As I sit here, early on the last Saturday of our stay in Assisi, I listen to the sounds that have become so familiar to me, from the street, inside the apartment. I look out the little window in the kitchen and see framed, a square of darkness that reminds me that the sun has not yet risen and I want to reach outside and stop it from coming up over the top of the mountain so that the day will not start and therefore, its end will come later than it will eventually.
Before coming back to Italy this year, I thought about leaving Italy. I envisioned the day that we would be driving down the hill for the last time, looking at Assisi in a rear-view mirror and feeling like we were leaving home, sadly. I've done this heart-wrenching routine before. I know how it's going to play out. But, for the past four lovely weeks, this, I put out of my mind and allowed myself to absolutely, positively, enjoy each and every minute of the time spent here, up the stairs, at the charming apartment at 16 Via Porta Perlici.
Oh sure, there were "moments". What good, long trip to a country, still after all these times, a foreign one to us, doesn't have those? But, never was there an argument and rarely did we leave each other's side for more than a few moments. We spent our hours together because we wanted to, for the simple reason that everything that we saw or did was that much better because we were together. Fifty years of married life and we still totally enjoy the company of each other, for good or for bad.
Technology has added more than one dimension to our travel life. We have been in touch with friends and family all along the way and a few have told us that they can't wait until we get back so that we can recount stories, show pictures, and "tell us all about it". We know that after five minutes, they all will feel that we've said enough and we know that in a life-time, we could not quantify our experiences to the point where anyone, other than us, would get it.
Who would want to hear about our early morning coffee and our simple housekeeping - sorting our recyclables and listening to the clanging of the endless collections of empty bottles in the back of tiny municipal trash collection trucks? How fascinating could our life without a washing machine be? Trips to the supermarket without a car, wine in backpacks, why, our stories would be the life of the party that abruptly ended were we to go on about such things. Our charming apartment stories would bore anyone who has not spent time in a charming apartment on a tiny cobblestoned street, in a tiny walled hill town in Italy. Trust me.
And trust became a major thread. "Trust me Joe....I know a shortcut.....trust me, I know these people....trust me, you can do it!" "Trust me, Lynn, I am loving every minute and every detail and trust me Lynn, the car will not fit in that space!" and "Trust me, Lynn, I am going to miss all of this...."
So, today is the last of our full days. Today will be spent, hopefully in sunshine. Today, we will finish our packing and we will get out and about for one last time in Assisi. We will say our goodbyes, but not our farewells to our neighborhood friends and to Saint Francis, our dearest friend who apparently slept everywhere. We will have our last slice of the best pizza in existence and maybe even see our last Assisi sunset for a while before a special wine with Nina Halum at her beautiful "Bibenda". We will stop in to hug and kiss our good friend, Pietro at "B.A.T.Assisi", his beautiful shop. We'll thank him for his hospitality and assure him that he is the best landlord and that we will see him again, that we will promise. Seven years of friendship, it's hard to believe.
And, because it is a beautiful day, one more walk in the Bosco and one more fireside lunch at Il Mulino, the magical country osteria that we fortunately discovered early on. We are going to miss the heck out of that whole experience. So will our legs and feet, neither of which let either of us down despite the amount of time we spent walking, hiking and climbing. Thank you God.
As with each and every visit to Assisi, we start and end with time at the Basilica de San Francesco. We take nothing for granted and are thankful for everything. Strength and peace emanate from that site and like a tonic, we rely upon all that is within, before, during and after.
Assisi is addictive. I had a fleeting feeling,early on,that I was "burned out" and it was not long before I realized that Assisi is burned in....to my heart, and always will be.
So, today, we will enjoy and savor every detail and tomorrow we will head off to another part of Umbria for a few days, revisiting a place that is special to us so the drive down the hill will not be quite as painful. At least I'm hoping it won't but the tissues will be in my coat pocket, not in the depth of my huge suitcase.....not far from the real estate brochures.
Ciao Assisi. Grazie tante per tutti.
Before coming back to Italy this year, I thought about leaving Italy. I envisioned the day that we would be driving down the hill for the last time, looking at Assisi in a rear-view mirror and feeling like we were leaving home, sadly. I've done this heart-wrenching routine before. I know how it's going to play out. But, for the past four lovely weeks, this, I put out of my mind and allowed myself to absolutely, positively, enjoy each and every minute of the time spent here, up the stairs, at the charming apartment at 16 Via Porta Perlici.
Oh sure, there were "moments". What good, long trip to a country, still after all these times, a foreign one to us, doesn't have those? But, never was there an argument and rarely did we leave each other's side for more than a few moments. We spent our hours together because we wanted to, for the simple reason that everything that we saw or did was that much better because we were together. Fifty years of married life and we still totally enjoy the company of each other, for good or for bad.
Technology has added more than one dimension to our travel life. We have been in touch with friends and family all along the way and a few have told us that they can't wait until we get back so that we can recount stories, show pictures, and "tell us all about it". We know that after five minutes, they all will feel that we've said enough and we know that in a life-time, we could not quantify our experiences to the point where anyone, other than us, would get it.
Who would want to hear about our early morning coffee and our simple housekeeping - sorting our recyclables and listening to the clanging of the endless collections of empty bottles in the back of tiny municipal trash collection trucks? How fascinating could our life without a washing machine be? Trips to the supermarket without a car, wine in backpacks, why, our stories would be the life of the party that abruptly ended were we to go on about such things. Our charming apartment stories would bore anyone who has not spent time in a charming apartment on a tiny cobblestoned street, in a tiny walled hill town in Italy. Trust me.
And trust became a major thread. "Trust me Joe....I know a shortcut.....trust me, I know these people....trust me, you can do it!" "Trust me, Lynn, I am loving every minute and every detail and trust me Lynn, the car will not fit in that space!" and "Trust me, Lynn, I am going to miss all of this...."
So, today is the last of our full days. Today will be spent, hopefully in sunshine. Today, we will finish our packing and we will get out and about for one last time in Assisi. We will say our goodbyes, but not our farewells to our neighborhood friends and to Saint Francis, our dearest friend who apparently slept everywhere. We will have our last slice of the best pizza in existence and maybe even see our last Assisi sunset for a while before a special wine with Nina Halum at her beautiful "Bibenda". We will stop in to hug and kiss our good friend, Pietro at "B.A.T.Assisi", his beautiful shop. We'll thank him for his hospitality and assure him that he is the best landlord and that we will see him again, that we will promise. Seven years of friendship, it's hard to believe.
And, because it is a beautiful day, one more walk in the Bosco and one more fireside lunch at Il Mulino, the magical country osteria that we fortunately discovered early on. We are going to miss the heck out of that whole experience. So will our legs and feet, neither of which let either of us down despite the amount of time we spent walking, hiking and climbing. Thank you God.
As with each and every visit to Assisi, we start and end with time at the Basilica de San Francesco. We take nothing for granted and are thankful for everything. Strength and peace emanate from that site and like a tonic, we rely upon all that is within, before, during and after.
Assisi is addictive. I had a fleeting feeling,early on,that I was "burned out" and it was not long before I realized that Assisi is burned in....to my heart, and always will be.
So, today, we will enjoy and savor every detail and tomorrow we will head off to another part of Umbria for a few days, revisiting a place that is special to us so the drive down the hill will not be quite as painful. At least I'm hoping it won't but the tissues will be in my coat pocket, not in the depth of my huge suitcase.....not far from the real estate brochures.
Ciao Assisi. Grazie tante per tutti.
No comments:
Post a Comment