Blog Archives - A Cottage by the Sea

Sharing a birthday with my sister

12/30/2021

When my sister Margot asked me what I had planned for our birthday today, I told her it would be a perfect day. I would be visiting my 101 year old friend Ruth and delivering a dinner to a friend who is in the midst of some pretty brutal chemo.
You may notice that Margot referred to ‘our birthday’. Yes, we share it. I recall my dad telephoning from New York City to our home in Connecticut to wish me a happy birthday and tell me that I had a sister for a birthday present. On that day that I turned six I learned about sharing.
Except for one birthday, when my sister’s party got in the way of mom driving me to ice skating with friends, I have loved that Margot and I have the same birthday. Two years ago, when I turned 80, we had a big celebration at the Wayside Inn. Last year Jim and I celebrated, just the two of us. Today will be another perfect celebration. Ruth offers me the motherly love that I received from my mom when she was 101. I’m grateful for my good health and happy to support my friend.

Word for the year

12/28/2021

There is much that is packed into the end of December for me:
24th—Christmas Eve
25th—Christmas
28th—Our Wedding Anniversary
30th—My Birthday
31st—New Year’s Eve

I wonder what my ‘word’ for 2022 will be? In 2020 it was gentleness, in 2021, patience. I’m still working on those, although they are coming along. At least I am more aware when I am harsh, not gentle, and when I am impatient, rather than patient.
I sit her waiting for the 2022 word to come into my consciousness. Ah, here it is--loving: the bottom line of all faith traditions. Two aspects of loving come to mind: to slow down and show people appreciation: and to send loving thoughts to people (and situations) with whom I don’t agree.

Easy trip home

12/20/2021

I’m home. Easy travel--Florence, CDG Airport, Boston--except for the bumper-to -bumper traffic from Logan Airport to home. Everyone was on the road. I wonder what it will be like this weekend with omicrom seemingly taking over our lives? I never was concerned that I wouldn’t make it home, but I glad I came when I did. Nothing is for certain and Covid news is changing minute by minute.
The airline emailed me that I had to have a covid test the day before I flew. At a pharmacy in Florence it took no more than 15 minutes to receive the test and a print out indicating I tested negative. And then, that was the last I heard about it; I was NEVER asked to show the paper. Going through customs was the easiest ever. The good news was that most likely everyone on the plane was covid free!!

Solitude in Santa Maria dei Fiori

12/15/2021

To be inside the San Marie dei Fiori alone! A dream that came true yesterday. The line outside was short (unlike the long ones in the fall), and so I joined. After showing our ‘green pass’ and going through the scanner, about thirty of us were let in together. Then, as the people in my group began to leave, but before a new group entered, there I was, alone in this enormous cathedral.
It brought back one of the most vivid memories of my time here in 1959. It was here in this duomo that I was first aware of my desire for solitude.

La Badia Fiorentina

12/13/2021

One of the benefits of traveling alone is flexibility with everything I do. It’s up to me. I don’t have to confer with anyone or make compromises. At a whim I can change my plans. Yesterday morning I started out with the intention of walking along the Arno. But no, instead I turned toward the Piazza della Signoria, stopped for a cappuccino, and then entered La Badia Fiorentina, where Lauds was being sung by the six monks and eight nuns that make up this monastic fraternity of Jerusalem in Florence.
As the service ended men and women in all kinds of dress and nationality began coming in to help set up for 11 o’clock Mass, including a medical volunteer wearing a yellow vest. A man of Indian heritage, dragging a suitcase, lit a candle. One of the gypsies that I’ve seen around the city begging for money, sat in the back corner.
This place was alive with with people reaching out to God. You see, the call of this fraternity is to be present :“In the heart of the cities in the heart of God.” Their mission— to help the poor, and the homeless, to meet them where they are.
In the entrance way is a statue of a homeless man sleeping on a bench. The inscription quotes Matthew 25:6: I was naked and you clothed me.

Florentine art I love

12/11/2021

Every time I come to Florence I get fixated on the paintings and frescoes of Annunciation . Just when I think I have snapped every depiction of Mary and Angel Gabriel, a new one appears. Yesterday, it was at the Academia. Most of us go there to see Michelangelo’s David, but I also love to climb to the first floor to absorb the paintings of the Florentine School 1370-1430, which include Late Gothic and Early Renaissance works. Most have been restored to the vibrant colors that were a landmark of the shops (bottega) where the artists and apprentices worked to create these magnificent altar pieces.
Wealthy patrons made sure that their own portrait joined the adoration of the magi or was present somewhere in the picture, tympanum, or predella. They were eager to do what they could do gain a place in heaven and to gain favor with the powerful in the city.

San Marco. Which cell would you pick?

12/8/2021

I’m very grateful to be back in Florence for the Christmas season. My first go-to spot, yes, the Convent of San Marco. I can’t get enough of those cells. Ah, the simplicity of not having any things. Today these cells don’t show the bed, desk, chair, and cross that would have adorned a monk’s cell. All we see is the Fra Angelico fresco on the wall, painted to remind the monk of Jesus.
   I would have asked for the first cell on the east corridor, depicting Mary wanting to touch Jesus--Noli me tangere. I resonate with the warm colors and the intimacy. About half the cells show the Crucifixion. For sure I wouldn’t want to be assigned one of those!
   Every time I visit San Marco can’t stop myself from taking photos of each cell. This time I included a little more of the room and the window shutter.
   For all of you who love silence, solitude, and simplicity, this may be the place for you.

December 08th, 2021

12/8/2021

A morning at the Uffizi. OMG, a new entrance of white corridor after white corridor just to get to the three flights of stairs that lead to the top floor where the exhibits begin. And there I was, greeted by Giotto’s Madonna and Child, flanked on either side by one by Duccio and Cimibue.
I know the Uffizi well. I have been there at least 30 times? Very likely more. I know what I want to see and how to maneuver around the crowds to reach my favorite paintings. Two hours was my limit.
In Italian Uffizi means office but this was no office visit. It was as close to heaven as I can get.

Christmas season in Florence in 2021

12/7/2021

I am sooooo glad I came. Both flights— to Paris and then to Florence—were not crowded, and on time. I’ve shown my ‘green card’ before entering a restaurant and San Marco museum. People are wearing masks outside as well as inside. In fact there is a mandate to do so in crowds outside.
It is festive here but not too crowded. Tonight the Christmas tree lights at the Duomo will be lit, but I’ll stay away from joining that crowded of onlookers. The F-Light Festival begins on the 12th (F for Firenze). Lights, accompanied by music, reflected on the Ponte Vecchio, San Lorenzo, and S.S.Annunicate.

This morning I slept until 8!!. I stopped for a cappuccino, before going to the La Badia, my favorite prayer church. Another cappuccino before visiting San Marco, the Dominican convent where Fra Angelio painted frescos on each cell wall. It is the first church/museum that I visit upon arriving in Florence. It never disappoints.
Random picture of my first day.

Florence in December

12/2/2021

In December 2016, 2017, and 2018 I joined the Christmas festivities in Florence. A joyful time: craft and food fairs in Piazzas Santa Croce and Santa Maria Novellla; a luminated concert shining on the Ponte Vecchio; and the lighting of the Duomo Christmas tree at 5 PM on December 8th.
And then, alas, Covid kept me away for two years. But not this year. I fly Boston-Paris-Florence on December 5 and return December 17th. The apartment I’ve rented is tucked behind the Uffizi and a few steps away from the Ponte Vecchio. In the morning I will write as I sip a cappuccino at my special cafes; in the afternoon I will visit my favorite churches and museums; in the evenings delicious Italian food will be waiting for me.
Carpe diem.