I first went to Italy in 1999 during my tenure at the software company, Informix - the firm that first sent me to Europe on business also gave four week sabbaticals after five years of employment. It didn't take me long to decide where to go - and I took off for three weeks in Italy plus a week in Belgium to visit my friend Serge. Back then, there were no laptop computers (yes, I am showing my age), and I took a small notebook with me and wrote about my travels. Today, it's hard to decipher my penmanship. Anyone who knows me well knows that my handwriting is atrocious so I opt for type written words. Maybe it's because my thoughts work faster than my fingers can write.
Today, I was reading parts of what I wrote and what I thought in June of 1999 still holds true today - "I am in love with Florence. It's gorgeous and I want to come back already." Back then, a dear old friend of mine joined me on my days in the city of the Duomo. He was someone I had met nine years earlier at a country and western bar. "If you had told me that the someone I admired nine years go would be with me in Italy," I wrote, "I wouldn't have believed you. In nine years time where will I be next and who will be with me?" Well, I'll be about three years off that number next year when my mom and I visit. I love planning and looking forward to events. Thinking about all that's ahead will get me through the winter. Half the fun of any trip is the planning, the anticipation and the talking about what you'll do. For me, that's a huge chunk of the vacation. And it's an upcoming vacation like this - one where I can show my mom another city that holds a special place in my heart - that makes working and living so worth it.
No comments:
Post a Comment