I have yet to write about my month in Italy!
Where do I even begin to describe the heavenly experience of living in Florence. Well, I suppose heaven is the key word here. Florence is a very special place, a hauntingly beautiful city rich with history and grand old architecture. It's magnetic; every day I woke up with the sensation that any dream or desire of mine was about to be fulfilled - and usually it was.
I found peace walking the streets of Florence at night. Never before had I felt more at home, nor my soul so inspired and yet stilled by this peace. The streets are a more quiet at night - not silent - but the tourists have disappeared. I no longer considered myself a tourist after a week of being there, but referred to myself as a traveler - it truly is a different experience to be able to immerse yourself into the culture and live the lifestyle for a period of time. Getting lost on different streets and ally ways trying to find a pub, or a good place to eat was always a wonderful adventure. Yes, getting lost was a theme on this trip. It was easy to find yourself lost in the city's intricate design, but the beautiful thing was that there was time allowed to find your way, and in fact not knowing where I was half the time led me to the most magnificent places where I saw the most magical things.
The lifestyle is gorgeous in Italy, and probably most of Europe share a similar perspective. Time passes slowly. You can relax, breathe slower, feel inspired by any little thing. They take three hour lunch breaks and enjoy things as they come. It is very different then our North American, do as much as you can as fast as you can, lifestyle. I could get used to the Italian way of living.
Every night my friend(s) and I would enjoy some wine at the Hostel Plus outdoor bar, which in itself was a vision. There were fences lines with vines and strings of white lights, as well as a pool the shined with different colours at night. Every single night we met so many new people from places all over the world. It was incredible and learned so much about different cultures. Yes, we were there for academic purposes, but chose the fuck school motto in order to embrace our time in Italy and all of its potential.
A friend and I went to Pisa and met up with some English boys we met on one of our first nights. Its was a lovely place to spend the day and they were great company. Other voyages we took were to Rome (which the touristy spots were great but definitely an overrated place in my opinion) and also Verona which I would love to go to again someday and spend some quality time there. It was beautiful, and I even left a note for the lovely Juliette to read at the famous balcony from Romeo and Juliette.
However, nothing compared to magic of Florence. It became home to us.
Some notes I jotted down quickly of little daily memories:
- First dinner by the carousal (magical lit up at night); great pasta, met Oliver and Rupert [trust fund babies, kicking children] British drinking song at a pub, trying to find a cigarette machine - found condom machine instead.
- late night walk, sitting on Dumo steps
- Pisa: meet Oli and Rupert; pigeons rape, no show boat race; peach ice tea
- Dianna (29 yr old cougar) & Peter; dinner by carousal; street show; wandering the streets
- Drinks/Shots with the Americans in their room; hockey fans; Liam = soulmate names
- Lunch by the river; greatest coffee in existence
- "There is a difference"
- Movie Scene afternoon; climb Michelangelo; take foreign paths; gelato; vintage shop; nap in the park listening to Frank Sinatra as is rains
- SPACE, surrounded by men; walked home in heels
- Canada Day; fireworks on terrace; buckets
- Rome: wine, sites, worst lunches, bleeding feet, blessed by the pope, missed casino train
- Pub night; dancing in the street with carrot top; pee in ally way; found late night sandwhich shop
- Being a late night drunken muse on a stool; saint jokes; sunrise walk - the disappointment!
-black out wasted; sang wrong Lana lyrics; hot vomiting mess in Jeremy's room
- Seeing the Statue of David, most beautiful man in existence
- My day wondering alone - lunched alone, beer alone, getting lost in the boboli gardens (never seen such a gorgeous site) soul fulfilled.
- Evening walk/climb to the Michelangelo with Brittany.. sunset/night .. "is this our life?"
