Family Visits - Weeks 8 & 9

My apologies for my absence but I decided it would be easier to combine both of these weeks. Plus I just wanted a break. My midterms went really well! Well, they felt like they did, I won't actually get my grade until my classes this coming week. What was really great though was the break that followed. Because I only have class 3 days a week, I basically had a 1 1/2 week Fall break. So I began that break by flying up to London to visit My uncle AG and his family. Fun fact, the last time I went out of the country was right before Covid began and it was when I took a trip after Christmas to see my Uncle AG in London and my Aunt Hannah in France. So I did that trip again, just by myself this time.

London was great, the weather was very nice and it wasn't too rainy while I was there. I managed to head over to the Tate Modern Art Museum on Friday and spent a good part of my day there. There was an amazing projected light exhibition done by Anthony McCall called Solid Light. I swear I could have spent hours in that room. I did venture around the rest of the museum too of course. I got to see some great works in there. I did also get the chance to give a short explanation to a lady about Klein Blue (a painting that is just one shade of blue). She was completely bewildered and it gave me a good laugh. Saturday was definitely fun. Since the kiddos were out of school we all took a trip to the Portabello Road Market together. It was crazy seeing the kids so grown up, it really pushed how long it had been since I had seen them. Though my time in London was short I had a lot of fun. I did some quick sightseeing the next morning then hopped on a train to go to France.

I don't think I will ever get over how beautiful the Rhone Valley is. I'm happy I got to see it in the fall rather than the middle of winter. there was so much color and life still. Plus it was so nice out all week that we ate lunch outside nearly every day. Monday was a day of food. Aunt Hannah and I spent hours in the kitchen preparing dinner and dessert for that night since my cousins were coming over for dinner. We spent a lot of time on food this week actually, not that I have a problem with that though because it was all absolutely delicious. Tuesday was a calmer day but I did have fun singing with the local choir that Aunt Hannah set up. I only sang the songs I knew though. Wednesday was spent in Lyon. I didn't bring my camera with me that day so enjoy phone photos. They have a fine arts museum there that has tons of great stuff that ranged from Ancient Egypt to the early 2000's. We spent a few hours there just wandering around. I got to see a very early Van Gogh! there were many other pieces that I enjoyed as well. Thursday we went to Chambery and wandered around. Aunt Hannah has a tradition of taking a photo of her nieces and nephews in front of the elephant fountain whenever they visit so of course we had to do that. Had a crepe which was delicious! I took a lot of fun photos there that day. Friday was a lot slower. We were both tired and decided that we would go for a walk on a nature trail then just relax for the rest of the day before going out that evening.

The journey back on Saturday was long but oh-so beautiful. I rode trains through the Swiss Alps and it was misty/cloudy for most of the time. I want to do it again. Now I'm back in Florence and trying to get ready to get back into the swing of things then welcome my family to Italy on Thursday!

-Kit

Fashion Photo Midterm

Week 9

Week 8