Firenze!

Hey guys, sorry for the loooooonng pause between entries here...

So, my parents are safely home and have been for quite a while now. It was sad to see them go. The last night they were in Glasgow was my birthday, and the Big Meeting of the Parents. Having Chris' family and mine in the same room was odd at first, but really nice. Everyone got along, there were no awkward pauses or embarrassing questions, and we all had a great dinner and a few drinks. It was a great birthday. And, as a side note, it was the THIRD birthday of mine I've gotten to spend with Chris! Pretty crazy.

Shortly after my parents left, Chris and I hopped on a plane to Florence! As soon as we got into the city, it was pretty clear our trip was going to be awesome, and it was. The weather was cool but sunny and clear, there were very few tourists (I mean, relatively) out and about, and the city itself was incredibly beautiful. On our first day, we ended up walking about 9 miles and just soaking in the view. We hiked up to Piazzale Michaelangelo to see one of the fake Davids, then went to the Galleria di' Accademia to see the real one. I swear, everyone should see this in their lifetime--it's really Art. I mean, there's 'art' and then there's Art, and this is Art. After that, we had our first gelato, kept walking, and stumbled upon the Piazza del Signoria, which is basically an open square full of beautiful, priceless sculptures, including another fake David. Afterwards, we ambled by the Duomo, which was...kind of overwhelmingly beautiful. You know when people say "It took my breath away?" I've always thought that was sort of cheesy and didn't really happen to anyone, but it halfway happened to me when I stood next to the Duomo. It was amazing.

On our second day, we walked around some more, then went to the Galleria degli Uffizi, which is another incredible art gallery. It is where Botticelli's Birth of Venus is, along with hundreds of other priceless, famous works of art. It was amazing to see Botticelli's work in person.
Now, OK, I love art (and Art), and usually I can't get enough of it. However, I learned that even I have limitations when it comes to enjoying art. The thing is, there were no crowds, so we could see literally every single piece of art we wanted to. I think usually there are vast hordes of people, which means that you kind of have to plan out what's really important to see, and then fight through the masses to get a spot to stand and look. We didn't have this problem. After our 1,456th marble sculpture and 2,183rd painting of Mary holding Jesus on a gold background, I found my attention drifting, even as I was recognizing pieces I had studied in college art history classes. So, it was a bit of self-learning. I have limits. Let me just say that Chris was patient and would have kept looking at these if I hadn't said something. He's great.

After that excursion, we went to Ponte Vecchio, which is a bridge full of jewelry stores. Finally, we walked back up to the Piazzale Michaelangelo at dusk and watched night fall on Florence. It was incredible to see the Duomo and all the tiny buildings slowly light up, and the river that runs along the city was beautiful with all it's bridges.
Then we took pictures of ourselves pinching fake David's butt, because we were in Florence and dammit, it's practically a requirement. Ha!

The next day was really our last, because our flight left so early the next morning that it didn't really count as a day. We walked up to the Piazzale Michaelangelo one last time, walked down to Fort Belevedere (which wasn't open, but it was a nice walk anyway), around through some steep streets in a great neighborhood, had a pizza and some wine for lunch, then headed back to the Duomo. The inside of the actual dome is painted with a huuuge mural of the Last Judgment, and is something I studied back in college. From down below, it is difficult to imagine how anyone could paint something like that in such a space. I climbed the 463 steps to the top and was able to stand right under the murals. It was kind of surreal, being so close to it. It was like being in the middle of it because it surrounds you, and it really is just huge. I climbed the rest of the stairs to the top of the actual dome and stood outside. It was an incredible view of the city! I took some pictures, but I haven't been able to get them on here yet. As soon as I do, I'll stick a few in here. The parts of the trip I didn't talk about are all just a blur of awesome dinners with great wine, more gelato, priceless art, and sore feet.

Anyway, coming home was hard. I mean, it was physically difficult. We had to be on a bus to Pisa at 3:30 AM to get on a flight that left at 7, then took a bus to the bus station in Glasgow, then finally got the subway home. We did NOTHING the next day, except nap, make dinner, and then I called my parents to let them know I made it home safely. It was a great, perfect, amazing trip!

Since then, it's been back to the real world. I hammered out an assignment (we'll see how that turns out...), started my counselling, and went back to class. I feel refreshed though, and even when my tutors are making us 'paint our feelings', play with stuffed animals, or are saying the the DSM-IV is 'bullshit', I'm able to grit my teeth hard enough to avoid having a fit.

Alright, I'm off to watch my friend from class DJ at the Bier Stube one last time (for awhile). I hope you're all having a great weekend! I'll post those pictures as soon as humanly possible.

xo