rye

Hey all!

I have been lurking and love the vibe here. Hoping you all can answer some ?'s I have.

I am a 27 year old married lady, currently re-enrolled in school to finish a long awaited bachelors degree. I always regretted not traveling more when I was younger and unattached, and have recently expressed this to my unbelievably supportive husband. He has encoured me to go to Italy next may and june and live for 6-8 weeks in Florence (my dream.) I'm hoping to take an immersion course - learn the language, absorb myself in the culture, take some cooking classes, and eat as much food as I can! He's going to come out and meet me towards the end and we'll go explore more of Italy and head to Greece for a week or two (his dream.)

Not sure why I'm giving you my life story (other than that I am pumped!) and I want to start planning now so I can save enough.

My questions:

- Do you know of a reputable agency/website where I can find apartment rentals for a short period of time? (Is this common to do in Europe?) Would it behoove me to just stay in a hostel? I am low maintenance, but not really a partier anymore - so I would be looking more to have an environment where I could read and write and meet people - but in a low key way. As a (petite) female, I am also concerned about safety.

- How much of the language should I know before heading over? I have traveled before (Russia, Africa, Mexico) but have never been to Europe, and am culturally sensitive. I don't want to be the obnoxios American asking for bagels in a cafe! I plan on learning while over there, but just want to get an idea of how much English is spoken, and how to best prepare myself for a language immersion before going. Any suggestions on good audio programs to learn from? I am particularly interested in learning words and phrases to do with food and wine.

- Anyone have any first hand experience with the Universities, language schools, or cooking schools in Florence? I would love to hear any stories or reccomendations.

- After my husband comes out to meet me, we want to explore Tuscany and hit Rome and Venice, and then go South to find my roots in Palermo. Is it reasonable to think we could rent a car and travel the country? I know the trains are fantastic, but we really want to get a feel for the countryside and move at our own pace. I wouldn't want to have a car while in Rome and Venice, but love the idea of driving through areas I would not otherwise explore if I flew or took trains to the major cities.

Thanks for getting to the end of my rambling - I'm sure you are all well aquainted with the feeling of excitement I have right now - even though I have 10 months to go!

happy travels...