I cannot but start my Italy travel story with Hemingway’s widely known quote „Never go on trips with anyone you do not love”. One of the greatest things about Hemingway is that he speaks from personal experience thus telling things so simple and so true. So when I headed for Milan, it was to see a person very dear to me. Our friendship has survived time and distance and still has us getting on planes to each other. When you don’t get on the plane on your first 
attempt, and the flight is postponed you always take it as a warning…and as an invitation to drink. For me Jack was in order. Airports are one of my favorite locations in the world. The airport state of mind has so much to it – the sadness of leaving someone, the relief of getting away, the amazing feeling of remoteness from concerns, the adrenaline in anticipation of parting the earth and the urge to become a foreigner. We took off later that day and in the evening I was already in Milan. The Chateau Monfort hotel is not a bad place to rest when your old, familiar pillow is far away. I made my way to the lobby bar quite naturally and although mixed drinks are usually a confusion to the soul for me, I did enjoy the Passion Cosmopolitan my friend’s Italian boyfriend offered me. I must admit that the way it looked caused no confusion at all. The evening was a lovely dinner and conversation in a quiet, classy place…it was almost the calm before the storm that was to emerge the following days. The next morning we were late…for everything. So we rushed and rushed and then we rushed some more. After breakfast we had to make it to a showroom and then to a photo shoot. My many years of not having a makeup mirror at 
home payed up and the makeup I put on while in the passenger’s sit in a badly lit parking lot was acceptable to say the least. Then the photo shoot which was an amazing experience. We had this great photographer, very profession
al, very nice to work with, and a fast runner I must say as he retrieved our purses from an Algerian thief. In the evening we were exhausted so a steam bath and dinner were a natural ending to the day. My next day was all about shopping. I knew all the other days were fully planned for and I had this one day to satisfy my obsession. Someone who knew what they were talking about once said: If you can’t find happiness, you’re shopping in the wrong places. I shopped until I was dead tired but I was happy. The amazingly good mood all the shopping had put me in asked for a continuation. So we ended up in a loud place, lots of people, lots of drinks and lots of fun. My kind of place. We drank and danced until it was all blurry and the next thing I know we were on a train to Naples and it was 8 am. I think the further you travel to the South the more they
love to party…and that’s anywhere in the world. Those people are all about partying and enjoying life. I blame it all on the sea. The life, the energy the sea 
fuels into people is incomparable. The sea has an amazing soul that makes you feel like you’re face to face with a very old friend you’ve once gone to war with. Only in war, I think, you get to know other people so well that you recognize their soul. Also in love…but that’s only a different kind of war. We kept up with all the seafood, boat rides and dancing…and it wasn’t easy. I think I had all the seafood I can take this year and I danced like there was no tomorrow. On my last day in Italy, I got to visit Rome. I think saying that Rome is a beautiful city will suffice as my writing will not match the ancient marvel that city really is.
I said goodbye to my childhood friend and I was on the plane home. I was happy once more, as I had something else to look forward to. But that I’m going to write about some other time in some other story. See you all soon, and I hope you know that if I’m not writing, it’s because I’m doing my research 😉
