My Unfiltered Review of Studying Abroad at NYU Florence 

Aaya Anan

I studied abroad at NYU Florence from January 2023 - May 2023. Here is my unfiltered experience: the good, the bad, and the ugly. But before we dive in, let me just say how incredibly grateful I am for the opportunity to study abroad in Europe. These are my own opinions and experiences, and what worked for me may not work for everyone so take everything I say with a grain of salt.

I felt like a tourist even after 4 months of living there  

Even after living in Florence for four months, I still felt like a perpetual tourist. Initially, I had this grand vision of making Italian besties and really immersing myself in the local culture, but that dream didn't quite come true. Since I attended NYU Florence, it was like being in a little bubble outside the city, exclusively for American students, making it hard to make local Italian friends. Maybe things would've been different if I'd done an exchange at an Italian university. Oh, and here's an interesting tidbit: Florence doesn't have a massive young population. Most people I saw on the streets were either high schoolers or in their 40s. I asked someone about it, and they explained that many Italians choose to raise their families or retire in Florence, while the younger people head to cities like Rome and Milan for college. So, making friends my age was a bit challenging.

At NYU Florence, we were required to take Italian language classes, which got me super excited. I thought it would be my ticket to immersing myself in Italian culture. But unfortunately when I tried to use my Italian outside of class people would just respond to me in English, which was a bit disheartening. It felt like no matter how hard I tried to blend in, I was always seen as an outsider. Now, don't get me wrong—Italians are incredibly nice. Just because I was treated like a tourist doesn't mean they were being rude. In fact, out of all the countries I visited, I found the kindest people in Italy.

I felt safe all the time; safer than I have ever felt in the USA

Something I learned from my time abroad is I feel safer literally anywhere else in the world over the USA. Florence however I felt significantly safer. Whether it was day or night, I always felt secure while strolling around the city. I used to have this fear of getting scammed or pickpocketed, but that never happened to me. One time, I actually lost my wallet during a run because I forgot to zip my pockets. I thought I was doomed since my perception of Florence was that it was teeming with pickpockets. But to my surprise, a couple found my wallet and reached out to me on Facebook. They returned it to me with everything intact! 

There is not much to do in Florence 

Now, let's talk about Florence itself. It's undeniably a beautiful vacation destination, the kind of place where you can find peace and relaxation. But, coming from the bustling streets of New York, it was quite a culture shock for me. In NYC, there's always something happening, and you never run out of things to do. Florence, on the other hand, operates at a slower pace—people walk leisurely, and life seems to move at its own tranquil rhythm. Now, that's perfect for some people, but I found myself missing the fast-paced energy of a big city. As for activities, Florence itself is a very small town and there wasn't a ton to do beyond admiring the sights (which, by the way, were absolutely breathtaking), but after 4 months it was easy to run out of things to do. Plus, everything closed quite early, which was a bit of an adjustment for me, coming from the city that never sleeps.

Because I often found myself craving more excitement in Florence, I ended up traveling almost every weekend. Exploring different cities became my favorite pastime, and I definitely made the most out of those weekends.

The Florence airport is not accessible 

Speaking of travel, let's touch on the not-so-great part—Florence's airport. It's quite small and offers limited flights, which can be frustrating when you're planning to travel. In most cases, I had to fly from airports in Rome or Milan. Rome and Milan are both about 2 hours away from Florence if you take the express train. So, not only would this add an extra 2 hours there and another 2 hours back to your commute, it would also make traveling more expensive because not only do you have to pay for the plane ticket but you also have to pay for the train ticket as well. As a student on a budget wanting to travel the world, this was the most frustrating to me. But hey, where there's a will to explore, there's a way!

The food was the best food I have ever had in my life 

I don't have much to say other than wow. The food was absolutely amazing. It was very rare to come across a restaurant with bad food, and it was really refreshing to know that no matter where I go I am going to have a great meal. I traveled to about 10 cities in Italy and out of all the places I went, Florence had the best food in Italy (and the rest of the world) by far. 

Public transportation was not the best

Now, let's talk about public transportation. It was a bit stressful during my time in Italy. There were times when I needed a taxi, especially for early morning buses or flights, but finding one available was quite a challenge. Sometimes, even at 9 a.m., it took me about an hour to get a taxi. Also, there is no subway system in Florence, most people get around by bus. But, there is no option to pay the fare when you enter the bus; in order to ride the bus you need to purchase bus tickets in advance. Some may think oh whatever you can buy a bus ticket from a machine at the bus stop. Nope. There are no machines, you have to go to a physical store to buy bus tickets. And you need to buy 1 ticket for every bus ride you go on so you need to calculate how many rides you are planning to take to figure out how many tickets to buy.

On top of that, transportation strikes were very common, which meant train disruptions. This was particularly tricky for me since I was traveling every week and relied on trains to get to the airport. I was often left scrambling to figure out an alternate way to get to my destination. But hey, with a little patience, it all worked out in the end.

All in all, my time in Florence was a mix of highs and lows, but it's an experience I wouldn't trade for anything. Italy, with all its quirks and charms, stole a special place in my heart. I just want to say one more time, this is based on my own personal opinions and experiences studying abroad in Florence.