| So tonight.
I had one of those moments when you look at something beautiful and you could cry. I was walking from my apartment to the library and over the Ponte Vecchio there were ornate strands of garland all lit up. And it stretched on as far down the street as I could see. Now this garland has been hanging for a few days, and it was been very pretty, but tonight they lit them. December 1st. The people bundled and bustling. It made me think of that Christmas carol "Silver Bells."
Just imagine this Old Bridge, built in 1290, with little jewelry shops all along. They look like tiny Italian villas, rustic and terraced. Lit up and glittering, and then you keep walking to the middle and there is an opening in the shops where you can get a view of the Arno river and Florence on either side. The sidewalks all along the river lit up as well- they reflect onto the water, and you can see the old, weathered, beautiful buildings that line the Arno. Mountains in the distance. And you look around you at the people...some who are terse but some that are truly happy. Couples making a memory. The garlands are drapped from the second stories of the shops, and they give everything and everyone an added glow... and then you look forward and you see a whole street of the lighted garland, and people with bags and boots and little carts selling cheap Italian souveniers, but all underneath this decoration that makes it different and magical. And the smell... ah, of fresh waffles and crepes. Just near the bridge there is an ice cream shop that makes waffles right there, practically on the sidewalk, and as you walk by you think, "This is a December 1st that I will never forget." Unique.
This is what I will miss. You can have those sacred moments anywhere in the world, at any time, on any day. I know this. I know it because I even some of the most wonderful things I have seen and experienced here do not compare with some of the wonders I have encountered in Waco, Texas. But Wow. Everyone must see Florence in December. |
