I guess being a transit point in the summer, I took you, beautiful Florence, for granted. Throughout the summer, you were nothing but a place I needed to use to get to Naples, Bologna, Zurich or Rome. I'd glance at the Ponte Vecchio and the Duomo as my bus from Siena moved towards the Santa Maria Novella Station.
Tired after long journeys, all I would want is to take the first train back 'home' to Siena. Then came the day I had to leave Siena and a wonderful summer behind. The heavens opened out in a Bombay Monsoon-type downpour, in what looked like a last futile attempt to keep me in the city. Perhaps the rush with which I left my Tuscan home, kept my mind off the fact that I was leaving a place so dear to me.
When my last train from Siena arrived at the Santa Maria Novella station, there was a strange kind of homecoming. It was my last day in the beautiful country and what better to soak it all in than the city of Dante! As I walked through the old city and climbed all the way to the top of the Duomo, I felt a sense of calm and of being at home. The last wonderful gellatos that I ate, the last conversations with strangers in Italian and the last evening run I had in Italy were all in Florence.
As I walked past the Ponte Vecchio and some of the other bridges during the Fiorentine twilight, all I could feel was grattitude for a country that made me feel at home. My last Tuscan meal was a fitting end to the wonderful month in the beautiful province and the icing on the cake were my last few hours in Firenze! The openness and warmth of the great Tuscan capital is something that I will always cherish..
Mille Grazie Toscana! Ti Amo!! Sempre.
Tired after long journeys, all I would want is to take the first train back 'home' to Siena. Then came the day I had to leave Siena and a wonderful summer behind. The heavens opened out in a Bombay Monsoon-type downpour, in what looked like a last futile attempt to keep me in the city. Perhaps the rush with which I left my Tuscan home, kept my mind off the fact that I was leaving a place so dear to me.
When my last train from Siena arrived at the Santa Maria Novella station, there was a strange kind of homecoming. It was my last day in the beautiful country and what better to soak it all in than the city of Dante! As I walked through the old city and climbed all the way to the top of the Duomo, I felt a sense of calm and of being at home. The last wonderful gellatos that I ate, the last conversations with strangers in Italian and the last evening run I had in Italy were all in Florence.
As I walked past the Ponte Vecchio and some of the other bridges during the Fiorentine twilight, all I could feel was grattitude for a country that made me feel at home. My last Tuscan meal was a fitting end to the wonderful month in the beautiful province and the icing on the cake were my last few hours in Firenze! The openness and warmth of the great Tuscan capital is something that I will always cherish..
Mille Grazie Toscana! Ti Amo!! Sempre.
No comments:
Post a Comment