A few weeks of reflection of the most soul pleasing adventure, one that surpassed every small expectation and fulfilled every quiet drop of an enormous dream – my memories begin to surface like molten lava – bubbling furiously with emotion and passion, energy and pure excitement. My writing now complete…. welcome back to Taste Safari Travel Diaries and the next part of my summer sojourn traversing across breath-taking and uber sophisticated Scandinavia to a lifelong fantasy of exploring the interior landscapes of Italy….
Leaving the Moorish landscapes of Northern Jutland, I continue my journey south to the summery expanses of the Mediterranean…It’s a pure mind startling rush, the crossing of borders – a global crush of humanity all migrating across distances beyond measure, for their own quiet reasons. Their faces bare and express the pressure, all the pleasure of this journey – some of their eyes calling out as if whispering to the passing stranger, of a story that, may , one day be written and sealed in dark inky tales.All are focused on a mission of sorts – I’m fascinated by these travellers and I, one of these, finally reach my destination – one that has been plying my bookshelves with stories of life in this land – a place that has gripped me in an undulating obsession to be part of this life and the people. It has been travelled to by the millions, but for me – it is a first step into my own story that remain untold for years.
I am finally in Italy – arriving in Rome. This is special in far too many ways. My first complete and abs
olute solo travel ever. No friends or family to follow in step, no small children to check on their skittish, thrill seeking whereabouts. This is a journey of pure re alignment of the soul – of finding an identity that became lost in years of working in and lost in the sheer madness of the game of survival. It’s thrilling, yet there is a momentary sharpness of loneliness. Yet this is a journey I had promised myself for years and it is one that will remain unforgettable.
It is a short stop, my intention of walking the city fuelled by a shot of sheer sensory overload. I have a day and a half in this tremendous city… I want to take it all in, but in my minds eye, I am determined to discover a different part of Rome – find the hidden alleyways that form in smoky, wispy pictures as I read more and more of the worlds greatest travel writing.
I hope this post takes you swiftly into the idea of discovering the small, off the beaten delights, the best places to eat and how to take it all in like a local.
I will interweave between some of the most magnificent sights and indulge you in my insatiable appetite for local dishes…. Are you ready for a 78km walk that weaves and wanders from downtown Rome?
I felt like I had wings, perhaps it was just the smile on my face and the excitement tracing through my body, swiftly – lightly tripping through narrow cobbled pathways, I find my way through the Villa Medici and the Trinita dei Monti.
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