the olive: a case study in intentional living

My tale begins with a photo, entitled, "Self-portrait with olive".  Ahem.

self portrait with olive, as noted

For many years, I have declared that the only food that I do not like is the olive. About 6 months ago perhaps, I decided that I wanted to develop a taste for olives, and so set out to do this, having a little deliberate taste here and there. The tale ends with me, last night in Lucca, purchasing fresh olives for myself, sitting down in a little Piazza, and eating them straight out the take-out container, one by one, revelling in their salty goodness. 

Okay, so it's a bit of a ridiculous example, but this trip too was born out of a great deal of intentionality. I shared in my first blog entry my deliberate decision to NOT plan every minute, but rather attempt to cultivate a sense of spontaneity and adventure within myself, learning to trust my intuition, rather than an agenda. 

Another intention was to very deliberately choose to live my life to the fullest, celebrating all that I have to be grateful for. Last summer, at a pot-luck at a friend's place, I met a lovely lady, and we easily struck up a conversation with one another. She spoke about her family a great deal (husband and two beautiful children), as well as her career and home. She then asked me about myself, and after speaking for a short while, she remarked, "Wow, so you're really just living the life!"

Living the life.  Me?   I was momentarily taken aback. "I...guess...I...am...!" This woman, with seemingly so many of the things that I long for, was looking upon my life with a sense of "wow".  Fascinating.  And, a poignant reminder of my tendency to invest massive amounts of  energy thinking about the things I do not have (in that moment, a partner, children, stability), rather than celebrating all that I do have (immense freedom to follow my various dreams without feel "tied down" in any way). This moment stuck with me, and helped in creating a new sense of resolve to live my life NOW, trusting that those longings will be met, but in the meantime, celebrating the present.

Of course, this is easier to realize on some days than others. But nevertheless, the decision to travel solo was a highly conscious one, celebrating freedom, single-ness, youth (can I still call myself that?), and big dreams, while inviting openness to all that other stuff.   And here I am, eating olives in Lucca, Italy.  It feels a bit unreal at times.

I feel a bit of guilt in saying this, but although I really liked Florence, I cannot say that I "loved" it there (is everyone still talking to me?)  Perhaps I'm just not a city girl at heart, but, though I certainly found a great deal of beauty in many spots, I also found the crowds, noise, and pollution levels less seducing. It's true. On the other hand, the Tuscan countryside?  Gorgeous.  If only a wine tour were in the budget for this trip...

Certainly, Florence was loaded with beauty though.  For example...

Overlooking the city, from Piazza Michelangelo

Arno river by night...

Two days ago, I spent the day in Siena, a town that looked like what I imagined a Tuscan town to be. One had to just stray a block or two off of the beaten tourist track to find such character, mystery, beauty.  I arrived at "Il Campo", the main town square, and sat down on the concrete, amidst hoards of other tourists.  I had been diligent in packing myself a lunch, pasta leftovers from a meal I had cooked the day previously. In one fell swoop, I took the container of pasta out of my backpack, the lid fell off, and the entire contents of my spaghetti lunch were on the pavement.  I burst out laughing, which of course then drew attention towards me. I felt I had to declare my intention to still eat to those around me, rather than just sheepishly proceeding, and so that's what I did, laughing still.  A classic Liz moment.

My favourite part of Siena were the nearly deserted streets just outside of the main downtown core, and the views of the countryside. Magnificent from the outside, I decided to pay to enter the duomo (i.e. church with a dome) as another place of refuge from the crowds and also the heat. I couldn't believe it when I got inside - stunning, yes, but the crowds were actually worse. The "correct" route through the enormous sanctuary was marked by ropes, and chairs were set up now and then.  There were announcements (in vain) over the loudspeakers (!) every few minutes reminding us to please "be silent", as people were herded through this set path, snapping photos, chatting away. Am I the pot calling the kettle black if I criticize? Perhaps a bit, but, surrounded by such majesty and art, I was disappointed that I was not able to just sit in a pew, peacefully, reverently.

overlooking Siena and the Tuscan countryside

Another classic Liz moment occurred in in the Florence train station yesterday morning.  For the first time so far in Italy, I purchased my ticket (at a self-serve kiosk) with cash, rather than with my Visa.  In a hurry, and so not noticing the sign that said the machine would not give change over £9, I promptly put in a £20 bill to pay for a £5 ticket, and got no change back.  Desolate, but determined to not let it get me down, I gave myself 15 minutes to look for someone official and plead for mercy: after that time, I would board my train and forget about it, either way. After trying not to stress about losing £15, but in reality stressing about losing £15, I did finally find a customer service line-up, and so got in line. I pulled my ticket out of my pocket, and found, attached to it, a credit note for £15, "rimborsabile presso tutte le biglietterie TRENITALIA" (i.e. I can just use this towards my next train trip). The lesson to read things thoroughly apparently had not been pressed upon me quite deep enough the first time!

I must confess to a "twitcher" type of afternoon yesterday:

okay, so I'm a bit of a twitcher after all: Pisa, Italy

Pisa was en-route to Lucca, and so I spent the afternoon there. Essentially, this means that I, like thousands of other tourists, got off the train, walked the 1.5km the leaning tower, snapped a picture, sat and had lunch on the grounds, and then walked back to the train station. It really is quite an alarming sight, and after having my picture taken, I most enjoyed watching others strike their various poses in front of the tower (groups of people holding it up together, using feet to hold it up, and my favourite, one man, laying on the ground, seemed to be trying to find an angle wherein the tower would emerge from between his legs...)

My day in Lucca today has been magical. It is a charming and inviting little spot - it feels truly homey. A walled town, the walls that surround the city centre were, in the 16th century, lined with 126 cannons.  In the 19th century, the town turned this wall into a footpath, which is still a central point in Luccese life today. All day, locals (and tourists) bike/run/walk this 4km loop around the city on top of the wall. My jog of this route today, the sun pouring down on me, was a true highlight of the trip.  I spent the better part of the day wandering the picturesque streets, sitting in churches (quiet, and also free!), and also visiting Puccini's birthplace (the locals are quite proud of their Puccini).  My hostel, sparkling clean and in a great location, lacks character and the "community" feel that I have grown to appreciate about hostel life. In particular, I find that having a common kitchen automatically creates a community and a comfortable and friendly atmosphere - strangers become friends fast, when they are sharing inefficient hotplates!  This spot feels more like a hotel in atmosphere, except for the dormitory-style rooms, the 4-hour lockout period each day, and the bat flying around the halls.  Hmmm...in fact, it's possible that I have forgotten altogether what it is like to be in a hotel. :)

me and Puccini

From the moment I began reading about Italy, months ago from Waterloo, I knew I wanted to hike the coast within Cinque Terre National Park. Tomorrow, I head to the little village of Manarola (one of the five (cinque) villages that gives this park its name), where I will be staying in an eco-hostel, and hiking to my heart's content for the next 4 days...

With love xo