A brief update from what has been the most amazing holiday so far.
Florence is just gorgeous, the buildings, the river, the streets, the food. Everything is so beautiful, and so
Italian , I love it.
Thank you all for your recommendations, it's never possible to visit everything, especially since we only had one full day there and two half days. But Beth, we went to your restaurant and loved it, very reasonably priced too and splendid location (splendid? Sounding really posh these days).
We walked around the city for hours, eating ice creams, nipping into little shops and markets. We spent time by the gorgeous river Arno, and the bridges across it and just generally had a lovely time.
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They were all out of beer again
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We planned to visit the Uffizi and all that cultural stuff on the third day before our train at 3, but without buying tickets in advance, we found queues over an hour long for every major place and getting in impossible. We'll know for next time.
We caught our train south by a matter of seconds, and met my Dad in the tiny 'Borgo a Mozzano' train station at around 5pm. He drove us up the extremely windy mountain roads and into the hidden tiny village of San Romano. There is one other village in sight in this mountain range, which is just miles and miles of lush green forests with the odd lake.
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It is my 4th time in this particular villa, and the 5th consecutive year my Dad has rented it out. It's absolute serenity. So peaceful and beautiful. No people, no noises, no cars, no phones or computers. I haven't actually had this much peace and quiet since I was last here two years ago.
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He is with his partner, her brother, and a friend from his Eton school days Harry (writes "the slow lane" in the Sunday FT of anyone reads that!) and his partner.
Victoria excelled herself in the "girlfriend" role and I'm pretty sure my dad "approves"
. Everyone seemed to get on well. She cooked us all dinner one night and she was an absolute star all round. I had my current affairs brushed up on, something you miss out on with in nandos with the boys in Nottingham. Not that I mind at all, I don't follow any of that stuff so couldn't really join in at all, but it was nice to listen to and listen to my Dad and Harry debate left vs right like they must've done for all 43 years of their friendship!
Victoria was keen to learn the game that has taken over my life over the last few months so I taught her the rules of open face Chinese.
Fred would not approve of this set - girls got no gamble!
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She soon found out how good I run...
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This all sounds very lovely and normal doesn't it? Such a far cry away from life in Nottingham. But the truth is I can't say that I am able to totally switch off from all that. It's great to feel normal, spend time with family, a beautiful girl, to wake up at 9 and go to bed at midnight - but I still have the demons in my head, wondering when I can next play OFC or counting down the days until the next chance for a big tournament score.
Any spare few minutes, perhaps when Victoria was getting ready, or if she went to the bathroom at dinner- I can't just sit there and do nothing- I am on my phone taking my OFC turn or checking blonde or something. It feels incredibly degenerate sometimes.
It's a blessing and a curse - to have many things in your life you love, but that some are so addictive or obsessing that you can't forget about them, even for a day in paradise.
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