The Blogging Life ...

I just finished talking on the phone with Alex, someone who felt like an old friend after more than a few months spent checking in over at his blog titled: Blog from Italy, a truly interesting read if you're curious about an expat life here in Italy.

My blogging location is interesting ... I have an English-speaking tour guide doing her thing over to my right and workmen setting up for a big science expo here in Palazzo Ducale. I discovered a free wifi hotspot at Mentelocale Cafe & Restaurant inside the palazzo but I'm not sure how I feel about being in such a grand public space ... kind of small actually, in this huge reception area with arched ceilings and marble pillars.

Today needs to be about organising and creating a life here. I have photographs to work on and food to buy for the cupboards. You see, I have been perched like the worst kind of cliche bachelor here in this new world, so busy taking everything in that I completely forgot about life inside, beyond the kitchen/work table and the bed ... the bed that is covered in books, notebooks, with a space for the laptop and a huge box of tissues, cough lollies, the sparkling water and my mp3 player.

If, even last year, anyone had predicted that I would spend this birthday alone in Genova, wandering the city and working on interviews, I would have known that they were insane ... which just goes to show, you can never predict how your life will turn out unless of course, you're incredibly self-disciplined and very grown-up about career choices ... and perhaps not even then.

Ciao from one of the most beautiful cities in Italy.

I took today's photograph yesterday, from a coastal path in a place called Nervi. I almost cried when I saw the sea again ... it's been far too long.