The Final Celebration

Well, it had to come to an end sometime. Our last classes met on Monday, April 30 (other than the Italian class, which would meet on May 2), and Tuesday, May 1, was yet another national holiday. Italians love their holidays! So we decided to use this holiday for our final faculty get-together at Toni’s villa. This would be the last chance for all of us to get together. Toni and Coley were leaving the next day for Prague. Rebecca and her girls were flying back with the students on Friday. And Bob and Joan and Lanny and Jane were going to continue touring through Europe, both couples also departing Friday.

Before we went to Toni's, though, Rebecca, Leia, Keira, and Janet came over to my apartment. Surprisingly, Rebecca and the girls had not yet seen it. It was about time! We went up to my rooftop terrace to enjoy the views and good conversation. At first the sun was shining brightly, so much that we kept trying to maneuver our chairs to get out of it. And then suddenly dark clouds started rolling in, making Florence’s monuments look even more impressive.

We eventually felt a few drops and headed inside, where Leia took up a regal perch on my stairs.

All of a sudden we realized that we were late to get to Toni’s. We were supposed to be there a 6:00, and it was already 6:10. How time flies! We grabbed our things—we had all been assigned a dish to bring to dinner—and went out to try to get a taxi, which is always a challenge in Florence. We finally found one, but he would take only four of us, so Janet, Keira, and I hopped in with all the food, and Rebecca and Leia walked.

When we arrived at Toni’s, Coley immediately offered us our choice of drink, which he had laid out on a big table next to the door to the terrace. Coley looks right at home on this terrace, doesn’t he? I have a feeling he’s going to miss his Florence home!

One of the highlights of the evening was meeting Bob’s wife, Joan Frank, for the first time. We had heard so much about here, and she had finally arrived. Bob looks quite happy, doesn’t he? Joan is a writer, and her most recent novel has just been published. Congratulations, Joan!

After our before-dinner drinks, we moved downstairs to the kitchen and dining area for dinner. Toni dished up big plates of mushroom risotto, and there were all kinds of other goodies to go along with it.

After the main course, it was time for salad. (We’ve learned to do this the Italian way!) Bob put on quite a show of tossing that salad, complete with a French accent, and it was divine!

After salad we had some dessert, Vin Santo, and Toni’s favorite, limoncello. (We hear that Danny DeVito loves this stuff too!)

And then it was time for Uno, and quite an exuberant game of Uno at that, complete with some card peeking, careful concentration, and raucous laughter. It seemed as if we played that one game for hours, and do you know that we never finished it. (I’m sure I would have won eventually!)

It was getting late, and people started to say their goodbyes. Coley went up to bed, and Lanny and Jane and Bob and Joan all headed off to their apartments. Those of us who remained, though, decided that we needed one last look of the Florence skyline at night from the hill on Toni’s property.

It was after midnight and pitch dark. Toni, Janet, Rebecca, Leia, Keira, and I made our way slowly up the hill, grabbing on to one another as needed. Toni led the way, the rest of feeling blind on the unfamiliar ground. We finally reached the clearing at the top of the old Roman road, and there was Florence, her lights twinkling against the dark sky, looking like a piece of heaven.

And if this weren’t magical enough—fireflies! Suddenly, the air was filled with fireflies! Leia and Keira went on a mission to capture a few, and some even crawled on their arms. I can’t recall the last time I saw fireflies, and I’ve never seen so many of them in one place. It was as if we had walked into some brilliant dream. Truly, there could have been no more miraculous ending for our final faculty celebration.