What is not to love about Italy?
Sitting in a bar tonight in Sestri Levante, catching up on e-mail and this blog. My laptop doesn’t catch a good signal back at the hotel. I’m surrounded by the swirl of activity and conversation that is their version of happy hour, which last from around 6 to around 8 or thereabouts.
My goodness, I just love the Italian joy of life. Their mannerisms, their language, their carefree way of living and of course, their food. Back in my homebase of Germany, people are pretty stoic. Italians have an entirely different energy and way of doing things. This is a fantastic country. If you have never been to Italy, you have to go just once in your life. Of course, the problem will be, you’ll be completely enamored with everything and you’ll have to come back again and again.
Yes, there are some difficulties. The traffic, especially in the big cities, is impossible. Parking in the big cities is worse. There is trash everywhere, which is sort of depressing in such a beautiful country. Graffiti, too.
(All people with spray cans in their hands who are not engaged in furniture touch ups should be summarily shot on the spot)
But there is also a timeless energy about. You know that people have lived and worked in these places for ages. Just here in Sestri Levante, you know that this was a small fishing port for 2,000 years before the first tour bus ever arrived. It’s awesome.
Italy. It’s such a short word for a country of many, many fabulous things.
I need to get a Vespa to scoot around Italy!