Cloud Nine

I recently watched the movie 'Nanny McPhee Returns', loved it.  One of my favorite scenes was the little piglets getting scratched by the 'Scratch-o-Matic' machine.  The effectiveness of the Scratch-o-Matic was measured by the 'Happy-o-Meter'.  The different levels of happy were; amused, tickled pink, cloud nine, ecstatic and delirious.  I'm on my way to Mexico tomorrow and would definitely say I'm already at 'cloud nine' and I'm sure as soon as my toes meet the sand and I have the sun in my face I'll be at delirious.
I'm looking forward to reconnecting with my friend Jeneal.  She's one of the most generous and gracious people I know.  I'm sure we'll have a wonderful time.  I've been shooting a little 'video postcard' featuring a number of my co-workers Jeneal used to work with as well.  I'm sure she'll love the greetings and well wishes from old friends and acquaintances.

A Little Piece of Heaven

After returning from Italy I didn't want to spend the last week of my sabbatical at home so I booked a few days out on the Washington Coast at Seabrook.  My family and I have been at Seabrook several times during the summer so a fall visit is a first.  I'm staying in a sweet little house called Katya's Cottage.  Not many people at the beach this time of the year, especially mid-week.  At night it's so quiet.

The weather has ranged from blue skies to overcast and rainy.  Normally I would complain about rain and overcast skies but it doesn't seem to bother me in the least bit out here.  Maybe if I was here for months on end it might be a different story but I've got plenty to do indoors to keep me busy.  My project list has included:

Edit and organize photos from Italy (almost done)
Update blog with photos (ditto)
Sleep (check)
Eat well (check)
Walk on the beach (check)
Eat cinnamon roll from Surf House Espresso in Pacific Beach (check)
Catch up on magazines and newspapers (always a work in progress)
Try to finish Little Dorrit (maybe by the end of the month)
Dream of moving into Coastal Living magazine's ultimate beach house (check, on the market for $2M)
Make Butternut Squash Soup (check)
Make Sugar Cookies for Halloween (hopefully tonight)
Scan hundreds of recipes into computer (not this week)
Organize receipts from trip (I don't even want to know)

Three days go by pretty quickly.  I love Seabrook and can't wait for my next stay.

Book Lust

I thought I'd share the list of books (via my Kindle) I read while on sabbatical:

These is My Words - Nancy Turner.  This is my book clubs selection for November.  Loved it, loved it.  I'm looking forward to reading the sequels.

Pope Joan - Donna Woolfolk Cross.  I thought this would be interesting to read since I'd be in Italy, home of the Roman Catholic Church.  In my opinion, don't bother.

A Room with a View - E.M. Forster.  Part of the novel takes place in and around Florence.  It was fun to read from the perspective of tourists in Italy at the turn of the 20th century.  Also you have to love a book in which the heroine's name is Lucy Honeychurch.  Enjoyed it.

Persuasion - Jane Austen.  My favorite Austen novel.  A romance gone wrong put right.

Little Dorrit - Charles Dickens.  According to my Kindle I've read 73% of the book.  It's quite an undertaking but a fabulous story and well worth the investment of time.  Part of the story takes place in Venice and Rome.  If you don't have time to read it check out the latest BBC production on DVD.  It was broadcast on PBS a year or two ago.  Wonderful as well.

The Continuous Atonement - Brad Wilcox.  I haven't quite finished this one either.  Brother Wilcox offers some wonderful insights into the Savior's atonement.  It's obviously a topic that requires a lot of thought and consideration.  I'm sure I'll read this book more than once.

I still have several books I didn't get a chance to read and a stack on my dresser at home.  I'll need another sabbatical to make a dent in my reading list.

Harvest Moon

What started off as a rainy overcast day ended with clear skies and a full moon.  My favorite time of the day in Florence is about 7:00-8:00 p.m.  The air is crisp, the lights along the river are twinkling in the Arno, shops are closing, the tour groups have left, people are on their way home from work or on their way to dinner, people are gathered in the piazza's to listen to street musicians and you can begin the to feel what this city is all about without the crowds, scooters and traffic.

On my way back to my hotel I met a lovely young woman from Hong Kong, Laura.  She lived for a time in New York and is now in London studying for her master's in interior design.  She's in Italy for about a week and stopped to asked me directions.  We had a nice visit standing along the banks of the Arno.  I'm a bit sad that I have to leave tomorrow.  Now that I've seen all the museums and churches I can handle I'd like to wander a bit and relax.  Maybe next time.

Even the police officers have style!

Stairstepper

My diet lately has consisted of gelato, pasta, pastries, hot chocolate (this deserves it's own post), pesto, croissants, pizza, cheese, ham and diet coke.  I'm definitely not getting my 5 fruits and veggies a day, even though I am making an effort (do tomatoes on pizza count?).  To justify all these calories Italy along with many other things invented stairs.  Today I climbed about 4 flights of stairs (at least 200 stairs, more if you consider how much my feet hurt in my new boots) at the Uffiza, another 100 or so at the Pitti Palace and then 414 at the Campanile (cathedral's bell tower).  Add onto that the stairs up to the lobby at my hotel, up to my room and all the walking I'm doing around town.  I just hope I'm breaking even.

Yes, you could use a spoon to eat this hot chocolate

While climbing the bell tower I temporarily forgot it was a bell tower.  That is until the bells started ringing at 5:45.  The walls inside this medieval narrow staircase vibrated and the sound was so loud I had to grab the sides to keep my balance.  It's a whole new experience to be on the inside listening to the bells instead of out on the piazza.  An interesting fact I learned while reading Charles Dickens 'Little Dorrit' this past week.  Church bells ring at quarter to the hour to remind the townsfolk to get to the church in time for services which begin on the hour.  Now you know and so do I.

Firenze (Florence)

Florence is an amazing city but pretty overwhelming when it comes to the number tourists, museums and churches.  I've been ticking a few off my list but have to be thoughtful about how much I try to see in one day.  They do have a tendency to start to look similar.  You may not know but there are three Michelangelo David's in town.  The original is in a museum, a copy stands in a courtyard where the original was first placed and another replica is in a park above the city named after Michelangelo (one of my favorite places in Florence.  It provides a breathtaking view of the city).

In one museum I visited today (the Bargello, mostly sculpture) there are four David's by three different artists, all of them very unique.  The earliest completed in 1408 to and the latest in 1530.  I wonder which David is the closet representation to the real shepard boy who slayed Goliath.

A highlight has been the Museum of San Marco.  It was a monastery and features the work of Fra Angelico, a monk who was an wonderful artist as well.  The monk's cell were pretty bare except for a fresco painted on the wall that they could reflect on during their prayers. 

One of the few disappointments has been going into a church or museum and finding that the most important work there is either out on loan or under restoration.  It happened today in the Santa Croce church.  There are a series of fresco's by Giotto (considered the first great modern painter, if you consider 1325 modern).  One of the fresco's is the Death of St Francis,my favorite saint (not the Latter-Day variety).  The whole series was closed off because of the restoration work.  I'm glad that it will be there for generations to come but sorry I didn't get a chance to see it.

Tomorrow the Uffizi, the greatest collection of Italian paintings anywhere.

Room with a view, almost

In the book, 'A Room With a View', the heroine, Lucy Honeychurch, arrives in Florence with her older cousin at their pensione (hotel) and is disappointed to discover they did not receive the rooms with a view of the river Arno as they had been promised. I had no expectations of a room with a view when I arrived in Florence but was pleasantly surprised when I discovered I had a partial view.  I do face the Arno and the only thing blocking my view are some trees from a lovely little park right outside my window.  Lucy eventually got her room with a view and a whole lot more in the bargain (you'll have to read the book).  My view (with a lovely window I can open) comes with a lot of traffic noise.

The weather has definitely taken a turn the past several days.  It rained and cooled down in Lucca and we had rain last night in Florence and it's been very windy and cool.  It was a struggle to pack for this trip knowing from location to location the weather would vary from 60 to 80.  I packed for weather about 70 and am regretting it.  I also didn't think out my footwear options very thoughtfully.  I've ended up doing a little shopping which I'm sure will make me more comfortable out in the elements but only means that much more to pack.

I've discovered a few obvious ways to tell the Italians and American tourists apart:  Italians - boots, Americans - white sneakers, Cynde - sandals; Italians - wool coats and scarfs, Americans - TNF jackets, Cynde - two sweaters and a scarf; Italians - sunglasses always, Americans - cameras; Italians - men in slacks and dress shirts with a sweater draped over their shoulders, Americans - shorts and tee-shirts.  I feel I score a minor victory when an Italian stops and asks me a question.  I can only shake my head and say, No Italiano.

Ciao.