Hi all,

I am Arjun Jain (http://arjunjain.net), qorking as a software engineer at Yahoo! India. I have been offered an internship at the university of florence and would be there from October.

Any information would be helpful, anything at all! Hoping to hear from you.

(what should i bring with myself, I am a vegetarian. how expensive is florence? how much would accommodation cost? etc, etc, etc :P)

Thanking you in advance,
Warm regards,
Arjun

Hey Arjun, let me first tell you how jealous I am......I have always wanted to go to Italy, but no luck so far.

From what I have heard from my Italian friends though, Florence is quite expensive as far as cost of living is concerned, so maybe you can post a query in the apartment rental section on this forum. The site itself (www.lifeinitaly.com) has also opened a new section for rentals.

I have travelled to other places, and I find vegetarian food is easy to find, and Italian cuisine does have its vegetarian fare as well. But if you are a true jain and do not eat even onion and garlic, be ready for some very difficult times......


I do not know how the customs will take it, but carrying stuff like besan ke laddoo would probably be a good idea.....but I dont think you can pack snacks for the duration of the stay because you are going in October and if you stay the winter, you will need to pack in a lot of winter clothing.


I think an Italian could give you good tips on where to find vegetarian food, and also an affordable place to stay, but had to put in my two cents. I am sure some friendly Florentine on this forum would come forward!


But if you are in Florence, and are somewhat of an art-buff, you could not be in a better place.....and even if you dont love art, you are bound to fall in love with the art in this city.

Buon viaggio e in bocca al lupo, (Wishing you a good trip and good luck)