There was the old man who wandered along behind me for a time, whispering 'Bella' and making me smile. I wasn't sure he was talking of me until I stopped to buy something and came out to find he had caught up and there was the whisper again, 'Bella ...'
Having just become one year older, I feel of an age to appreciate all compliments that drift my way, no matter how ancient the man or how infirm the mind ;)
Then I looked up as I strolled through a Genovese streets two nights ago and saw 'I heart' and then 'Genova' and the lights exploded into a cascade of colours on a huge illuminated sign that captured my feelings about this city precisely.
I love Genova, she writes quietly, hoping nobody minds this excess.
There are so many small things that make me smile as I wander these streets without language ...
Meanwhile this internet cafe has become something of a second home, as I check here for emails I'm sometimes urgently requiring to plan my life here.
Ciao.
7 comments:
i love the cadence of this post, you sound at peace and enjoying the role of observer in a new place.
Hope you had a fabulous birthday :)
ciao bella ;-)
i know the feeling so well. being lost & in love with a new place. glad to hear you had a nice bithday. and happy birthday, btw, hurray!
I wandered over to your blog from Paris Parfait's some time ago and now feel compelled to tell you that I think the old man whispering 'Bella' was perhaps Genova's way of telling you it loves you back!
Observer is my happiest place, Van. I'm glad it's come through here.
I did, Michelle. Grazie! :)
Ciao bella kompostella :) Thanks for your birthday wishes.
Hi Barbara, it was lovely to find you here and your comment, well it will leave me smiling for days, I am sure of it. Thank you!
"There are so many small things that make me smile as I wander these streets without language..."
Love that...reminding me as it does of the first time, having split up with the friends I'd been traveling with, that I found myself in a foreign country all by myself, in a little village where nobody spoke English...and how strangely liberating that was...to be free, in a sense, of words....
And now, speaking of words, the "Word Verification" below is "lesubust"...which could mean a whole bunch of things...
Yogaforcynics, sorry about the word verification ... they destroy me on my bad days.
And yes, it's liberating once you accept that language is gone. I fought it a little at first but I've relaxed into now and I'm enjoying it.
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