R and I got back from Florence at the weekend after a fabulous trip feeling refreshed, revived and inspired, exactly the impact I was hoping for! We spent many a Saturday walking out in the Peak District early last year and, both not natural born midlanders, found ourselves longing for the sea and so we went! It was our first holiday away together and all very exciting. Soon, we got to chatting and musing and declared a mutual desire to go to Florence and so we did. All that within our first two months together!
Our first trip to Florence last year was amazing: we arrived late in the evening and walked to the river wide eyed and mesmerised by all we saw on the way. Every corner turned brought us something spectacular to see and I will never forget laying eyes on the Duomo for the first time. We were very fortunate to have an amazing view over the River Arno from our room at the lovely Hotel Balestri and the whole area felt like photographer's paradise!
The reason for bringing up last year's trip rather than bombarding you with photographs from last week (oh, they'll come don't you worry!) is that it wasn't just a great holiday but our time in Florence really did inspire huge changes in both our lives. Both R and I had been thinking and talking about leaving full time teaching for a variety of reasons but centrally to do what it is we love: create. Then, during a walk in the beautiful Boboli Gardens we enjoyed view after sweeping panoramic view and then noticed some steps up even further to a rose garden with yet greater views. It was on this terrace that I finally made my decision to leave teaching as I was bursting with ideas and inspiration; I even had a name, inspired by the view below and an entertaining conversation with R, Red Shed Art was born!
Clearly anything but a shed on closer inspection but without the 'big' lens it could have been one. So, now, a year on we've been back, have folders of photographs, a growing Italian vocabulary (grammar will have to wait!), sketchbooks filling with ideas and I've got a canvas and some sand to play with this afternoon.
Mille grazie Firenze!
Our first trip to Florence last year was amazing: we arrived late in the evening and walked to the river wide eyed and mesmerised by all we saw on the way. Every corner turned brought us something spectacular to see and I will never forget laying eyes on the Duomo for the first time. We were very fortunate to have an amazing view over the River Arno from our room at the lovely Hotel Balestri and the whole area felt like photographer's paradise!
The reason for bringing up last year's trip rather than bombarding you with photographs from last week (oh, they'll come don't you worry!) is that it wasn't just a great holiday but our time in Florence really did inspire huge changes in both our lives. Both R and I had been thinking and talking about leaving full time teaching for a variety of reasons but centrally to do what it is we love: create. Then, during a walk in the beautiful Boboli Gardens we enjoyed view after sweeping panoramic view and then noticed some steps up even further to a rose garden with yet greater views. It was on this terrace that I finally made my decision to leave teaching as I was bursting with ideas and inspiration; I even had a name, inspired by the view below and an entertaining conversation with R, Red Shed Art was born!
Clearly anything but a shed on closer inspection but without the 'big' lens it could have been one. So, now, a year on we've been back, have folders of photographs, a growing Italian vocabulary (grammar will have to wait!), sketchbooks filling with ideas and I've got a canvas and some sand to play with this afternoon.Mille grazie Firenze!
1 comment:
Oh what stunning photographs
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