Well…I’m in Florence!
Somehow or another, all three of us managed to get here today. There was crying, there was barfing (not me, surprisingly), and there was really bad airplane food – a cocktail weenie with a pickle and something that resembled potato salad…really? My favorite plane moment was when one of the flight attendants starting going on and on to Alex in German because she, for some reason, decided to pick up a German newspaper on her way through the terminal. He was so confused when she didn’t know how to respond…love it.
So far, Florence is just beautiful. The Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore and the Duomo are more wonderful than any picture I’ve ever seen. San Lorenzo is just as I imagined it. The Arno is just lovely and I can see it from our huge terrace. Plus, there are still Christmas lights everywhere and they are way more lovely and sparkly than the tacky ones we see a lot back home.
[I promise I will take pictures later when I’m functioning on more than two hours of sleep]
Right now, I’m feeling a little out of my element. Not everyone here is all that nice and I thought I knew more Italian than I actually do. I keep hearing myself say, "I'm lost," in more ways than one. For now, I’m just feeling kind of alone. It’s better now that I’ve had some gelato (the gelato man was fantastic!) and a pretty good meal. I am, however, really missing familiar voices. Of course, I know I'm not alone, but this is going to take some faith and some getting used to. It’s time to put my big girl pants on.
Toto, I feel like we’re not in Kansas anymore…
Dear Sally, as your former art teacher of so many years I cannot pretend that I am not totally thrilled to hear you are in some of the very places we talked of so long ago. Italy is the most beautiful place I have ever been and I know your semester is going to be amazing and life-changing. I can't wait to hear more.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Mrs. G