On Edge

Where: Solterreno, Spain
When: April 2011

Duomo

Where: Florence, Italy
When: April 2011

View from the Duomo - we weren't even expecting to be able to get in, we had heard that the lines were out of control, but I guess early April is the time to do it! We decided to just wander by the Duomo, and see how long the lines really were. Much to our confusion, there were no lines. At all. So we decided that it must be closed. But then we tried the door anyway, and it was OPEN, and we walked into the Duomo, just like that.

It was very cool climbing the stairs, although the endless spiral got a little dizzying. At the top, there was a bottleneck at the only opening onto the roof, where there was a continuous stream of people coming down, preventing us from going up. Finally, an Italian teenage girl lost patience, marched past us, pointed and snapped her fingers imperiously at the people coming down and demanded that they back up and wait so that we could all go up. The very idea of being so completely self-assured and bold as a teenager boggles my mind, but we were delighted.

The roof was largely empty, and the view was incredible. I could have sat up there all day - there are conveniently placed marble benches all the way around. Definitely the highlight of the trip, for me.

The Hammock

Where: Solterreno, Spain
When: April 2011

I spent an awful lot of time in this hammock that week. I spent a full day in it just watching my laundry dry: listening to the birds, waiting for the wind to knock a shirt or a sock off, getting up, putting it back on, waiting for the sun to shift across the sky a bit more, getting up, adjusting the drying rack. I'm not sure what it is about the place that I can spend a full day with no more entertainment than the laundry and the birds, never feeling a flicker of impatience or boredom, while here in the city, surrounded by bustling activity, I get frustrated, bored, and restless on a regular basis.

Where: Solterreno, Spain
When: April 2011

Buzzing Blossoms

Where: Solterreno, Spain
When: April 2011

It's only when I lose myself

Where: Solterreno, Spain
When: April 2011

Title from Depeche Mode's song, which I'm listening to now re-mixed with Florence and the Machine's You've Got The Love, which is a shockingly lovely result.

Busy Bee

Where: Solterreno, Spain
When: April 2011

Boo!

Where: Solterreno, Spain
When: April 2011

I'm back! Ok, so I missed the focus a little bit on this guy, but I don't care, it's too good a pose. He landed on the tree right next to me, and he was HUGE, a good 3-4 inches, I was impressed and a little intimidated. But he just peered at me for a minute or so, and then (rather clumsily) crept up to a leaf and started munching away. I kept imagining that I could hear the whirring of millions of wings in the distance, and that a huge swarm was going to descend on the almond grove, thumping onto the roof of the casita, but luckily nothing so biblical occurred.