It has taken me nearly four months, but I’ve finally uploaded a good selection from our trip through Italy in August. I’ve got to say that Italy is one of the best countries in the world. If all you had was a few weeks to explore Europe, GO TO ITALY. The history, the scenery, the weather and the food will make for a life changing holiday. I love it so much that I have decided I’m going to live there for a while – it’s only a matter of when and for how long. =)
Oh la dolce vida!
Dear Argentina,
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love you for your beauty: the ragged, raw, realness of your bittersweet glamour, your happy-tragic history, your painted walls and crackling curb sides. I love your Figuero Alcorta grandeur, ancient purple-blossom trees, French architecture, green parks of happy spoiled dogs.
I love you for your barrios: your rooftop cafes, your bodégans, your fresh quiet Belgrano streets. I love your crazy beautiful thunderstorms observed from sheltered coffee shops in quiet Palermo squares. I love your corner bakery shops, your fruit stands, your peluquerias bursting with banter and gossip.
I love the sing-song of your tongue: the rrrrolling of your r’s, the rrrounded echoes of your vowels, your ‘sha’ sounds and ‘yah’ sounds. I am tongue-tied and twisted in your Castellano, its Italian rhythms, its novelty, its foreign and familiar shapes and sounds.
I love the richness of your cuisine: your coco medialunas, your maté cocido with honey sweetness, your buttery steaks and crisp milanesa de pollos. I love your simple meals in small family kitchens with fresh tomatoes and olive oils and warm teas.
I love your helados delivery: the dulce de leche gustos in all incarnations con almendras y nuez y granizadas, los mentas, los frutillas, los bananas y ananas, and yes, maybe even the sambayon. I love the Freddos, and the Voltas, the Persiccos and the Ghianellis. I love the magic of everyday ice cream, of everyday celebrations, of everyday delights just because.
I love your leisure: your after-office-till-4am Wednesday parties, your long drawn out dinners, your sweet aired wines, your street-side eateries. I love your siestas and long lunches, your at-home dinners with friends till midnight, your coffee times and meriendas. I love that days are lived full and long, late into the night.
I love your tango: its slow, sweet, hard curves and sounds, its turn-abouts and swing-abouts, its push and pull, give and tease. I love that it ignites a fire inside me so raw and real and physical, not of mind or heart: just body and dance and movement.
I love your people: their deep friendships and close ties, their Sunday meals with family, their love for children, their anchors with home. I love that grown men caress their grandmothers, that sisters kiss their brothers, that fathers embrace their sons, that touch and love and affection are infinite and insatiable. I love their stories and gripes, their strong opinions and lofty dreams. I love that they love to love.
I love you: for the gifts that you have given in the last 50+ days, for the space and time and freedom that you’ve granted, for the creativity that you’ve inspired, for the love that you’ve nurtured, for the perspective that you’ve shown. I love that you were once a dream, a lofty faraway dream, that then turned to reality: you literally have been what dreams are made of.
Dear Argentina, this sweet slow dance that we’ve shared has only just begun.
I think travel makes you age faster. I can’t imagine sustaining this type of lifestyle for very long. EZE to JFK. Now waiting for my flight to SFO. No sleep, freezing cold (oh yah! it’s winter in North America) and no appetite. I’m sniffly, I’m tired and they don’t have unlimited access WIFI in this airport. =( And three days from now, I will be back on a trans-Pacific flight to Osaka Japan and then to Manila. My. body. hates. me.
Will write more about the wonderful, amazing, magical 7 weeks in Argentina very soon. So much to say, not enough words to say it all! I miss the quilombo already. =)
