Is the Honeymoon Over?

I would guess that it was on, or around the 15th of February that it hit me. It wasn’t subtle, but rather a feeling more akin to that of being drunk on good red wine and then coming down from your high. I was tired of Italy! How could it be that this place that we had fallen so head over heels in love with was now no longer exciting to me? For the next ten days or so I walked around in a daze. Nothing seemed to be all that exciting anymore. The Lakers were making their run towards the NBA’s best record, my UCLA Bruins were making another run at a Pac-10 title (Remember, I don’t get to see any of these games here), the nine year olds back home were practicing baseball and coach Tim was not there with his pack of sunflower seeds leading them through the drills and giving out baseball cards to the hero of each practice. Worst of all was missing the familiar faces of home (Yes we have managed to make some solid friends here, but it will never be the same as family and friends at home). There were very few positive thoughts going through my head. I was in a funk.

I asked Anna if she felt the same way and she agreed that things were not quite the same for her either (Not to the degree that I was feeling it, but it was odd that it hit her at the same time). The cold weather was getting to both of us and we were worn out on wearing the same clothes, jackets and scarves everyday. I was having a tough time getting motivated to do much of anything. Even the amazing views from the castle seemed to have lost their intrigue (Something that I would never have guessed was possible). The thought of coming home in July seemed so far away…

Then, on the 25th of February the excitement of Italy came back to us like a thunderbolt! We were suddenly in love with this place again! Anna never really fell out of love like I did, but even she regained that look in her eye (The one that I had grown accustomed to seeing every day for the past six months) of an excited child on Christmas morning. What was it that brought it all back you ask? Its really a combination of a couple of things, the first being a change in the weather that provided a glimpse of what Spring will be like (Its going to be simply amazing, with wild flowers and sunflowers everywhere). The biggest factor however was being able to get out of the house for the first time in over two weeks (due to Trey and Olivia’s illness)! I don’t think that we realized what an impact being stuck at home would have on us! Its not often that you are forced to stay home for two weeks straight and when you add to the dynamic that neither of us have a job, it makes things feel…crowded dare I say? Thank God for the palestra, which became our only solitude.

As soon as the kids returned to school from their one week winter break, we were freed to experience what we love so much about Florence (A list that you are all too familiar with if you have been reading our blog.) When we returned to the city center for the first time in nearly three weeks, the life and energy of the city engulfed us once again. It was as if we were seeing her history, viewing her amazing architecture, hearing her sounds, smelling her smells, and feeling her energy for the first time all over again. As we walked back across Ponte Santo Trinito and over the Arno on our way home, Anna and I looked at each other and smiled. No words were necessary…