Song of the day: Celebration by Kool & the Gang.
Last year at this time, I was exhausted beyond words at a hotel in Jamaica, the New York City variety, not the Island variety. Our flight back from Shannon had been delayed and we found ourselves stuck on a runway while our connecting flight to Pittsburgh was soaring into the air.
This year, we had incredible flight luck, and my luggage somehow made it back entirely intact. (I still am completely amazed at how I have yet to lose a single piece of luggage in my travels. And if you know me, you know that I pack my luggage to full and overflowing.)
I’ve become rather desensitized to the heft of traveling. If it takes me two days to get there, it takes me two days to get there. I rather like traveling, really. I like the anticipation of getting where I’m going, and I absolutely love flying. I love looking out the window and seeing the little word, all tilt-shifted, nestled below me.
This travel day was simple and seemed short. I slept for so long on the plane that I only watched one movie (one!!!!) and even though it made me have a bad dream about neglecting the little girl that I nannied last year, it was a truly moving film that made me violently cry to myself under the flimsy blue, complementary airline blanket.
Italy was nothing that I expected it to be. The food was hit or miss, the people were the opposite of inviting, and you had to travel outside each city to search for those beautiful views. But they were so rich in history, in architecture, and most importantly, in cheese.
I don’t know if I’ll ever go back. It’s certainly something I’ve checked off my list, but I’m not saving up for my next flight back to Rome. Maybe one day I’ll find myself in Florence, looking at the poppies.