October 8, 2017:

 

  1.  It is 11:18 and I am still in my sweats, have no makeup on and no immediate plans to change that situation. It’s rainy and fall-like today so I am writing and listening to Vivaldi and drinking tea. I’ve had a few of these days since I’ve been in Florence, and I’ve dubbed them my Hemingway days because they feel broody and thoughtful, except I don’t think tea was his drink of choice. And he lived in Paris.
  2. Speaking of rain: It has rained every Sunday since I’ve been here.  I like to think it’s the city’s way of convincing us to slow down and cozy in.  Also, I’ve learned to swallow my PNW pride and carry an umbrella. I haven’t learned to like it, but I’ve learned to do it.
  3. This is that odd moment in the day when I am awake, but all of America is asleep and it makes me feel alone and unanchored. I love when the clock strikes 4:00 p.m or so, and I know my people are beginning to wake up.
  4. Church bells ring so much more on Sundays than other days. And a marching band went down my street a few minutes ago and I have no idea why, but I stopped to enjoy the happy of it.
  5. Yesterday I went to a giant museum.  It was beautiful, but also just not my thing. I really want to be cultured and smart, but I find so much more joy in lingering over a cappuccino in a piazza watching real people, than I do battling suffocating crowds to see statues of dead people. I’ve done three museums here in Florence: Galileo, Palazzo Piti and Uffizi.  I think I’m going to call that good.
  6. Though it’s fall in Italy, there is a distinct absence of the pumpkin spice/maple frenzy that has come to define the season in America.
  7. Pictures!

 

Fake David, in Piazza della Signoria, just steps outside my apartment door.

 

I don’t know who this guy is, but how cool is his hair?

 

Uffizi Museum – lots and lots and lots of paintings of the Madonna.

 

My beautiful Beane friends. #worksofart

 

My favorite masterpiece in Uffizi is the view out this upper floor window.

 

The street view of my apartment terrace – the perfect place for Hemingway days and I adore it with all of my heart.

 

One Comment

  1. You’re catching up on the writing part, I’m catching up on the reading part.
    I enjoy these posts very much, Bo, and look forward to hearing more about what exactly settled in your bones…that will be worth discovering once you’re back in the U S of A.