This week it was time to say goodbye to the villa. Among my last hurrahs were villa sunsets, trips to San Miniato, Boboli, and the opera, and a prosecco toast. I also sneaked in a few of my favorite restaurants and dishes, as well as visited with local friends. Everyday there was someone else to say good-bye to, whether it was my hairdresser, my wine guy, my housekeepers, or my boss.
The Rose Garden
Boboli Gardens
Trattoria 4 Leoni
Salumeria Verdi
Ernestino in his new stroller
During my last lunch at the villa, before departing for Bologna, I was
completely silent just trying to take everyone in and remember my last
few moments of normalcy in that beautiful setting before I degenerated
into a crying mess. Of course I'll miss the beauty of the villa, but it's the people, these people that I've seen everyday for two
years, that have made the experience. I've worked with them, broken salt-less bread with them, basically lived with
them, and for that, in practice, they've become my little Florentine
family. I'm going to miss all the little things about them that make me laugh or that make me feel like an integral part of the group.
I'm so thankful to have had this opportunity with Georgetown for it has left me not only with more experience but with many more friends. I can't wait to see where all my students end up when they "grow up," am looking forward to visiting my colleagues back at the villa in the near future, and am blessed to have built friendships that I know will last. Still, maybe the hardest thing will be giving up the keys to "my" Tuscan villa. Who wouldn't enjoy dropping that line?
I guess those of us who have been living vicariously through you also have to say goodbye!
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