Coming Back Down to Earth - Slowly!

At last, Liz and I are coming slowly back to "real life" after the
amazing and wonderful time that we spent in Venice. Superlatives are
often abused, but I truly feel that "amazing" and "wonderful" are, far
from being hyperbolic, almost inadequate to describe some of the people,
places and things that we have experienced.

Liz has just called in so that we can have a Venice "fix" for the day - and we both agreed that this visit will be the first of many for me, and a continuation of many for her. I feel that I have at last found my spiritual home - a place where communities are still small and functional, a place where craftsmanship and attention to detail is still appreciated and cultivated, a place where the word "declutter" is not heard but is replaced with interest and  intrigue for the unusual and the beautiful - why, of COURSE I felt completely and utterly at home there!

In the coming days, I will share some of my own journal entries with
you, but for today, I would first like to pay tribute to my travelling
companion, Liz Searby, who made the journey such an enjoyable experience
for me. Not all went well, there were ups and downs, (Literally in my
case, having sustained a bad fall in the middle of the week!), but Liz
responded to them all with grace and fortitude. These Two Ladies of A
Certain Age coped magnificently with the tribulations which did come our
way, and in return we were rewarded with experiences which will last us
a lifetime.

In the pleasures of the week, I could not have asked for a more
delightful companion than Liz. Together we soaked up the joys of opera,
of paintings and architecture, of crumbling old buildings and the
enticing interiors of little grocers and hidden craft workshops. We
found the same things engrossing in a similar way - we *understood* when
the other one gasped or exclaimed in wonder or excitement, and supported
each other when we were tired, exasperated or just plain crotchety (that
was me - Liz doesn't do crotchety!).

You were a true friend and a great companion, Liz - and I thank you most
sincerely for making my week even more special.

It will take a long time for me to start to commit the whole story of
our visit to the page, so for now, can I leave you all with just these
very few of the several hundred photographs which I took, in the hope
that, just for the moment, each picture will speak a thousand words to
you.

Comments

['MN']

Yeaaaaaaaaaaa! They are back. Now come the reports.

Welcome home and thank you for all you have and will share with us.

'MN'

[Darla]

Happy you are home Roz. Love the pictures you have posted so far, especially the one with the hanging laundry. What is it about laundry in photo's taken in Italy? It draws me in every time.

Will be waiting and watching for the next entry.

Darla

[Marie-Noëlle]

I feel so pleased that Venice revealed itself to you both! you had put so much into it - enthusiasm, energy, dreams, preparations,...etc...
So it is GOOD to hear that all came up to your expectations...and more!?!
Thank you for these very first pictures and general impressions.
I, in my armchair, went to Venice through a magazine, "in the wake of Coco Chanel"... An interesting article...

[Britt-Arnhild]

Welcome back Roz. I am reading your blog from "my hotelroom", I seem to live totally in different hotelrooms these days.....though my next travel out of the country will be to Venice, in April :-)

[ardi]

Talk about whetting an appetite! Wow, gorgeous pictures and I loved the comment about a place where clutter isn't a negative...I am eagerly awaiting more of your posts.

[Karla]

I'm so glad you are back. I have been anxious to hear and see all of the details you have to share.

I'm sorry to hear of your fall! Hope you are on the mend.

Thanks for sharing the photos with us. Can't wait for more!

[Sheila]

I will enjoy this travel diary I can tell. Your photos are interesting and entertaining, your descriptions too. The last picture is amazing..A Canaletto on film.