Standing in the security line at Logan Airport Thursday afternoon, I remarked to Joe that the feelings I used to have at that point, the first step in the departure to Italy, did not feel the same as it used to. I used to be balloon-like, the tiny bits of air entering as I stepped out of the car onto the airport pavement. Now, I enter with the balloon full. I no longer have that kiddie-before-the-party feeling. Kind of sad in a way. But also kind of good because I embark with the wisdom that many previous journeys have conferred and that, that feeling of confidence and bravery is what gets us from Point A to Point B and allows for the rapid shift in attitude and lifestyle that it takes to enter a country and arrive in a small town on the first day of an Italian holiday weekend.
Picture Cape Cod. It's Friday, July third of a very good year. One in which the weather has so far been perfect. See, in your mind, cars, bumper to bumper, all going in the same direction, all at the same time.....and triple it.
The flight over was uneventful. The wait for our car rental agreement to be completed, long and for what reason, I don't know but it always takes a long time to rent a car at the airport in Rome. While I am not a "car" person, I do look forward to the end result and after the wait, to see what kind of Italian, death-defying, quirky car we are getting for the weekend. This time, the wait paid off for Joe in the form of an Alfa Romeo Giulia, the very car he and our son have been sharing sighs over for the past few years. Good thing it's roomy and comfortable. We spent a heck of a lot of time in it yesterday. Again, that picture of the Friday of Fourth of July weekend.
So, throw in the holiday of Festa di Tutti Santi (All Saints - the day after the gruesome celebration of the dead, Halloween), add a bit of olive oil harvest, new wine and chestnuts and the love of a good time, and you can start to imagine how, after hours in traffic getting here, the little town of Assisi was overflowing with celebrants. People and cars, everywhere. This weekend, for the tourist industry in Umbria, is tantamount to Labor Day in the States. After this, the show will be over for a while. After this, the peace and quiet that makes Umbria so inviting to us, will be back. But for now, it's time to join in the celebrations. We're here. We're getting our Assisi legs back. We will need them for this hill town! Joe is thrilled to be a part of the life that I have described for him each time I returned home from my solo stays here. This time, we are once again Two For the Road, no matter how filled those roads, ready and willing to be a part of the action or the tranquility, together. And together, we will be making more memories and remembering that life is a journey, fifty years (almost) together is worth celebrating, and that we have weeks ahead of us that surely will be filled with the stuff that makes it all worth the hours in.
So, we're off to the supermarket today and to a harvest celebration followed by a birthday party.
Andiamo!
Picture Cape Cod. It's Friday, July third of a very good year. One in which the weather has so far been perfect. See, in your mind, cars, bumper to bumper, all going in the same direction, all at the same time.....and triple it.
The flight over was uneventful. The wait for our car rental agreement to be completed, long and for what reason, I don't know but it always takes a long time to rent a car at the airport in Rome. While I am not a "car" person, I do look forward to the end result and after the wait, to see what kind of Italian, death-defying, quirky car we are getting for the weekend. This time, the wait paid off for Joe in the form of an Alfa Romeo Giulia, the very car he and our son have been sharing sighs over for the past few years. Good thing it's roomy and comfortable. We spent a heck of a lot of time in it yesterday. Again, that picture of the Friday of Fourth of July weekend.
So, throw in the holiday of Festa di Tutti Santi (All Saints - the day after the gruesome celebration of the dead, Halloween), add a bit of olive oil harvest, new wine and chestnuts and the love of a good time, and you can start to imagine how, after hours in traffic getting here, the little town of Assisi was overflowing with celebrants. People and cars, everywhere. This weekend, for the tourist industry in Umbria, is tantamount to Labor Day in the States. After this, the show will be over for a while. After this, the peace and quiet that makes Umbria so inviting to us, will be back. But for now, it's time to join in the celebrations. We're here. We're getting our Assisi legs back. We will need them for this hill town! Joe is thrilled to be a part of the life that I have described for him each time I returned home from my solo stays here. This time, we are once again Two For the Road, no matter how filled those roads, ready and willing to be a part of the action or the tranquility, together. And together, we will be making more memories and remembering that life is a journey, fifty years (almost) together is worth celebrating, and that we have weeks ahead of us that surely will be filled with the stuff that makes it all worth the hours in.
So, we're off to the supermarket today and to a harvest celebration followed by a birthday party.
Andiamo!
No comments:
Post a Comment