I have arrived...

Hello friends, welcome to the blog you all asked for. It feels weird to write about myself and my experiences, but I understand that this connection to each other will keep us closer than any other method available to us. I have listened to your suggestions for content and promise to try and include my own unique perspective (a friend’s word, not mine) and I will only tell you what I had for breakfast if it is indeed worth writing about.

Some of you are looking for a peek into what it is like to pick up in the middle of life and move to another country. You probably want to hear about the food, the wine, the art and architecture and the culture. I’m pretty sure you also want to know how I handle living here…what’s different, what’s the same, and how I manage the day to day problems of life. I can’t promise to share everything I think and feel, and you should probably be grateful…the reality is certain to be less exciting than the fantasy.

Some of you want to hear about the romance that is sure to unfold as my love and I get to know each other better. I’ll share what I can…the rest is up to your imagination. Which, knowing some of you, is very fertile ground! What will be different is that here in Italy I am experiencing love without a lot of outside influence. I can love with abandon and passion.

I have been in Florence almost two weeks now. Each day I wake up, take out my map of Florence and try to decide where to go for the day. Some days I go to the historic part of town, mingle with the tourists and window shop. Other days I stick to my neighborhood and the surrounding areas. Those are the days I spend trying to find my way around the places tourists don’t go. The shops, the parks and the residential neighborhoods. Just this week I found a lovely park that feels like being out in the countryside with a wonderful winding path that climbs up a small foothill. The people who go to this park make me feel like part of the neighborhood. They say “buon giorno” and really smile at me. I almost cried the first time I went there, it was such a comforting experience after so much time feeling like a stranger in a strange place. I think that I will visit this park regularly. I will admit that part of the reason I have been walking so much is that I have been very lonely. Far better to spend 8 hours walking outside than sit in the apartment hiding from the experience out of fear

So I can hear the question…what about the guy? He’s here too, but his job as a tour guide has kept him out of town for most of the two weeks that I have been here. But when he is here he is the essence of loving care. Those who know me well will understand the importance of this: He keeps me close without smothering me. He holds my hand, puts his arm around me, he holds me close to him whenever possible. Yeah... He is anxious to introduce me to his friends, who by the way all seem to know that I was coming. He has been talking about this for a bit I think. Soon November will be here and the tourist season is essentially over. He will not be as busy and I expect that there will be many weeks spent getting to know each other better as he shows me around Tuscany.

I know this was long, but I had to catch us all up on what has happened. I promise to keep it short if you promise to be patient as I get comfortable writing all these things down. It has been an interesting couple of weeks…I can hardly wait for tomorrow!