Tally ho!

I was talking to a girl at a party last night who told me that she'd been so homesick at the beginning of the semester that she'd forced herself to write a list of all the things she would miss about Florence when the time came for departure. I wasn't nearly that clever, but I like the idea, so I thought I might compose a little list here (although I only have 4 days left to really appreciate these things)

• Hearing the bells of the Campanile ring the hour, especially 6 and noon.
• Walking past the Duomo to school every day.
• Painting what I want, in whatever style I want.
• My awesome teachers: the painting teacher that laughed when I saluted him when saying goodbye; my  fashion teacher who liked the title for my Marie Antoinette essay ("How to Dress Like an Ostrich"); my illustration teacher who gave us a cappuccino break every morning and told us hilarious stories about her life in Florence; my scatterbrained art history teacher who told me she was eager to read my final paper because she liked my writing so much.
• Cappuccini e paste per colazione! 
• Parties: everyone gets their own bottle of wine.
• Hearing little kids speak Italian in squeaky voices.
• The Arno, the Uffizi, and everything beautiful.
• The excellent chocolate bars on sale at the supermarket chain Conad. 
• Zecchi, the cramped art store full of everything awesome.
• Seeing the Palazzo Vecchio from my windows, especially all lit up at night.
• The beautiful Christmas decorations (see my last post), all draped over the streets and glowing everywhere.
• The rare occasion when an Italian person congratulates me on how good my Italian is.
• My friends:

CHRISTMAS

Everyone, only 18 (well, 17, since the 18th is almost over) days until I'm home. I'm so crazily excited. And that means that there are only 23 days until Christmas! Florence has appropriately decked herself out for the holiday. I just wanted to share some photos of the lovely drapery of lights that have been hung over a few streets.