The Perfect Whim

Verona was a whim. I had a few days free the following month and my restless soul wanted to wander. Without second thoughts I went to the train station, grabbed a copy of the timetable of departing trains, and randomly picked a destination. Except for Juliet’s Balcony, I had no idea what Verona had to offer, but I figured that with Italy I simply cannot go wrong. I love planning and organizing trips but for Verona I did not do any research at all, which was somewhat unnerving for the plan-freak in me. Yet, spontaneity was the word for the day.

After a comfortable train ride, which offered magnificent views of the countryside, I arrived in Verona with absolutely no expectations. Having no clue as to what was hidden in the city, I embarked upon the quest of discovering it. That’s the beauty of going somewhere unknown. I got to discover places instead of spending the whole day looking for them. I got to see something for the first time in actuality as opposed to seeing them for the first time on my computer screen. It heightened the sense of wonder. Every moment and every place became an experience instead of a checklist I needed to tick off.

I wandered the winding streets, spent the early morning hours reading at a quiet piazza, marveled at the painted facades, and savored my pasta while listening to beautiful Italian music in the background. Verona was an understated beauty; a wonderful place to just relax and be. It was a perfect place to soak in the Italian culture and marvel at it’s history without throngs of tourists pushing their way through the streets. It was a place for gelatos, italian cypress trees, and arched bridges. It was a place to get lost in. Now only if all whims led to such perfection, I’d be the most recklessly carefree person in the world.

Thank you for reading!

Go Feel the World

Go  See  Feel the World!

Come to think of it, if you are an avid traveler most of the tourist attractions seem to all become similar. One old European town is like any other, churches all look the same, and the next beach doesn’t differ from the one you went to a few weeks ago. And let’s not get started on museums. Yes, somehow everything just blends into one. Agree? So how do jaded travelers see the beauty of each place? What makes one suspension bridge uniquely different from all other suspension bridges? What makes that medieval castle just as worth visiting as all the others before it? What’s there to see? 

 
I believe it has less to do with actually seeing a place and more with feeling it. When I go to a new country I don’t start comparing it to all the other places I’ve seen. I want to experience it as though I’ve never left my small hometown before. I love those moments when I realize that this is more than just a tourist attraction and I am not just another tourist passively walking through. When I go up the stairs in the Coliseum in Rome, I think about the ancient Romans walking up the exact same steps to see an actual gladiator fight. On these very steps hundred of years ago, history was taking place, and what connects the present to the past are these stairs that so many tread upon and see but do not feel.

One of my favorite sculptures is “Psyché ranimée par la baiser de l’Amour” by Antonio Canova. When I looked at it for the first time I saw beyond Psyche and Cupid. I saw Antonio Canova. I saw the artist bent over his masterpiece. I could almost hear the chiseling of marble and see the sweat on his furrowed brow. I felt his passion.

Then there’s Juliet’s balcony in Verona. A complete anti-climax if I ever saw one. The garden before her balcony is small and crowded with tourists. The beautiful brick walls that in the movie “Letters to Juliet” were stuffed with letters are in reality full of graffiti and bubblegum, and the alleyway leading to the house is narrow and dingy. And yet, I will tell you to go and visit it! Shakespeare lives on in that place as life was breathed into his fictional characters. Looking up at Juliet’s balcony I don’t just recall that tragic love story but I think of how a young English playwright sat in his room weaving a plot with his inky fingers - and what magic he created with words! 

So the next time you visit a country, don’t just see the place and walk on. Make it alive. Connect with it on a personal level; let it speak to you. Then when you go home you can tell your friends that you didn’t just see the world, but you felt it as well.

Thanks for reading!