A Piece of Home in England
I would have to say, one of the most restful days of my two months had to be with Colin and Ann. Jessica and I agreed we should have missed our flight and stayed with them for another week…but seeing as we were out of funds and reaching the end out our trip, we settled for an afternoon.
Colin and Ann were informing us of places we might want to stop on our way back to London, but Jessica and I just wanted to hang out with them a bit longer…so we asked if we could see the beach near them. And it was set…we would sleep in a little and then off to the beach we would go.
As planned we slept in (really slept in according to Colin’s days…his day was half over by the time we opened our sleepy eyes). At 10:00 a.m. we were ready to go. First they took us to an old castle. I felt as though I had been dropped right into the middle of an afternoon with the Bennett’s…getting ready for a ball…(Mr. Darcy possibly in attendance). I LOVED IT! I could have sat there for hours and had a spot of tea (which is what Ann does with her lady friends).
We moved on to the beach. We took a nice walk down to the beach and along side of it. We stopped for a drink…Colin went back to fetch the car while Ann took on “tour guide” role as we walked to the fishing town at the end. Colin and Ann used to have a boat but timing never allowed them to take it out. At first I didn’t understand this concept, but once I saw the boats sitting on sand I fully understood. When the tide goes out the boats left are sitting on sand. Apparently it is an issue if you are out in the ocean during this time because you cannot get back to dock.
We had a wonderful time…but it was coming to the time when Jessica and I had to catch our train to London, so we could make it to the airport on time.
We said our goodbyes, and though I was sad to leave it made me even more excited to plan another trip back.
We made everything in excellent time. The only thing that didn’t work out “brilliantly” was that by the time we got off our flight and to the train station, the last train to Florence had already left…leaving us to sleep in the Bologna train station. I called John to see what I should do and he told me to sit near some guys and see if they would keep an eye out for us (yes…this is very surprising coming from John).
For a while Jessica and I were in a room full of people sleeping, waiting for their train to arrive…but some seemed to be eyeing us and waiting for the moment we feel asleep. So we left the room and decided a little fresh air would do us good. We settled on a little piece of tile flooring overlooking all the beautiful tracks. We decided we wouldn’t sleep…we would have to entertain each other for a few hours. Well 2:00 am rolled around (our train wasn’t until 5:45) and I was getting a little sleepy. Jessica was talking on her cell phone and I decided to close my eyes.
After a little (maybe 5 min) catnap, this Italian guy near us asks me if I have any “chocolate cakes”. Surprisingly I did, I had this roll of “Hit” cookies John had given to me. The man smiled and rubbed his tummy with a little wince on his face. Suddenly he just got up and left. He left all his stuff sitting in the floor. Jessica and I were trying to figure out what he was doing, but we soon found out he asked people for a lot of things. He had gotten a few cigarettes from someone down the way.
I tried to get comfortable again when he addresses us again. He said, “You sleep, I will watch over you.” We thanked him and I tried to get comfortable again. Then I heard his voice again, “Where do you come from.”
Needless to say we didn’t get any sleep, but time really flew. He was a riot, Jessica and I were laughing at him. He was trying to teach me Italian, and I sadly was a bad pupil. I cannot remember a thing he taught me. 5:45 a.m. rolled around and we checked our train to find it had been delayed over 30 minutes.
We had nothing to do but sit and wait. 6:30 rolled around and finally our train arrived. Our friend, Carmen, said goodbye and pulled a bracelet off his wrist and gave it to me.
We boarded the train ready to sit in a normal chair only to find the 6 men ahead of us had taken the last chairs and we were left to sit in the walkway next to the door and the water closet.
I was sitting there looking at Jessica and we both started laughing, this day had been too much. We were just glad we were on our way home.
The sun was just rising. I gravitated to the door to get a glimpse. This was the first time I had seen the sunrise in Italy. There is something different about the sun in the morning; it looks so much fresher than the evening glow of the sun. It was touching the top of the hills running down the valley, causing the trees to shake off their sleep and straighten up for the day ahead. I immediately thought of Colin and how he sees the sunrise every morning. While we were overlooking the beach he told me he had been there earlier that morning he said, “Its amazing how I am alone, I get the entire beach to myself. Sometimes I am worried that other people will discover it, and I will no longer be alone.”
Seeing the sunrise that morning, as tired and worn out as I was, made me think of how much I miss in my own neighborhood or surrounding areas by just going on with my daily routine. I don’t want to be one of those people “asleep” missing out on treasures…but anyone who knows me knows, I do enjoy my sleep!
posted by Michelle @ 4:29 PM
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