So you’ve been preparing for months and now you are finally here, your study abroad location! Upon my arrival in Florence, Italy I found that the city could be slightly overwhelming. For one, the city is actually not evencalled Florence: it is called Firenze. I found it surprising that we have different names for the country andall of its cities. Besides the name difference, there are a few other things that surprised me upon my arrival. In Florence, you are going to walk everywhere. I know I should have thought about this more considering I would not have a personal vehicle abroad with me, but all of the walking still surprised me. Make sure that you bring nice walking shoes that will not give you blisters, the last thing you want to worry about while abroad is your feet being sore. There are so many things to do in Florence; I did not even know where to start when I arrived in the beautiful city. After completely unpacking in my apartment I decided to go see the Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral, or Duomo, first. The Duomo in Florence is actually the third largest cathedral in the world topped with the worlds largest masonry dome. This cathedral was amazing to see in person, I had never seen anything like it at all. Even if you are not into touristy things, I would suggest going out and seeing the city you are living in. You may not get the chance to go back and see these wonderful things, so make sure to go out and explore while you can.