Monday 16 May 2011

MissM : update

MrsM
Hello!
Where are you at the moment?


MissM
I'm sitting outside the Duomo.

MrsM
What is your flat like?

MissM
It is perfect...
it has high ceilings
and a little courtyard to sit in
and it is just by the Ponte Vecchio.


MrsM
What are you doing today?

MissM
This morning we went to the Brancacci Chapel
and this afternoon we sat in the Boboli Gardens.
This evening I am going to cook supper
with friends who are living near the Duomo.
We bought all the food at the covered market.


MrsM
It sounds as though you are having fun.

MissM
I am!
Guess what...tell Daddy that there is
an ice cream festival next weekend.


MrsM puts the phone down
and looks at MrM.

MrM
Fire up the laptop...
we are going to Florence next weekend
and I need to book flights.


*****

Photo by MissM using mobile phone.
I think that it has a lovely Impressionist feel
.

23 comments:

  1. how lovely. I thought the picture was a painting...

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  2. It's not fair that it is so easy for you to hopskipjump there.
    Tis a shame you are all so dear, else I'd be envious.

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  3. Blackbird is clearly a better person than I. You have succeeded completely in jealousing me.

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  4. Rude not to. Coffee ice cream with candied walnuts?

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  5. This post just charmed the socks off of my husband. One doting daddy appreciating another.

    (Say hi to David for me.)

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  6. Well, this had certainly helped me make up my mind about certain important decisions!

    Have a lovely time :-)

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  7. I swear if I weren't chained here next Sunday I'd be there picking you up at the airport.
    Firenze is one magnificent place to live.
    That photo IS a painting.

    PS Any chance you could stretch down here?

    PPS I try ... I always try ...

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  8. How wonderful! Not the least bit envious, of course!

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  9. MrsM is already fluent in Italian ice cream flavours which is an advantage for this trip.

    MissM is busy getting up to the same standard

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  10. Oh, I thought that WAS a painting! Lovely.

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  11. I think it is your duty to take with you a huge battery driven fridge - if they do not exist they should.

    Bring back plenty of supplies then throw a party. Sorted!

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  12. Oooh an ice cream festival! In Italy! I am indeed envious... K x

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  13. One should always act on impulse when ice cream is involved.

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  14. I looked at the bottom of your post to see who the artist was - well done MissM on your photography skills - enjoy the ice cream Mr & MrsM

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  15. Please can we come too?

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  16. I suppose both you and Mr.M have realised that you will need to be sampling ice-cream for all of us. Good, just checking. And to work it all off you could climb to the top of The Duomo. There is a tiny oriel window nearly at the top that makes the climb worth it.

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  17. How debonair of you both. Please check the tutti frutti for me. (That photo is worth printing.)

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  18. Seriously. i thought it was a painting...and wondered why you forgot to add the credits...but then you did! Lovely!

    And i do love people who drop everything to fly off to an Italian ice cream festival! These are the things worth saving ourselves for ;^)

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  19. When I stayed in Florence after my A levels we thought we were experiencing the height of luxury by camping on a site that served cappuccinos.

    You've ruined it all now with a courtyarded flat.

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  20. AnonymousMay 16, 2011

    apparently there is a recognised medical complaint called Stendhal Syndrome ...

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  21. AnonymousMay 16, 2011

    this would help - thank you, Wikipedia:

    Stendhal syndrome, Stendhal's syndrome, hyperkulturemia, or Florence syndrome is a psychosomatic illness that causes rapid heartbeat, dizziness, fainting, confusion and even hallucinations when an individual is exposed to art, usually when the art is particularly beautiful or a large amount of art is in a single place. The term can also be used to describe a similar reaction to a surfeit of choice in other circumstances, e.g. when confronted with immense beauty in the natural world.


    The illness is named after the famous 19th century French author Stendhal (pseudonym of Henri-Marie Beyle), who described his experience with the phenomenon during his 1817 visit to Florence in his book Naples and Florence: A Journey from Milan to Reggio.

    Although there are many descriptions of people becoming dizzy and fainting while taking in Florentine art, especially at the Uffizi, dating from the early 19th century on, the syndrome was only named in 1979, when it was described by Italian psychiatrist Graziella Magherini, who observed and described more than 100 similar cases among tourists and visitors in Florence.

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  22. zuppa inglese always strikes me as a rather eclectic gelato. May well have to renew acquaintance

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Thank you! I love reading your comments and even though I don't always have time to reply I am really grateful to every one who joins in the conversation.