Dinner and Wii

Although I never ended up being in the backyard hollering greetings to our neighbours over the back fence as I miss doing in the summertime, Len and Glenda had me and my parents over for dinner tonight. They served us a delicious dinner and it was great to have a chance to visit with them and their daughter, Jill.

Len, a retired police officer, cracked me up by wearing his Mountie apron to carve the roast and chicken (the holster is an oven mitt attached with velcro). He even pulled out his uniform hat for the photo - thanks, Len! Since he's such a huge fan of cheesy puns, here are a couple... I can't believe I'm putting these on my blog.

A group of chess enthusiasts had checked into a hotel and were standing in the lobby discussing their recent tournament victories. After about an hour the manager came out of the office and asked them to disperse
"But why?" they asked as they moved off.
"Because," he said, "I can't stand chess nuts boasting in an open foyer.

Why did the scarecrow get an an award?
He was out standing in his field

Thanks for humouring me, Len!

I went home in the evening to do some packing and organizing in preparation for my return to England on Monday. I also managed to snag some time playing on the Wii with Jonathan and Dad. Jonathan received the Wii and several games for Christmas - his favourite at the moment is Mario Kart. I'm not great with video games, but I enjoy playing with the Wii because it's more interactive so I don't get bored as easily.

Jonathan's hands ready to win... yet again.
Dad whispered and told Jonathan he should let me win a race once and he just laughed.

The boys had fun creating an avatar for me.
Jonathan even made sure my hair was parted on the correct side.
I love the rectangular torso and hot racing suit...
although the legs seem to be two completely different sizes.
(I think it's the shading... hopefully...)

Friday Night Hangout

When I was in high school, and for a few years after graduation, there was a group of about ten to fifteen friends from church who spent countless hours together at the beach, playing cards or a bible trivia board game past midnight, and hanging out at "The Brimm". We were in youth group together and then served together as adult youth leaders. We went through numerous phases where the obsessions varied from playing "Big Bootie" to breaking out in random harmonies while playing "Scum" to watching Muppet movies.

The group changed over the years but we have tried to get together every year in order to stay connected. When we were in high school we joked about what it would be like in ten years when we got together and there were spouses and kids added to the group. Those years are upon us.

The group changing over the years: 1996, 2000, 2005

A thirtieth birthday party for one of the guys gave us an excuse to get together and the party ended up being held on my last Friday at home. As people move away it gets more and more difficult to get a large group together, but there were still ten of us (and two adorable little girls) at Paul and Rachel's place (yes, the Paul and Rachel who often post comments on my blog). Even with limited numbers, we still got into mischief.

"We don't stop playing because we grow old.
We grow old because we stop playing."
- George Bernard Shaw

Somebody suggested that we try circling around the kitchen table without touching the floor. The guys had soon cleared away the food, Paul pulled out his tools and tightened the bolts on the table legs, and the table was pulled to the middle of the dining room. A couple of girls tried the stunt but the table was too wide for even the tallest guy to get around it so the result was lots of bruised and scratched limbs and egos but nobody made it all the way around.

"Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional."
- Chili Davis

Carmen, your limbs may not be long enough to go across the table but we'll cheer wildly for your attempts!

Scott going over the edge.

At over six feet tall, Scott came the closest to succeeding... and we discovered that his feet can get into reall weird contortions in the process.

Dan, the birthday boy, making an attempt as the girls keep the table from flipping.

Life at Home

On Tuesday I received a rather desperate call from David. He forgot the keys to the cottage where they're staying in California. Thankfully they won't arrive at the cottage until this weekend so I was able to ship the keys off by courier to one of the hotels where they're staying this week. Crazy kids. Way too distracted with this whole newlywed thing.

On Tuesday morning my dad went in for surgery to fix his deviated septum (similar to having a nose job) and I spent the day making huge pots of soup for dad to eat during his recovery and taking Jonathan to piano lessons and taekwando while my parents were at the hospital.

On Wednesday afternoon I visited friends at Allteck Line Contractors Inc., the office where I worked as the Contracts Assistant for a year-and-a-half before I moved to the UK. It was a strange feeling to drive the route to the office again. I got several double-takes and most people asked if I was back for good. I really enjoyed seeing everyone again; I'm so thankful to have worked at such a great office and be able to go back and enjoy seeing my former coworkers. Although a few things have changed, many things will likely never change - the girls still love chocolate (I brought some from England for them), my boss still gives me advice on men, the CEO is tough to catch when he's not on the phone, and my corner office is still cold.

On my way to Allteck, the rain falling in Surrey gradually changed to snow by the time I reached Aldergrove. The winter wonderland was beautiful and I was excited to finally enjoy the Christmas weather that seems to have avoided me this year. We ended up with a few inches of snow at home but it didn't last long enough for me to play in it today.

Suka and the bizarre toy David and Keri bought for her.
I walked through the living room and she was just sitting next to it so I grabbed a camera.

The most common question I've been asked since I returned home is, "Are you excited about going back?" and people seem shocked when I say, "Yes!" It's not that I don't like being at home - I love being with my family again! It's just that I have so many opportunities to travel and enjoy new experiences on the other side of the world so I'm excited about returning to my life there. I also know that I'll likely sob like a baby at the airport when I leave Canada and it will be a tough transition to merge back into my life in England.

It's been wonderful to be home, but also sort of strange. It's a confusing mixture of emotions to be home again; the stress and joy of the wedding last week, my parents tired and not feeling well this week, the fun of being at home, trying to run around and do all the things I want to do while I'm home, and all the while knowing I'll soon return to my life in England.

Wedding Brunch

This morning we hosted a brunch for forty members of the extended family on both sides. It was a great opportunity to get to know Keri's family a bit better and give everybody a final chance to visit before heading home.

We served waffles (ten times the normal recipe) with strawberry sauce, blueberry sauce, three kinds of syrup, and whipped cream, with bacon and sausages. Trays of fresh fruit were supplied by Keri's parents. We borrowed waffle irons from several different people and even though we tested the power supply in the kitchen, we had to run to the control panel in the garage and reset breaker switches a few times. Kitchens usually aren't meant to have almost every outlet being used at the same time.

Me and Lisa.
One of the waffle irons created little heart-shaped waffles.

Some people might like opening their door for every guest attending a big party, but our whole family was busy working to get brunch served so it would have just been a frustrating interruption. Adam posted a sign on the front door and it was a great solution.

Adam's sign on the front door.

David wanted waffles for breakfast and Keri wanted to say a final goodbye to her family (they're from Alberta) so they showed up at the house a couple of hours after everyone arrived. Thankfully there were some waffles left over and we convinced them to stay and open their wedding presents. It was great to have a chance to see them again and it's going to take me a while to get used to seeing a wedding ring on David's finger. They're off on their honeymoon on Monday morning - a road trip to spend two weeks in California!

The Wedding!

The wedding was scheduled to start at 4:00 pm - it was wonderful to be able to wake up at a decent hour and have a relaxed morning. I've been to weddings where the girls are up before 6:00 am to start getting ready and it makes for an extremely long day. David even had time to play with our Wii for a while before leaving with Adam and Jonathan to get ready at the wedding site.

One of my favourite things about the day was watching the photographers work. It was like magic to see the photographers capturing so many moments I would have captured. I only picked up a camera a couple of times during the day; so nice to just relax and let somebody else take care of it! I've been the photographer at ten weddings in the past ten years and I've only attended two or three weddings where I wasn't the photographer. As much as I love doing photography, it felt so good to not carry around a camera! I only took three or four of the photos below; the rest were shot by our friend, Alison. The pro shots will be released soon, but for now, here are some casual family photos for those who are curious.

The weather forecast a few weeks ago was for snow to fall, but the sun ended up shining brightly and the sky was clear. A beautiful day for a wedding! The length of the wall where the ceremony was held was lined with windows overlooking a valley with mountains in the distance. The natural light filtering in was beautiful. The ceremony and reception were both held at the Diamond Alumni Centre at Simon Fraser University on Burnaby Mountain.

Me and Lisa in the car on our way to the wedding.

The wedding was mostly problem-free, but the day wouldn't be complete without a Piechnik adventure occurring.

Jonathan obliged by almost passing out during the ceremony. Twice.

Within a few minutes of the guys taking their places, I glanced over at Jonathan and figured he would probably drop so I barely took my eyes off him. I could see his knees were locked and the room was quite warm and his eyes were "zoning out" to an invisible spot in the distance instead of staying focused on what was happening. I was sitting in the front row in the far right seat so he was directly in my line of vision. After about five minutes of standing still he started going pale and about ten or fifteen minutes into the ceremony he turned green, swayed, and his eyes rolled. Lisa and I called out to Adam at the same time and Jonathan was guided to the stairs. I grabbed him a glass of water and sat with him for a few minutes to make sure he was okay. After a while Adam motioned for Jonathan to rejoin him and within five minutes his lips had turned gray and his eyes soon rolled as he swayed again. I motioned to Adam and he grabbed Jonathan's arm and I told Jonathan to just sit on the stairs again. Poor kid. Thankfully he bounced back quickly and was okay for the rest of the day.

Jonathan recuperating and viewing the ceremony from a safer position.

Keri and her beautiful bouquet.

Flowers were arranged by Andrea, a friend of our family. She does amazing work and arranged the flowers for the 30th anniversary party we threw for my parents a couple of years ago. I love how she uses a wide variety of textures and colours in her arrangments while still keeping the theme colour dominant.

The Piechnik family with the newest branch of our family tree.
(L-R Jonathan, Lisa, Sherri, David, Keri, Frank, Me, Adam)

Keri's dad decorated the car.

David brought cigars for the groomsmen and the photographers had a great time capturing the manly tradition. My parents are okay with Jonathan participating on special occasions... sort of.

Jonathan being one of the guys.

The reception was a lot of fun, and I'm not just saying that because I was the Master of Ceremonies. My cousin even said it was the funniest wedding she's been to. David and Keri helped arrange the speakers for the main toasts, which ended up giving lots of laughs, and they asked me to arrange for some surprise speeches and not tell them any of the other details for the reception. It was a bit strange to plan the evening without telling them what would happen, but I think it was a good idea and made it more fun for them. Made me a bit nervous ahead of time because the pressure was on me to make sure the night would keep people interested. The maid of honour, Becky, helped by choosing two people to surprise Keri with speeches and I chose two people to surprise David. The speeches were hilarious beyond my expectations - lots of childhood stories were dug up and the two of them were mocked unmercifully... exactly what they asked for.

David and Keri really wanted to make sure people at the reception didn't get bored so I tried to get a bit creative with how things were done. I filled a jar with Hershey Hugs and Kisses, shot a picture of David and Keri holding the jar a few days before the wedding, and placed a copy of the photo on each table. Each table had to submit a guess for how many Hugs and Kisses were in the jar and the winning table received the jar and got to go first for the buffet. Each table went for dinner in descending order so the worst guess went last.

Actual number of Kisses and Hugs: 234
Best guess: 221
Worst guess: 365

For the dessert buffet I decided to give tables an opportunity to jump the order decided by the guessing game so I started an auction to raise money for David and Keri to use on their honeymoon. I found buyers for the first three tables; the winning bid to be the first table to get dessert was $150, second table won with a bid of $100, and third table paid $50.

Adam's toast to the groom was a highlight of the reception for many people - absolutely hysterical. One of the things he mocked was a song David used to perform at Christmas when he was a kid. When he was little, David couldn't say the letter "r", making the song even more adorable. Our extended family still teases him about it every Christmas. Adam sang the opening lines in a kid's voice during his speech and later in the evening one of David's childhood friends stopped by every table and collected over $350 to bribe David to sing the whole song.

The opening lyrics are:

I'm gonna wrap up myself for Christmas,
and tie me with a big red bow;
that's what I'm giving to Jesus,
it's a present He'll like I know.

David singing "his song" as an adorable little cutie at the age of seven.

David singing "his song" as a married man at the age of twenty-four.

David and Keri are both artists who love quirky music and their choice for their first dance was perfect. If they had chosen something stereotypically romantic it just wouldn't have been "them" - laughter is more their style than sweet smiles. They danced to Honey Pie by the Beatles. If you want to listen to the song, click here and fast-forward to 0:37 (they skipped the intro).

First dance.

The original five Piechnik kids doing the Can-Can at the end of the evening.

The six Piechnik kids.
Welcome to the family, Keri! I have a little sister now!

Finding a dress for the wedding took a while, as regular blog readers know, but I finally found one on sale for £35 - my kind of price! (Most of the dress photos posted on my blog cost £125.) I wanted to find something that was at least a little bit unique and this one fit the bill - I love the rosettes covering the skirt portion and it just feels fun! It definitely needed heels so I went for a four-inch pair and they ended up being surprisingly comfortable, though my feet were killing me by the end of the evening. Legs weren't intended to be in that position for hours on end, but the female mind is able to convince itself that the pain is worth it... until hour six when the balls of my feet were yelping in agony and the shoes finally came off in favour of going barefoot.

The winning dress.

This shot was supposed to show the bow...
Lisa joined in and the shot took an unexpected turn.

When I was looking for shoes I was asked if I was shopping for a particular event. When I said they were for a wedding and I was the MC I had a saleswoman gasp and say, "Wow - I couldn't do that, I'd just throw up!" I actually had a lot of fun being the MC and it didn't make me nervous - partly because I've hosted events before, partly because I'm a detail person so I knew what I was going to do, and partly because the audience was made up of family and friends and I knew I could handle bantering with them.

The happy and tired Mr. and Mrs. Piechnik!
Congratulations!

Rehearsal Dinner

Our family welcomed seventeen people to the rehearsal dinner at my parent's home. I helped with prep, but I didn't plan out the meal so I think I'm allowed to say that dinner was fabulous! Lisa even made crème brûlée for dessert - delicious!

Lisa and Dad playing with torches while the guests look on nervously.

Melting sugar.

My much-longed-for cup of homemade chai latte!
Ahhhhhhh... definitely top of my list of comfort drinks.

Three Bachelorettes

On Thursday night, Lisa and I surprised David with a little bachelorette party while the female half of the bridal party were out getting manicures. We dressed him up in a horrendous dress, beads, a silver and rhinestone handbag (in which he carried his wallet and cell phone), sandals, earrings, and a feather boa. He was a cold, brave man. First stop was a movie theatre to watch Bride Wars - terrible reviews, but the subject matter was perfect (wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but still pretty bad as far as chick-flicks go). Afterward we took him to dinner and dessert at the Cactus Club and got a kick out of the numerous looks and comments aimed at him. David was a good sport about it all and said he was slightly disturbed that he didn't feel very awkward about walking around dressed as a woman.


During dinner, David started poking around the dress and whined about something stiff digging into his chest. I laughed and said, "It's called boning - it helps the dress keep its shape. Welcome to our world!" I think the dress was so old that the boning wasn't in the right place anymore. Guys have no idea what we go through to look good. Not that the dress we made him wear ever made anyone look good.

The Bachelorettes.

The woman at the table next to us at the restaurant asked us if David lost a bet.

Here's a little video clip of David and Lisa at the Cactus Club. Believe it or not, no alcohol was involved.

Home!

I arrived in Seattle around 6:30 p.m. on Thursday after sixteen hours of travel. I sat next to a college-age girl from Canada for the longest leg of the journey and we had a great time chatting about our travel experiences and the things we most missed about being in Canada. My mom picked me up at the airport and I was too exhausted to cry or feel much emotion at all. It felt strange to not be really excited or bawling my eyes out.

We went straight to the hospital in Seattle where my eighteen-year-old cousin has been staying for the past couple of weeks as he recovers from a really bad snowboarding injury. Thankfully he should eventually make a complete recovery, but it will be a lengthy battle involving lots of physio for his back and no more impact sports due to a severe concussion (his fourth in the past year, crazy kid!). I was really happy to be able to see him and my aunt and uncle - they planned to head back to their home town in the interior of BC the following day so I made it just in time. We had a great visit and Steven was pretty proud that by visiting him I was staying up for twenty-four consecutive hours. I'm not great with jet-lag or pulling all-nighters so he eventually started making fun of my mumbling, confused conversation, and random hand movements.

My mom and I were hungry when we left the hospital so on the way to the hotel we stopped at Denny's. I had pancakes... they weren't great, but it was a good midnight snack and felt very Canadian. I was so happy to finally fall into bed around midnight, although I could feel myself perking up as it was morning in England. Jet-lag is a weird experience.

As we headed home on Friday we did some shopping to find mom a dress for David's wedding. We didn't have any luck, although we did stop at a consignment shop and I was pretty happy to find some barely-worn jeans for $30. Finding jeans that fit me is always a small miracle and I've never heard of the brand before so I googled it when I got home. I found the jeans on the James denim website for $185! For some reason the soft denim felt softer and the good fit seemed better after I saw the original price.

On Saturday I spent most of the day with David and Keri, the soon-to-be newly-weds, at their basement suite. Well, it's David's suite for now, but Keri will move in after the wedding. It's a great suite with some odd quirks they'll always be able to laugh and reminisce about when they remember their first place (such as some randomly-placed posts in the dining area, an old-school bar, and a solitary drawer in the kitchen).

David made me and Keri a delicious lunch while we worked on putting together the centerpieces for the wedding. Keri has spent every weekend at our house since before they started dating so I loved hanging out with them again. It was fun to help out with wedding preparations, although the jet-lag kicked in partway through the afternoon and I started fading. Thanks, Keri, for poking me and making faces at me to keep me awake. I knew I could count on you.

David, the master-chef.

Keri making a face in the midst of twigs, vases, and the fun of being creative and making a mess.

I love being back in BC again. Hugs from my family, curling up with Suka on the couch (she's sprawled out alongside my leg as I type this blog entry), eating my favourite ice cream, seeing my church family, and just being a part of family life again. I had forgotten how amazing the views of the Rockies are from the highways here. People in the lower mainland of BC are so spoiled! Those views of snow-capped mountains are absolutely incredible.

I've had a few people ask me if I've picked up the English accent (no, I haven't) and many people are surprised that I'm just home for a short visit. It feels good to be home, but it's also a bit strange. I think the strangeness is a combination of merging back into life here while also knowing I still have a life on the other side of the world. My future is more tied to England than to Canada at the moment and it's an odd reality.

One More Sleep!

You know how little kids repeatedly ask, "How many more sleeps?" before they go on vacation? Yeah... I reached that stage a few days ago. I'm down to one more sleep and I'm so excited!

I booked a flight into Seattle because it's several hundred dollars cheaper than flying into Vancouver (due to lack of demand, Air Transat cancelled the cheap direct flight into Vancouver that I wanted to book). My mom is going to pick me up, we'll stay overnight in Seattle, and then shop on Friday until we both find everything we need for David's wedding. I found a dress I'm pretty happy with but now I need to find killer shoes that hopefully won't kill my feet. My mom has been really sick for the past month or two due to not realizing until last week that she has pneumonia so she hasn't had the energy to shop for an outfit for the wedding. The antibiotics and last-minute panic have settled in so she's ready to shop. Pray for us on Friday!

Here are a few shots of the little town I'm leaving behind while I visit my family for eighteen days.

A shortcut I take along the way to the train station. Partway along the path the concrete has a cracked lump where a tree root has invaded. It took at least three or four times tripping over it in the semi-darkness to finally remember it was there when walking home in the evening.

This is one of my favourite streets to walk along on my way into town. The row of brick houses just scream, "You're in England!"

This mosaic is in a little open seating area in the centre of Hook.

The side of the train station where I wait to travel toward London.

Sad snowdrops crushed by the heaps of snow that fell while I was in Italy.

I've been away from Canada for over four months and as great as it's been to live in England, I miss a lot of things about being home. In no particular order, here are a few things I'm looking forward to enjoying:

...drinking home-made chai latte from one of our overgrown mugs
...hugs from my family
...my dad's amazing marinated, barbequed pork tenderloin
...hollering greetings over the fences to our neighbours two doors down
...going to church and not feeling like my accent is glaringly sticking out of the sound while singing
...chocolate peanut butter ice cream from Edaleen Dairy
...going to Allteck and seeing my office buddies
...opening the microwave to find my mom's cold tea that she forgot to drink after reheating it for the third time
...curling up on the couch to snuggle our fluffy dog Suka
...seeing Keri do her little pout
...playing the piano and hearing Jonathan play it
...singing in harmony with Lisa

(ed. note - since David whined, here's a reason involving him, along with one for Adam so the whole family is accounted for.)

...wrapping my arms around David and holding on for as long as he'll let me
...begging David to sing "Sh-Boom" because he knows I love the song and he hates singing it for me
...Adam making me laugh and giving me one of his fabulous bear hugs

Vicarious Living

Since my arrival in England, I've been receiving emails from people who tell me they're enjoying living vicariously through my travels by viewing my blog. I recently received an email from a friend and I love how she describes the experience:

"Well, I enjoyed that visit to Rome also. I have been getting to travel to all these places vicariously and the price is right and I get to sleep in my own bed. Bonus!"

Italy Day 15 - Packing up and Looking back

This morning I packed up, returned to Pisa, and boarded the plane back to England as I wondered if I had just imagined the last two weeks. I can't believe I just spent two weeks in Italy. I wanted to have a relaxing get-away and just enjoy being there without the pressure to cram as much as possible into my vacation. I did what I planned to do: I spent plenty of time driving through the hills exploring Tuscany and Umbria and I saw some iconic sites. It was an amazing holiday and I feel tremendously spoiled to have been blessed with such beautiful accommodation - thank you, Penny and David, for your incredibly generous gift!

...and I finally got a European stamp in my passport!

Italy Day 14 – Final Road Trip

Today I went on a final road trip along the winding Italian roads and covered about two hundred kilometres in five hours. I chose to head south west towards Pitigliano, a town built into the top of a hill and the side of a cliff with old tombs in the cliffs used as parking garages and wine cellars. Plenty of rain fell but there were also some clear moments and lots of beautiful scenery through the changing mist, sun, and rain. Due to the rain I didn't really do much walking, I mostly just drove and pulled over to take photos. Why is it that when the light falls just right on the hills there's never any space to pull over?

Pitigliano far away.

Pitigliano close up.

As I was driving through one of the towns I saw the gated entrance to a cemetery. I love walking in cemeteries and I was curious to see what an Italian cemetery looked like. The burial area was up on a hill so I couldn't see it from the road. When I climbed the stairs towards the gate I cringed to realize it was one of the "shelf" cemeteries. I don't know why, but this style of burial makes my skin crawl and I got out of there as quickly as possible.

An Italian cemetery.

But I liked the entrance gate!

Entrance to the cemetery.

I've mentioned to a few people that many of the towns here are perched on the tops of hills. They definitely take on the appearance of fortifications and are well-situated to have good views of the surrounding areas. I've been trying to find a place to capture a decent shot to show how isolated some of these places are and today I found a pretty good spot.

Italy Day 13 – Gelato! Oh, and Florence too

Instead of taking the train to Florence, as suggested by Italians and tour books, I decided to drive. I don't like the extra time required to take the train and I like the flexibility of having a car to allow for plans to change more easily. Driving in Florence is pretty crazy, but, as with all driving in Italy, you're fine if you shoulder check continually, drive aggressively so you blend into the crowd, and either read the Italian signs quickly (they like to put epic novels on their signage) or just go for it and hope for the best.

My day started off at the Basilica di Santa Croce, the burial place for Galileo, Michelangelo, Machiavelli, and many others. The church has a lot of work being done so much of the interior was covered by scaffolding, but it was still a beautiful place.

Basilica di Santa Croce.

Stained glass and frescoes.

I'd like to see all this move when a key goes in the lock!

Michelangelo's simple little tribute.

Portion of a painting in the little cathedral museum.

It's amazing how quickly it starts to feel quite normal to walk on streets that look like this.

When I walked through the Piazza della Signoria I cringed at the massive, nude fountain statue of Neptune. I know some people can appreciate nudes for the art, but I can only do that to a certain extent and then I'm just embarrassed. It feels like I just walked in on a guy getting out of the shower and I want to laugh and duck out of there as quickly as possible. A couple of women from Tennessee were taking each other's photos in front of the fountain so I offered to shoot a photo of them together. I meet a lot of people this way and it's often the only conversations I have in a day (my family laughs when I talk to them on the phone because I often chatter on and on, but it's only because I so rarely have a chance to talk to people so my words come tumbling out). Charlesetta, on the right in the photo below, runs a group tour company for international travel so she gave me her website and I've given her the link to my blog. (Hi Charlie, if you read this!) I decided to include a photo of these adorable women to give an example of the fun people I get to meet. I should keep track of the nationalities of people I photograph. So far it's been several Americans, a few Belgians, an Indian couple from England who were on their honeymoon, a few Argentineans, a Chinese couple, a Spanish family, English, Scottish, Canadian, Italian, and lots of people who didn't speak a word of English or Spanish so I have no idea where they're from.

Two from Tennessee!

I love how the pigeons consider the famous fountain statues to simply be a comfy place to perch.

My first museum was the Galleria degli Uffizi, a massive collection of art mostly collected by the Medici family (photography is forbidden). Some of the exhibits were closed for maintenance, but it was still amazing to see so many famous pieces. My knowledge of the history of art is limited so I wasn't able to appreciate the pieces in depth, but I still appreciated the beauty.

I wandered along narrow streets to reach the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore; this is the home of the big dome so famous in photos of the Florence skyline. Entrance is free so I explored the building and admired the incredible ceiling of the dome from the floor of the cathedral because I couldn't bear the thought of spending eight euros to gain closer access to the dome. Nearby are the octagonal Battistero, a seventh century building with the facade added between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries, and the Campanile, a bell tower.

Battistero, Cathedral, and Campanile.

Ceiling in the cathedral dome.
(Clicking on the photo should provide a large version for detail.)

A tour book I borrowed from the library recommended stopping by Perche No!... (it means, “Why Not!...”), a shop selling gelato near the Piazza del Duomo. As I tried to get my bearings in the streets I was surprised to find myself outside the shop without trying. Seemed like a little touch of destiny so I figured it was a good reason to grab some lunch and dessert. I went to a nearby shop for focaccia with cheese, bruschetta and arugula and another with cheese, tomatoes and basil. They were sort of like triangular sandwiches (the focaccia is more like a really delicious, dense, white biscuit than the fluffy bread focaccia from the grocery store in Canada) heated in a big, brick oven. Simple but delicious. I headed back to Perche No!..., supposedly a favourite of the American soldiers when Florence was liberated during World War II, and perused their selection of gelato. An Italian girl was in the shop and she said she's had gelato all over Florence and theirs is the best – natural ingredients and a good price. For four euros they packed five flavours into a cup. I'm not too proud to admit that I went back again later in the afternoon. It was my first time having gelato in Italy and I waited until the end of my trip on purpose because I knew I would just keep buying it as I travelled around if I tried it at the beginning of my time here. I can't even remember all the flavours I tried. My favourites were strawberry, tiramisu, cookies-and-cream (with shavings of chocolate mixed in), coffee, and the chocolate flavour was strong enough to satisfy any chocoholic. Good stuff.

First time having gelato in Italy!

I was expecting the Galleria dell' Accademia to be a larger gallery, but I did find it really interesting to see the details of the paintings on display. Before and after photos of restoration work that had been carried out or images of scans showing the layers of paint and how the artist had changed the image. It's definitely more of a teaching gallery and I really appreciated the details. The major showpiece of the Accademia is Michelangelo's David (1504). You round a corner and enter a long gallery with sculptures along the sides and facing you at the end of the hallway is a really huge, white, shiny, naked man on a pedestal. I got the biggest smirk and wanted to let loose with a grin and maybe a guffaw but it felt more like the atmosphere at a library; not a place where sarcastic laughter would be appreciated. People standing around with awestruck expressions. A tour guide speaking to a group of college students in French. People sitting on benches around the statue with serious faces. I wanted to elbow somebody and hiss, “Doesn't it seem weird to you that he's completely naked? Sure, Saul's armour didn't fit him, but I really don't think David would have faced Goliath starkers.”

My reaction to seeing the famous statue in person came out in shocked humour about the situation, but I was mostly embarrassed for David; it felt disrespectful to show him nude. My feet were aching so I found a bench where I could rest and view David from an angle where his nakedness wasn't quite so... obtrusive. I wanted to be able to look over the non-graphic details and appreciate the art of what I was seeing. I found it fascinating to look at the muscles and the mastery it takes to know exactly how much to carve to get it to look so amazing. How does a person take a block of marble and start chipping away and know when enough is enough? It was incredible to think that Michelangelo's hands touched what I was looking at. Photos were forbidden but I had to sneak a shot of his face just for proof that I was really there (me and the numerous other people who pulled out their cameras... they got yelled at but I sort of hid behind a pillar).

David.

The other Michelangelo sculptures that line the hall in front of David were a series titled Prisoners (1505). I loved the style, called non finito (unfinished), where the sculptures look like they're trying to escape the confines of the block of marble.

I guess I like things that leave room for the imagination. I prefer ruins to city streets, forests and fields to formal gardens, and non finito Prisoners versus the explicit David.

As I was wandering the city streets I passed a construction area and a guy up on some scaffolding whistled a cat call. I smirked and looked up to see if it was aimed at me. It was. Oh yeah – a little piece of the Italian charm aimed my way. Yes, I know it was from a construction worker so it's really nothing to be proud of and can't technically be classified as “charm”, but I'll take it. Oh, and when I gave a second glance it yielded a double-take, a lean out of a store entrance, and a loaded-tone, “Ciao!” (“Hello!”) in Rome. These guys seriously react to the slightest provocation. Way too easy and a lot of fun when you want some entertainment.

By this time the day had worn on to about 4:00 p.m. and I was done. My brain had seen enough art and the thought of paying for a ticket to another museum, gallery or church didn't appeal to me. I wandered down the streets to view the outside of the Basilica di San Lorenzo, ventured briefly into the convent courtyard, and headed to the river.




I walked along the Arno River between the Ponte Vecchio, a famous bridge covered with shops seen in the photo above, and past the Ponte alle Grazie, and walked up Viale della Giovane Italia to return to where my car was parked. (I'm including the Italian for people like my Dad who love those details.)