Days 309-311 - Florence

Places are like people. It’s enough to glance at them once, to spend two seconds in their presence, feel their energy, and you know right away whether you like them or not. Of course, you can change your mind later on. As my ex-husband used to say, consistency is a virtue of narrow-minded (this may be one of the reasons we are divorced now, he definitely didn’t consider himself narrow-minded). But the first impression is always important, and as a rule, it’s the correct one. And it’s never about appearances. It’s just a feeling. This all-consuming sensation that all of a sudden you are safe and you belong and you are happy.

It never ceases to amaze me that I still fall in love with people and places so easily. You would think that after such extensive non-stop traveling for the past year I would turn picky and demanding, and it would take a lot of effort to impress me. No. I still meet people who I adore absolutely and irreversibly from the minute I meet them, and I still find places that I love unconditionally from the minute I step foot into them. I find it awesome and I thank my lucky stars for giving me such an impressionable character. Life feels simply wonderful this way.

And I feel wonderful in Florence. Maybe it’s the weather. This low clouded sky and warm autumn days when you can walk around just wearing a sweater and sit outside with a coffee admiring architectural ensemble of some old piazza. Or the Santa Maria del Fiore (Il Duomo), the 3^rd largest cathedral in the world, and one of the most mysteriously beautiful ones for sure. Or the low season when the streets are not completely flooded with tourists from all over the world. Or the delicious roasted pigeon that I had for dinner (yes, I know, pigeon, yuk, yet somehow very yummy). Or the Ponte Vecchio with its jewelry shops. Most likely, it’s the combination of all of the above, and above all it’s the energy of Florence. Very beautiful energy.