Wednesday, September 14, 2016

Moon Shadows

Bright air describes the effect of the light of the moon 
to the earth below on a partly cloudy night.
The roundish orb, as brilliant as the sun, but not as circular in shape,
peeks through the illuminated puffs of cotton dotting the sky.

A golden ring accentuates the flattened pieces of mattress batting
emanating from the reflection of the sun on the eclipsing bulb.
The effect on the ground is shadows cast by the dog and I, 
as we take in the evening air.

This is my favorite type of night,
quiet and still below.
The clouds moving just swiftly enough above from left to right
forming changing patterns to draw my gaze upward.

Watching God's hand move the fluffy sky across the moon
gives me peace in knowing that I am not in control.
Heaven is up there, and everywhere. 
I can see the beauty, therefore heaven is real.



Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Last Tour Day - Florence/Milan

The last day of our whirlwind European vacation was bittersweet. After a long travel day and late evening, we made the decision to sleep in a little. We ate an impressive breakfast of eggs, meat, bread and fruit on the patio with beautiful service and lovely weather. After our meal, we loaded our heavy packs on our backs and took the long trek back to the train station. We decided that we had made the correct decision to forgo the viewing of Michelangelo's statue of David, and we just didn't have the energy to go see him in the morning. 

When reviewing all that we had seen in the last week, we decided that this trip had been one of architecture and atmosphere instead of museums and art. We had seen plenty of art in churches, outdoors, in parks, and had seen God's hand in the beauty of the natural landscapes (and weather from the plane to Budapest) and with people watching as we sat on a square eating, in a crowded marketplace, or on a bus, train or plane. On our way to the train station, we perused the Florence market, where we purchased an owl bag (Rachel's sorority mascot), a scarf for me and Florence frame in which to place a vacation photo.

We purchased tickets on a fast, fuel-efficient train to Milan, arrived by 1:15 pm, checked in my backpack into "left luggage" to explore for the day, and took Rachel's to share the load. It was another sunny day, and we certainly had perfect weather the entire trip. While it was hot at times, we dressed appropriately, and had no rain except in the evening when we were already in for the night, and it was partly cloudy, and breezy. It was so much more comfortable sharing just the one big backpack and walking 6-10 miles a day, including 259-400 stair climbs  to the top of the city in Budapest and Florence. Next trip - we will make much more use of  "left luggage."

We decided to pursue a tour of the city of Milan since I had not seen it, and we walked to town by way of the Duomo and the mall to visit the Cathedral. Wow. Two more incredible structures greeted us - first the shopping mall and then the Milan Cathedral, which is the fifth largest church in the world. The style of architecture I would describe more as Gothic than of Florence 's Byzantine. While building of the cathedral began in 1386, it took hundreds of years to build. 

We were in awe of the construction, floors and stores of the Piazza Duomo on which the cathedral sat, the vastness of the square and the beautiful sculpture surrounding it. 

Again, we didn't go inside because Rach had already been on a tour, and she noted that it wasn't significant, especially after Florence and Budapest. We felt more at peace examining the huge marble sculptures in the square, people-watching, and window shopping. We grabbed a final gelato and enjoyed it at a small shady sculpture park where Italians chatted and rested during a work break or after shopping or running errands. As we started to take the hike back to the train station, we felt the urge to make a final handstand show in the huge mall area. We paused under the towering arches and upon the gorgeous floors to do a final handstand. We 
asked a couple of passing women to take a few shots, and the younger of the two took fabulous photos, although a couple of them were not so flattering for Rachel due to her, well, lack of modesty. :-)

The walk from the city to take the train to Milanesa was exhausting, with the heat of the day wearing upon us. Milanesa was nearer to the airport, and I had booked a relatively cheap hotel there. We arrived and waited almost an hour for free shuttle from the airport to the hotel, which was very nice. We asked about nearby restaurants, for as cheap as I like to travel, I didn't want to pay for a cab. 

We thought we would drop into the first one, which offered had a happy hour(s) that included a delicious buffet of pizza, salad, fresh fruit, meat and cheeses. Upon drinking a couple of fruity drinks, we decided that we didn't need to go to the other, more formal restaurant. I learned from Rachel that in Italy, it's not polite to fill your plate when serving from the buffet (like Americans like to do at pizza joints and Asian buffets in the US), rather, it's appropriate to go back several times.We sat outside and digested the past whirlwind week. We left before nightfall and made it back to the hotel in time to notify the front desk of our hotel of early departure (5 am!) on the free shuttle. 

We packed up the things we wanted to bring home, and left almost empty toiletry bottles, and threw away excess food and trash. As I settled in for the short night of sleep, I was again filled with anticipation of an early departure and a looong trip home.