Taylor Davis is a student at Middle Tennessee State University and an ISA Featured Blogger. She is currently studying abroad with ISA in Florence, Italy.

When you embark on a journey into a foreign land you expect some culture shock. New food, new people, far away from home with no point of reference in sight, you tend to notice that your normal way of living is about to be turned on its head, but when I landed in Florence, Italy I realized a few things that shattered the cultural stereotypes most Americans have about Italy – as well as some aspects that confirmed my preconceived ideas about life in Italy.

The beautiful Arno River connecting Florence’s two sides.

1. Grocery stores

You’ll find that you can’t read a damn thing, as obvious as this should’ve been before I came. I’m not fluent in Italian so it was difficult…