Sitting here in Napoli Italy I can feel the ache in my left knee. That is something different about traveling at 53 as compared to 23. Some of the differences are in me and some in the world around me. Some things do not change (at least not much).
I can’t say whether I enjoy traveling more now or then, probably then. The world was so new. It was my first time abroad, my first time in Rome and Paris and Barcelona and Vienna and…… Last week was likely something like my twelfth time in Rome. I have even been there on business before. I can still walk around aimlessly all through the city without an agenda. It is still my favorite thing to do there.
I used to go into St. Peter’s Basilica several times a day when visiting Rome (Vatican City). Then nine-eleven happened. Now there are massive lines to get through metal detectors. Shame on us all. This time I purposely headed over there upon waking up early on a Tuesday morning. I got through security in under five minutes. The lines in the afternoon look easily to be over an hour long. I couldn’t find the tomb of Pope John Paul II this time….it used to be easy to spot. Did they move his tomb? I somehow doubt it.
I wisely got the audio guide this time for the vatican museum, it really added to the experience. Sometimes wisdom comes in handy. I was struck several times in Rome that this could be my final time here. I might decide to not return for any of a number of reasons, or the universe could decide for me. I still really enjoy how I feel in Rome. I feel small. I am unimportant and transient. I know this at my core. You are too, don’t kid yourself. Those millenia-old buildings help us remember this. It is important to remember this.
Technology, what a cruel friend. You make some things so much richer and easier and other things you veil for ever. I will be in Venice for the first time with GPS here in a few weeks. I anticipate getting lost much less frequently this time as compared to thirty years ago armed only with a crappy map of the city that they handed out at the train station. We all had the same map. We all used the same “Let’s Go Europe” book to direct us around the new ancient cities. Well, actually I purposely had a “Lonely Planet Europe” in the hopes that it would lead me to slightly different places. I think it did. I guess I had the buds of wisdom forming even back then 🙂
Loneliness. Still an unwelcome companion for me when traveling alone. For someone dependent on several regular daily hugs each and every day (sorry Jacqueline, at least I think you enjoy them?) going largely cold turkey is painful, especially in such a place as Italy where everyone seems so effusively emotive. Can’t I just get a hug? I steal them here and there. The host lady (a retired teacher named Laura) gave me two hugs. I got to see my best friend of forty years last week who now lives in Napoli. That is new, I had no forty-year friendships at 23. I get to see him again tomorrow. Fair warning, you are going to get several hugs whether or not you like it!
But on this trip I will (did) get to see my dear friend here in Italy and then plan to see several in Germany where we lived 25 years ago and even a friend in Paris. That is new. I knew no one in Europe when I was 23. I have learned that we can derive similar benefits from hugging ourselves as if we were hugging someone else. That is a new tool in my toolbox. I use it daily now. My toolbox for self-care is extensive at 53 compared to 23. Much of which I share in these posts. More later, tune in again in two weeks! Off to get water from the store while dodging dog-poop. Some things are eternal 😂.
