Actually, we can't see the Duomo from our apartment, we can see see San Lorenzo. I mean, if you just step outside and walk a few feet we can see it, then walk a few more and we're at it, so it's not a big deal. And actually, I should have titled this I can see my house from the Duomo! Beacause we could see where we lived from the TOP of the Duomo when we climbed it on Friday.
It was 460+ steps up, through small, winding halls and twisted steep stairways. It was amazing though. The actual climb was scary (and even scarier on the way down!), but it was also fascinating. There was tons of graffiti on the walls, tons of chips and scuffs and markings...the more we climbed the more I became aware of how old this place was, and how many people had walked through here. By the time I emerged at the top, into the warm sunlight, I could feel the history around me. As I stood and looked out over the red and brown city beneath me, with the tiny people below, I couldn't help but smile-everything was so beautiful that I felt beautiful as well, just being a small part of all of it. The dome is so huge and vast that it casts a large shadow of the city, and it was exciting to think that for that hour that I was up there, I was a teeny part of that shadow.
One of the coolest things about the whole experience is that before you go up into the dome you get to walk inside at the base of mural. We could see the giant sweeping brushstrokes, so close if we just reached up we could touch the painting. The deamons faces were huge above us, all twisted and gnarly (being that we were at the base of the mural, we were level with Hell. perhaps that was intentional?). I must say, the whole experience is etched within me now, much in the same way Stonehenge is.
I love and miss you all
Emily
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