Twenty

EMOTIONAL ROUNDUP

Murali and I returned to Hyderabad on the 23rd September. I wanted to round off this trip with some thoughts. 
This trip was full of emotions. Nature's bounty can do that to you. It is an overwhelming feeling. Ripe tomatoes to be plucked, grapes to be had just because they are hanging by the door, kiwis decorating the windows, flowers vying with one another to look more colourful. 
And this excessive beauty can stun you, even as you are in its midst. Yet, life goes on. Does excessive beauty in nature give the citizens living in its embrace a different attitude towards people in general? 
No. Would be my basic answer. Making a huge exception of Matina and Bruno and their families. Bruno's brother and their five children are moulded from a different cloth. There is an unique warmth and welcoming attitude in all of them and I shamelessly and guiltlessly give all credit to Matina Hammerlil.
During one of our conversations she said "I was born a happy child, always smiling," and that continues. She can smile through a storm, as she did with us, buzzing incessantly around her and her home. If there was discomfort, and surely there was, she slept it off or kept away. She returned with a smile, always. 
People were always nice to us, polite and smiling. In fact a few also had conversations about India and so forth. 
Though this was a different, off-the-beaten-track kind of a trip, it took some time for us to get into rhythm. We, in our innate necessity to be part of a group, waited always for guidance, instructions, leadership. 
Matina and Bruno gently told us to go our way when they wanted their 'me' time. They walked, spent time holding hands and sent us photographic evidence����. We all are veterans of travel and tourism, but it is only in this trip I realised that with some money in hand, an attitude, albeit a gentle and smiling one, we could also manage. But honestly, groups give you a courage like nothing else. 
Was I afraid of any crime, especially being robbed? Yes, at the back of my mind for we had been told to be wary of charming men and women, who would rob you blind at the drop of an eye blink. But, then we were not at any major tourist spot. 
There were crowds here too, it being summer and all, but apparently there was more fun and enjoyment rather than money. Surprisingly Assisi was the most touristy, again probably because of the religious factor. 
Every single place we visited was spectacular, with nature offering her best and everything else in place. The B&Bs we lived in were also cosy, almost like living with family and an eye opener for me. That it was relatively easy to adjust so quickly. Normally I am nice but I too have my quirks������. 
Though these apartments (one of them was 150 years old) were old they were still well appointed. Most of the bathroom fittings were by and large new, but some of the quirky ones had been kept, like a rectangular stone sink at the flat in Sestre Levante. There was hot and cold water available on tap. So potable water, because people like sparkling water most often. 
We did it all. Saw snow, felt the glacier, saw oceans, travelled by boat, road on mountain roads with steep climbs and steeper drops, sweated in the heat and then wore jackets because there was chill in the air. Made apple juice, bottled it and labelled. 
Ate the best pizza. I am hardly the judge, especially where pizza is concerned, but truly that was the best one ever. On Murali's birthday Bruno treated us to a pizza with truffle sauce. Again the best. We had sensational desserts, taking cues from what Bruno and Matina were ordering. They are Swiss but they were also new to Italy. They were vegetarians and were ordering right, eating happily.
I would like to be fed with hot rice, a dollop of ghee and some daal when I am ready to go. Murali often wonders with such specific desires how will I go. But when you travel across oceans, something has to give. And why not with my favourite food, I am wondering in retrospect. In fact Ravi and Akhila found a very Italian soup, which tasted and felt like daal, (Akhila swore it tasted like bisibele), with tons of vegetables in it. 
I learnt a lot on this trip. About companionship, about adjustment, about remaining quiet. Will I take a trip again. Yes, maybe because I like inflicting myself with pain, sometimes. But not soon. We all need breathers. 

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