, start here.