Ecuatoria: Tori's Travels: Italia!

Oh Italia. Oh. Oh. So many thoughts, so many stories, SO MUCH HAPPY. We were only in Italy for a week, yet a bunch happened:

First of all, I got lost in Rome.

Then I got lost outside of Venice.

Then I got lost––just kidding. (You really thought I was going to say a third time, didn't you?)

ROMA

It was a long flight from Ecuador to Italy, and when we finally reached Rome at noon, I'd had very little sleep. But the adventure was juuuuust beginning. We rented two cars for our group's Italian tour, both cars were manual and I was one of the drivers. To be clear, I knew nothing about driving stick shift until about a week before our vacation. And now, suddenly, I was driving stick through the streets of Rome.

Crazy? Yeah, maybe. (I gotta say, though, driving in Rome is not as bad as Quito.)

After a quick driving tour of Rome––which included me accidentally taking a wrong turn, getting lost with three kids in my car and no phone, silently freaking out for an hour then miraculously catching sight of Emme walking down the sidewalk––we decided to drive out to Florence!

That afternoon of driving is one of my most treasured memories. The sun didn't disappear until after ten and every curve of the winding road revealed a lush hillside topped with a villa nestled amid olive trees or vineyards, or an old clocktower and duomo silhouetted in the golden light. I have never seen a place as beautiful as Italy and am so grateful for this world and the wonders it possesses.

San Marco

VENEZIA

Everything good you've heard about Venice…it's true. Envision musicians serenading gondoliers, sunlight splintering against the water, cobbled alleyways with flowers hanging heavily in the window boxes, gelato. Also more gelato. GELATO FOR EVERY MEAL!!!

GUYS! GUYS! WE'RE TOTALLY IN VENICE!

San Marco in Venice

FIRENZE

Finally, Florence. Home of Santa Maria Del Fiore and Brunelleschi's Duomo, one of the three things I've wanted to see in my lifetime. We were winding down the twisting mountainside road when the beautiful city abruptly came into sight––and with it the Cathedral and Duomo. I was shocked and awed and might've started screaming and honking the car's horn in delight. We skidded to a halt and I dashed across the road to balance at the edge of the overlook, clutching my camera in breathless excitement.

Can you see the Duomo to the right?

The best event of my trip happened a few hours later, just outside of the Florence Cathedral (keep waiting, it's funny, okay?) When I was in college, I took two semesters of Art History with the amazing Professor Crawford. Despite all our efforts to rendezvous, things repeatedly fell through, which was a big disappointment. Prof. Crawford's deep passion for the Italian Renaissance is what sparked in my the desire to visit Italy. I can still remember spending hours studying the life of masters like Brunelleschi, scrutinizing photos of his duomo and dreaming of one day seeing it in person.

And then…I was seeing it in person. I was standing within the hushed, shadowy walls of the cathedral. Around me, people whispered and took photos while I just stood there, neck craned back, gaping at the massive dome above me. So many brilliant and creative minds had come together in the place I was now standing. And I was about to encounter one of them.

The Duomo

It happened as I stepped out into the bright, Florentine sunlight. I stood at the top of the stairs, turned to the left, snapped a picture of the square (remember that part) and walked down the stairs. That's when I heard someone call my name. I spun and caught sight of my beloved instructor, standing a few paces away. In all of Italy, we miraculously ran into each other! It was definitely Divine Intervention.

Now, go back to that picture I took right after stepping outside. I was looking at it a few days ago and noticed the funniest thing. Check it out: