Relief and anticipation

Another sequence of days full of not a lot........ although I did run away, as threatened, at the beginning of the week to Stratford where I saw Antony Sher in "The Tempest", an interesting production would be the most charitable I can manage. Not sure Shakespeare envisaged the political problems of South Africa as a working analogy, it would probably help if I had an ear for accents or they had gone for surtitles too. OK I am a Philistine. Then I went and stroked things at Bicester, but kept my card in my bag - yay for me and on to Oxford where I had fantasies about quads, groves of academe and ivory towers, so actually it was a perfect couple of days, culture and Mammon. (Although no naked cowboys)

One of the positive points of being a bit older is that often ones children are too. Having read and appreciated the slightly "eyes on stalks/stir crazy" combo that half term engenders amongst bloggers I was quite relieved that mine are past the stage of needing entertaining, now they just need financing ! Girlchild spent the week in London (advanced crayoning aka geography is obviously not a strong point for her - London actually means St Albans, Rochester and Brighton)visiting friends and helping with the balance of payments, and has come back rapturising about the joys of YHA. She stayed in a new hostel in Central London, and if she is to be believed it was better than home ! (Being a jaded teenager myself once, I do remember that anywhere is) The boy meanwhile plods along at Hull, all agog for the game of the year due out on the 4th of March - no doubt there are others that will be in the running for that title but atm I am on standby to get something from somewhere - sorry boy, wasn't listening........

Tomorrow, courtesy Ryanair, "no you can't take luggage, check in, weigh more than....... or even eat" without paying subsidies I am off to Florence (via Pisa) to pay due tribute to the artistic greats and practice Italian. I have advance booked my ticket for the Uffizi, which means of course there will be no queues anywhere, so it will have been an exercise in futility, but actually I don't care, it means I will have more time to eat cakes on behalf of Katyboo (Thank you for the excuse !)

I will also be going to the Bargello to say hello to David by Donatello - so much nicer than Michelangelos, and so naughty - look closely at the picture at the top, admire the young mans enigmatic smile and observe the feather on Goliaths headdress tracing its way up his thigh - provocative, oh I think so . Then there is the obligatory sensory overload in the Medici Palace chapel by Gozzoli. If my jewellery case isn't going to be full of luscious bling (which I promise you, it never will be) at least I can go and stand in this tiny room and pretend that I am actually in a jewel box.

There will, of course, be the necessary and expected trips to bars, trattoria and gelateria, but I deliberately didn't bother mentioning them because it would be unfair, and besides you know I am temperate if not Puritanical, so will only do it for research purposes............. (excuse me while I just go and file my nose, it seems to have grown somewhat)