Renaissance Reverie

I fell in love in Florence. And how couldn’t you? It is small, quaint and the epicentre of a romantic city. You have Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci in your periphery and some of the world’s most renowned dishes at your fingertips. It feeds your 5 senses. Yet, it wasn’t those things that stole my heart. It was the fact that people stopped.

When I was little, I was fascinated with time machines, time capsules, playing freeze… all of which had the commonality of bringing life to a standstill. That’s Florence for you. Time at a standstill.

I sit on a plastic chair people watching… the elderly men crowded round plastic tables, playing backgammon. The children running around in circles around them. The women gossiping with exaggerated hand gestures on the benches. And the lovers performing a full public display of affection by the river. And I gobble it all up. Not in an envious way, but with it being a reminder of all the little things that life has to offer. All of which revolve around love. Love for one’s family, one’s food, one’s culture, one’s country, one’s lover… one’s life… it’s all love… at a standstill.