Sunday was one of those long enjoyable days spent wandering under this very very warm Italian sun ... and at the end of it, the only thing that could have improved the cold shower I took on arriving back at the apartment would have been remembering to take my 1.5l bottle of sparkling water into the shower with me.
Sund
ay in Genova began with Yoda, my phone alarm, waking me at 7am. I was on the road by 8am and heading for Pavia, a small city somewhere between Genova and Milan.
10.25am and I finally met the man who has been a source of website inspiration to me for more that a few years. I first ‘met’ Alex when he was a blogger and then watched as he made the leap into something bigger and more complex over time, developing into something more than he began with, something excellent.
And so, with our much-loved Canon EOS digital cameras in hand, we wandered, chatting as we attempted to capture something of the architecture and alleyways in Pavia.
Alex is no slouch when it comes to wide-ranging conversation either and we covered much ground over hours ... hours broken up with coffees, a lunch in a beautiful piazza, gelato, and a cold drink at the train station while we waited for our respective trains to arrive.
12 hours later, one long hot train ride stuck next to a lanky youth who wanted his space, and I staggered in the door, heading straight for the shower, desperate to wash the heat of the day and the ache of endless walking out of me. I’m happy to note that, as usual, the weight is dropping off me out here in the world and yesterday’s long walk surely melted some more of me.
I’ll let the photographs give you a taste of the day admitting, a little shamefacedly, that I went there knowing nothing about Pavia. But really ... it was more about finally meeting Alex and taking photographs than it was about place.