Bella Italia and solo musings

Italia!  I’m currently in Riomaggiore, getting ready to do a mini Cinque Terre hike, which I’ll do in full with Leslie tomorrow.  So far Italy has been beautiful and very serene, although with very little Italian at my disposal (except, oddly, what I learned during Amadeus, which is useless to me.  Unless I want to ask Mozart’s ghost to pardon me…), I am struggling to be understood.  Some people know french, which is helpful, but otherwise, I smile and point.  Still, it is a beautiful town in a beautiful country, and the crashing waves and tiered hills and pink and yellow houses are charming me to no end, despite my fear that I would be underwhelmed after all the hype. 

I took a nice walk last night, up near the tiered grape arbors, and met a sweet girl from Norway who was a theatre director and creative drama teacher (!), and spoke excellent English.  We hung out all night swapping stories and ideas, and I now have a couch in Trondheim (and she in Evanston), should I ever need it.  I love meeting people like this, and I love traveling alone because it allows me to meet these people and spend as much (or as little!) time as I like with them (Except when I’m too polite, as with the sychopant in Amsterdam!). 

In fact, despite the pitfalls and confusion and general stress that comes from traveling solo, and from undertaking a journey without a clear program or reward, I feel I have learned more about the world, myself, my art, and the importance of things than I could ever have imagined.  Already I’m excited to jump into the new school year in September with new ideas and a new outlook, ready to work.  Unstructured time is good for a overcommited gal like me, I think, and after conquering Europe (ha) this summer, I look forward to returning to favorite places and trying my traveling skills in new countries and continents in the future. 

Now back to my walking (working off all that gelato! ), and then tomorrow I get to see Leslie!  It should be a blast, and I’m excited to see Firenze through her eyes. 

Ciao, bella!