Thirsty

I'm thirsty. Thirsty for travel and books and knowledge and sights. I've been reading about the Renaissance and I'm hooked on history. I have no idea why I didn't take history in school (secondary school that is - high school for North Americans). In the Irish secondary system, after the Intermediate Certificate exam (which was, after my time, renamed 'Junior Certificate' and may have since been renamed again, I'm out of touch) you (or me, or 'one') studies for the Leaving Certificate, the results of which determine which third level course you gain admission to (if you desire access to, or are lucky enough to have access to, third level education ). I always assumed I would go on University. My parents were both the first generation of their families to go to Uni, they are both big readers, very into education, my Dad is a Uni lecturer and I loved going into work with him. I was a huge bookworm as a child, and have certainly used texts as an escape from my own reality all my life. I'm getting off point aren't I? Anyway, a lot of my swottiness as a teen was focused on science and I took Biology and Chemistry for my Leaving Cert. At that time you picked seven subjects, with Maths, English, Irish, and a modern language being mandatory for Uni admission. I picked Art as my seventh and, though remarkably lacking in the drawing/clay modelling department, I was good at and enjoyed the Art History part.
Thank goodness I did take it because at least some of what I am reading about the Renaissance is at least somewhat familiar. It's painfully little though and I'm realising just how little I know about European history. I should know more, having taken English at University but I suspect I may have spent a large number of crucial lectures in the University bar or canteen playing Gin Rummy and smoking cigarettes. My point being....ah yes, I'm loving it - it feels great to finally put into context those little scraps of information I had stored away in my brain. But it is making my thirsty for more - to revisit works of art I hurried past in Italy when I was only interested in busts of late Republican politicians; to read more about and of Francis Bacon and Michel de Montaigne; to go to Florence; to travel in France; to perhaps even (shock) learn another language. Perhaps I'm infected with the desire to be a Renaissance Woman when I know that, given my snail-like work practices, I will be lucky to manage a fraction of my dreams. Sigh.
I am going to have to switch my focus though, Uni starts in a month and I think I have chosen my courses for the Autumn (Fall) and Winter semesters. I am very very excited about these choices, and will post more about them when the decision is final (I have to run them by the course advisor before I register). I suspect it's going to be busy chez-Georgia come September but pending the revelation of my schedule and the demands of the courses and my TA work, I'm thinking about putting aside half a day each week to devote to reading all of those texts I ignored when I was an Undergraduate because they were showing Billy Connolly videos in the bar. I'm compiling a reading list for myself at the moment. If you have any suggestions for texts (prose, poetry, fiction, non-fiction...) that you've found particularly significant, I'd love to hear them.