9 Moments to Remember and 1 Moment to Forget (SOLSC 30/31)

 

Here is a highlight reel of moments from Italy.  Nine moments I want to cement into my brain.  One moment I want to erase from happening.

1. Playing Uno on a patio with our Italian tour guide as the sun slowly drops over the Mediterranean in the distance.
2. Walking out onto a pitch black pier over the Adriatic and watching as a group of teenage boys plunged into the chilly spring waters.
3. Taking a bite of seafood risotto under the fairy lights of a restaurant tucked away in Venice.
4. Tilting my head up to look at ceiling after ceiling with paintings of heaven and briefly remembering what it was like to be in awe of the divine.
5. Sitting outside, sipping wine, and watching a horse drawn carriage move towards a grand basilica.
6. Watching so many people try different ways to support the Pisa tower as it leans precariously—never to fall.
7. Strutting down an alley straight out of a post card and feeling like a model as I get my picture taken.
8. Discovering that there is, in fact, gelato on every corner in many parts of Italy and going for the shorter line.
9. Feeling the chronological dissonance of ancient buildings right next to technology and realizing anything built after the 1600s is “new.”
10. Remembering lines of Shakespeare’s tragedies (of all things) as I wipe the blood from my mother’s hands.  I wish I could wipe the accident that brought forth the blood just as easily.

Better Late (SOLSC 29/31)

 

I was doing so well, but now both Day 29 and Day 28 have slipped through the cracks.  I suppose that is what happens when you travel backwards in time — days go missing.  It’s like luggage at the airport.

Day 28 is gone because there was never time at the airport.  We dashed from one terminal to the next — constantly getting there just as they were boarding.

Day 29 is gone because I didn’t make time for slicing.  I rested and recovered from travel and time changes.

I am posting it late, but I am still posting!

Never Go to Naples (SOLSC 27/31)

 

A poem for my final day in Italy that might go down as one of THE worst days ever.  I don’t have time or the emotional capacity for details so don’t ask right now.

Graffiti all around

and no gelato to be found.

Suddenly my mother hits the ground, 

blood on the pavement abounds!

Swelling up, knot like a small mound.

The ambulance is inbound, 

Italian and English, mixing sounds,

This is a nightmare most profound.

I am now grateful we are tomorrow home bound.

A Religious View (SOLSC 26/31)

 

I am not religious, but I can appreciate religious art.

We stand together beneath a ceiling, bodies pressed together.  All our eyes are wide — trying to take in as much as possible.  No cameras, no video, just you staring up at a ceiling meant to represent our very creation.  The tilt of our heads is probably a slight revenge from Michelangelo who had to paint this ceiling in the most agonizing positions. 

A voice bellows from above.  It is not God, but it booms all the same: Silence.  Respect the silence.

The voices drop once more, but never for long.  Voices whispering in a hundred languages.  I look up in awe and feel myself tear up.

I am not religious, but I can appreciate religious art, especially when it comes to the Sistine chapel.

When in Rome (SOLSC 25/31)

 

As much as I love postcards, they really don’t do anything the justice of what it looks like in person.  I think that has been most true in Rome.

Everything is so much bigger and brighter in person; everything is SO much more crowded.

I have to squeeze through and it is so easy to lose sight of people.  Luckily, despite my own “short” comings we do have some tall people in our group.

The worst spot yesterday was the Trevi Fountain.  I knew we needed to toss some coins in per the myth, but I almost didn’t because of the small mob of people surrounding it.

But my mom plunged in and I knew to follow.  Before I knew it we were directly in front of Neptune and I was digging some coins out of my purse.

One to return.  Two to find love.  I noticed no one threw in the third for marriage.

After we emerged from the crowd, I muttered: “If I return to Rome, it will be through the airport on my way back to Venice!”

Photo Op (SOLSC 24/31)

 

We are constantly stopping for pictures, on the hunt for that next great shot.  I think my favorites are the ones along stairs and in alleys that we come across — they look straight out of a professional shoot.

Yesterday, was one such stop.  We were making our way slowly towards the St. Francis basilica at the top of a hill.  The slow pace was a combination of pictures, shopping and of course gelato.

Groups merged and parted as they passed and eventually my walk with my mom grew into a sizable group of others from our traveling party.  When we stopped for one to take a picture, I suggested that we add a new person into the picture with each taking.  And with each new picture we tried a new pose — these little moments are what make trips like this so fun.

Good Food Day (SOLSC 23/31)

 

I had the best meal of my life yesterday.  

We were wandering down one of the many small side streets of Venice.  Our group had a destination in mind: Librairie Acqua Alta, a book store famous for being below the water line, a set of stairs made of books, and a gondola inside the store also filled with books.  However we were also hungry and on the look out for somewhere to eat on our way.

We turned a corner and as if by magic there was a man dressed in a pressed white shirt and slacks holding a menu.  He stood in front of a passageway lit by fairy lights that led to a court way with set tables.

This was Ristorante da Toto.

We were quickly seated and looking at the menu I knew immediately I wanted sea food while in Venice.  My mom and I each ordered a different dish: risotto and linguine each with a variation of sea food.  Of course, being in Venice, we also got a bottle of wine to share (a local variety of Pinot Grigio).

The risotto was creamy and had large pieces of prawn in the dish — including a large prawn positioned on top as if guarding the plate.

The linguine had strings of zucchini mixed with the pasta, a sprig of mint, and of course the sea food.  All of it coated in a light oily sauce that dripped from each noodle.

Each bite had the perfect balance of pasta and fresh sea food. And while I was worried I would not be able to eat the whole plate at first, it quickly became clear that I would devour every bite.  Mom and I passed the plates back and forth, though I eventually ended up with the risotto more as it was my favorite.

I was completely stuffed by the time we left.