"Each moment is a place you've never been."
Mark Strand
My dad was from Sweden and when I was quite young he, my grandfather and uncle took a propellor plane back to their homeland. While there they also spent a few weeks traveling around other parts of Europe.
A few gifts from these far off lands made there way to our home. The tan leather purse that was made of such soft leather it felt like a slowly cooked marshmallow, but without the stickiness. A delicate vase with gold etching, which I managed to break years later while carefully dusting . A cameo bracelet that was so fragile no one ever wore it. And my favorite...the tiny madonna painting that my dad had watched a street vendor paint in Florence.
During college my best friend, Syl, and I took a summer and travelled Europe in the powder blue volkswagen bug we bought at the factory in Germany. Our favorite place was Florence, Italy...we fell in love with a couple Italians and swore it would be our place to return the following summer. But that never happened even though Italian lessons lasted for a few months upon our return and romantic letters were shared for about the same amount of time.
I grew up that summer...became so much more confident in myself...a world traveller.
Not surprising I wanted my children to love Europe like I did.
Bev, been thinking of you and love hearing your stories. I especially like the idea of thinking of a place I really would like Olivia to see. I plan to give this some thought. Thanks for sharing your stories and inspiring me.
Posted by: Nancy Campana | May 16, 2009 at 09:08 AM