I disembarked with a grin a mile wide. Home. I was home. Santa Maria Novella! It was teeming with life. Lines of tourists curled around ticket counters and a new tram slowed by the back stairs. Much had changed but the heart of Florence remained the same – my valley of friends, acceptance, and encouragement, surrounded by historic beauty.
I visited all my old haunts – St. James, with its colorful shadows and walls brimming with embracing memories, my apartments along the Danube and aside Santa Croce; and the Oil Shoppe, where students still lined the street for meters for a cheap gourmet sandwich. I meandered down my old paths like Hansel and Gretel, my memories as my breadcrumbs.
“Ciao!” The older gentleman I passed looked up, then took a double take. “Ciao!!!!” His eyes lit up with the memory. “Cappuccino!? Café? Vorresti sedere?” Although I used to smile and stop for a chat every day, I was surprised he remembered me, situated as he was in the heart of the tourist district. My heart warmed.
A grande embraccio, kisses, and love – sitting on the church steps with my beloved friend and second mama Gilberta, made me feel cherished and at home. A cappuccino with Cosi in a café nestled between my two campuses brought contentment and enlightenment. “Lucy you’ve got lots a splainin’ to do!” announces my inner Desi Arnez as I remember lunch on the cobblestones with Lisa, catching up on two years of adventures, later making our own adventure as we traversed Florence for a new cell phone. A late night stroll with Luca, chatting about everything from jobs and life to politics, the two of us enjoying the banter and intelligence I’d so missed.
Gelatos, river walks, and constant escapades with Sarah were a blast from the past, a blessing. Our friendship was honed once more along the Arno as we chatted, joked, and laughed about life, love, men, and plans. Italia will call us together once more in the coming years as roommates, friends, and confidants.
Markets, restaurants, cafés, and bars, new friends and old, memories both old and new alive in Firenze, the home of my past.
Comments