Fammi una domanda May 2024
What makes you stop & say wow?
People ask me all the time. Aren’t you going to get tired of Venice? My response. I don’t think so. The inspiration for my answer to this question is my pal Diane. She is a ray of sunshine. She has lived in Venice for most of her adult life and she still stops and gasps at the color of the glass in the streetlights or the light on the lagoon. She often sends me a picture. I never. Ever, got tired of seeing the Colosseum or the Pantheon or the view over the Forum from the top of the Campidolgio. Apparently experiencing awe is good for you. Maybe even crucial.1
I have lived in Italy going on 20 years and while I focus on the wonderful things about life here in this newsletter I am not completely starry eyed. We have fog and strikes and days when the city is so busy that I have to turn around and just go back home. It took a year to buy our house and right now it feels like it will take longer than that until I am finally sleeping in my bed on not on a mattress on the floor. Bureaucracy is bureaucracy. Maybe there is more of it here in Italy? But everyone has some dull administrative task like renewing their drivers license or dealing with an insurance claim. My tedious tasks usually happen to have better views. I admit, it makes my awe walks kind of feel like cheating but really anyone can do it, anywhere.
Were you somewhere to catch the solar storm? Talk about inspiring awe! Tell me about the place that makes you stop in your tracks.
Remember this is your chance to ask me your Italy and travel questions. What are your summer plans? I am hoping to be in Ponza soon. I can make plans as soon as the plumber answers his phone.