I just returned from a month in Florence, Italy, where I attended a language school for 4 weeks. I've always enjoyed visiting Florence and enjoy the Tuscan countryside nearby, so I decided that the city would be a good place for my adventure.

I had a terrific time and I am glad that I decided to go. I visited many sites that I had not been to previously - even though I've been to Florence a number of times, there were many places I hadn't been to -- and I still haven't seen everything! I wandered through many neighborhoods, shopped for groceries in neighborhood stores and large markets, such as Mercato Centrale and Sant' Ambroggio, ate dinner in many nearby restaurants, and attended a concert and an opera performance.

Selecting a school was the first task. After searching Google and getting on mailing lists, I liked the courses offered at Scuola Leonardo da Vinci (about 1 block north of the Duomo), so I registered for 4 weeks of classes. classes were from 9am-1pm with a 1/2 hour break between grammar class and conversation class. On the first day of class, beginners went straight into their class, and those of us who knew some Italian were given a written and oral test and were then grouped into classes according to our ability. Maximum of 12 students per class (more or less). After 4 weeks of classes, I can speak much better than before and can usually understand responses to questions that I ask. My vocabulary is still relatively small, but I plan to continue studying on my own and possibly with a teacher.

I decided to rent an apartment and concentrated on the Oltrano area for two reasons. First, I wanted to have a decent walk from the apartment to class each day for the exercise. Second, I like the Oltrano area and wanted to explore it more than I had previously. I contacted several rental agencies (again using Google) and ended up working with an agent at www.rentvillas.com. She was the most responsive and worked with me in consideration of location, budget, and apartment size. I was pleasantly surprised that the actual apartment looked like the pictures that I saw on the Internet.

I'll continue with my plans and actual activities tomorrow or the next day when I have more fully recovered from my trip home yesterday.

I'll be happy to answer questions about the school, apartments, restaurants, cultural activities, etc.

That sounds like a great trip. Would you choose Florence again if you had to choose an Italian city for the language school? Could you provide some specifics about costs?

I like the size of Florence, and I don't think I would care to spend a month in a small town. I have thought, however, of Verona as a possibility.

The 4 weeks at school cost 570 euros.

The apartment was $2400.

The school will arrange accommodations, if you choose. Their choices include living with a family, sharing a flat with other students, and renting a small apartment. Most of the students either shared flats or lived with families - with mixed results. I think it is an age issue; if I was a college-age student, I'd probably want to share a flat with other students. However, I do not believe that any consideration was given to smoking/non-smoking preferences. I enjoyed my apartment, and it was large enough for my husband to visit me for a week and for my daughter to visit the following week.

Hi TF,

Thanks for sharing. Let's hear more about everyday life in Florence.

OK Ira, here is a fairly typical day for me in Florence. After waking up, looking out the window in the living room to determine the weather, showering, dressing, etc., I would make a pot of coffee and eat breakfast of bread, cheese, and delicious orange juice from Sicily (Spremuta Arancia Rossa). Then, I'd head out for school.

The apartment is located almost directly across the Arno from the Uffizi. I had a view of the river, the Uffizi and other buildings, and the Ponte Vecchio from the living room window - it was great.

Usually, I'd stop for newspapers (Italian and English) and maybe a cappucino at a bar frequented more by people going to work than by tourists. It was pleasant to cross the Ponte Vecchio in the morning before it became crowded with tourists -- just the opposite of what I found on my return around 1:00pm.

After school, I'd usually come back home, have lunch, and then head out to the various local shops - groceries, bread, produce, wine, laundry, etc. After a while I became familiar with the varying hours that these shops kept. An Internet cafe was nearby, so I'd drop in every couple of days to send a journal update to family and friends.

Some days, instead of heading home, I'd visit one or two sites around the historical center -- I visited the Cenacolo di Sant' Apollonia, San Marco, Spedale degli Innocenti, Tempio Israelitico (the Synagogue), and the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo - most of which I had never visited on my previous trips. I recall that the first Sunday I was in Florence, I made a list of 3-4 places to visit, but finally realized that I didn't have to see everything in one day -- I had a month to enjoy seeing everything that I wanted to see!

Back home, I did about an hour's worth of homework and then strolled around the streets of Oltrano or back to the Duomo side for more strolling.

Evenings I had dinner -- usually in small local restaurants, either by myself or with someone from class (or with my husband or daughter when they were in Florence).

Before I left for Florence, someone on this forum suggested checking www.culturalitaly.com to find out what concerts and operas would be performed during October. I really lucked out. Zubin Mehta was conducting a performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony one evening, and there was a performance of The Marriage of Figaro the following week. I enjoyed both performances immensely. The theater was in a part of Florence that I had never been to - just past the American Consulate in an upper-class residential neighborhood. Since I arrived early, I walked around the neighborhood a bit - definitely not a tourist area.

It was great to be able to see things at a leisurely pace and to explore areas that I'd never been to before. There is much to be said for staying in one place on a trip abroad.

I'll write more about restaurants that I enjoyed another time. Some suggestions from people on this forum were excellent.