The Start Of Classes (Part One)

Based on how this week's schedule is, I have officially started two of my classes. The classes in question are Intensive Elementary Italian (which meets four times per week for an 75 minutes at a time) and Italian Opera (which meets twice per week for 75 minutes at a time). Both classes meet in one of the villas on NYU's campus in Florence.

Funnily enough, I thought that when I left Colgate for study abroad that I would also be leaving our infamous hill behind. But alas, Colgate still calls to me from across an ocean (i.e. there's a hill I have to walk up and down every day). Between where you enter campus and where my classes are, there's a large valley. At least there's no snow and ice.

In my free time on campus, I got a chance to walk around a little. Italy has been suffering from a very long drought lately so the grass isn't green, but it's still beautiful and the gardens on the property are something out of a novel. Check it out:

The valley that I mentioned. 

Villa La Pietra. I don't have any classes here, but this is the main villa on NYU's property.

Villa Ulivi. Now this is where I have my classes. The views from the second floor classrooms can be slightly distracting. 

In the gardens looking up at Villa La Pietra. 

More of the enchanting gardens that I can roam freely on a daily basis. Jealous?