25 December, 2006 | Leave a Comment

On this luminous Christmas Day, the glorious Duomo of Santa Maria del Fiore…one block from my hotel in the historic center of Florence. Go ahead and hate me, it’s okay.

This afternoon I took the train up from Rome. It was mobbed with people:

This was my Christmas lunch, a panini and bottled water from the train snack bar:

Don’t feel bad for me, this was delicious. Seriously.

I walked around Florence late this afternoon and this evening. It’s thick with tourists, but there weren’t many townspeople in sight — it was as if they’d been abducted and all that remained were hordes of visitors carrying digital cameras and guidebooks. It was like stepping into a terra-cotta horror movie. Creepy. As I was strolling around aimlessly, I glimpsed the sun setting over the rooftops and began to chase after it — a Florence sunset! On Christmas! I must say, it was worth the effort:

After this, I ate some minestrone soup to warm me up, the perfect ending to a bizarre and lovely Christmas. Since I can’t be at home, I’ll settle for this. Yup.

1. Comments RSS

1. Lillie Says:

   December 26th, 2006 at 4:48 am

   Merry Christmas! Delighted to hear you’re enjoying yourself!

   What are your plans for New Year’s Eve?

2. Anglofille Says:

   December 27th, 2006 at 1:15 am

   I’ll be back in Paris by then — not sure what I’m doing yet. I’ll probably be exhausted!