I laid everything out the night before, and when I woke at 6:30 it was raining. Cold.




Paolo came outside the apartment at km 38 to take my photo. He looked very clean and well rested. How I managed to be grinning in this photo I have no idea. I was somewhere between delirium, relief (at being so close to the end, and seeing someone who, if I'd really wanted him to, could have taken me home) and pride.










Oh, this was a nice moment! Seconds from being able to stop running, I sprinted to the end, determined to get in under 4 hours and 20 min. I'd made a bet with Paolo that I could. He said he'd buy me a real live Christmas tree if I did...


















And if you can read those little numbers... I want my tree!!!

Sweden

Hiking in Northern Sweden

At the start of the five day hike, looking down into the Bothian Sea


I swam here. Well, as long as you call being in freezing cold water for about 5 seconds swimming...



The skies were always so blue and the sea looked like a lake.

My new neighbor

Dana, Marcella, Mariane and I on the boat off the Isola d'Elba this past weekend. Have I mentioned that life is good at the moment?

Her mission, if she chooses to accept, is to penetrate the small town of Manorola, spend all day in the water and sun, read as many books as possible, get a tan, and become a much happier, more relaxed version of her former self. She has four days to complete her mission at which point she will return to Florence, with the intention of spending much, much more time in Cinque Terre.

This message will self-destruct in five... four... three...

My cousin Jessica came to visit for the day. Of course, on the day she and her friends come to town, all Florence museums call a mandatory staff meeting and close all exhibits for the morning. We walked up to the Piazzale Michelangelo instead, had coffee and pastries at my local cafe and ate gelato in a famous gelataria... all before the Academia opened and she could meet David.