O Sole Mio!

So I’ve been getting bored with my “day in the life of” posts so I have now taken upon myself the task of trying to give you more of a “feel” of Italy…for you to enjoy and also so I can attempt to preserve for myself what I am experiencing here. Here goes take 1!

 

Sunsets have always been one of my most absolute favorite things in this entire world. I live on the edge of a hill and have a lovely view of Utah Lake and the setting sun above it. (secretly I selfishly hope that my dad will never build a house there like he hopes to so I won’t lose that view but…I won’t grudge him work!) But back to sunsets…aren’t they spectacular?! It is such a brief special moment. One minute the sun is there drifting towards the horizon line in all its glory, then the next minute it is suddenly subdued by an explosion of color. The world seems to hold still in silence as you watch the sun sink lower and lower out of sight. The clouds are smeared across the faded blue sky in all shades of blue, red, pink, orange, and purple. They morph and change hues by the second and then in one magical moment it is gone and only the soft solitude of twilight is left. Have you ever just sat and watched the sun set? Not just captured its brilliant moment of color but watched it minute by minute? You should. It happens faster than you think and it is fascinating to see how quickly and subtlety the colors and light change with each second.  Watching sunsets always makes me want to be a painter…but then I know I could never do them justice.

Well watching the sunsets has been a favorite pastime for me here in Italy. Is it just the romance in the Italian air that I am breathing or is the sun setting over the Tuscan hills even more brilliant than usual?

Cinque Terre

View from my window here in Siena

From my favorite look out spot in Siena

 

This sunset has got to be one of the most incredible I have never seen. I walked out of the school this afternoon after a long day of class and could tell that there was something special about the light. The whole city itself seemed to be beaming with a poignant golden glow that evening. I had to restrain myself from sprinting to my favorite lookout spot so I wouldn’t miss the sun setting. I could tell it was going to be a brilliant one. And it was wouldn’t you agree?

So there I stood, resting my elbows on the ancient wall of my city Siena with my eyes locked on the sky for twenty minutes or so. My rapt attention and rare stillness caught many strangers attention. Soon I noticed that I wasn’t alone on the wall, a few locals and tourists alike had noticed my attention, turned their own eyes to the sky and paused to enjoy the sunset with me. I was glad I was able to share my love of sunsets with them and made them pause in their busy days to notice it. Some such pleasures are quite universal I would think.