Afoot and light-hearted, I take to the open road,
The long brown path before me, leading wherever I choose.
Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no more, need nothing,Strong and content, I travel the open road.
Afoot and light-hearted, I take to the open road,
I write for the Fans of Flanders website once a week. It's been interesting finding my voice over there because it feels less about me as a photographer and more about me as a foreigner here in Belgium ... kind of.
But this weekend's post was slightly simpler to write ... well, it took ages but I was working through a small crisis. You see I have been known to complain about things here in Belgium. It's a very flat country, there's only 60kms of coastline, it's polluted, and people can be quite rude in the shops and on the trams ... not always but by crikey, I have more than enough stories of outrage.
Last weekend we had a party and one of our guests was the lovely Spanish-based American friend called Erik. He is friend to Simon and Paola, and so it was that he stayed with them over in Brussels, and they decided they would leave exploring Antwerp until the Saturday of the party.
I realised I would have to leave them to it, as there were more than 25 guests coming and we were cooking dinner for 7 plus 2 kidlets, beforehand. I found it strangely painful not to be involved in micro-managing their city wandering.
I was bemused ... but wait, what is this feeling??? Is it really that I want Erik to see Antwerp in the best possible light? Really?
And I realised that this is my over-arching desire when it comes to this adopted Flemish city of mine. I love introducing people to it, to the secret places tourists don't always find, to the restaurants and cafes with the best food and wine, to the ancient cobblestone streets that hide so many surprises ... really quirky surprises sometimes. I love it because somehow this city has become part of me.
Anyway ... my small crisis played out over on my Antwerp page.
…And that’s why i have to go back
to so many places
there to find myself
and constantly examine myself
with no witness but the moon
and then whistle with joy,
ambling over rocks and clods of earth,
with no task but to live,
with no family but the road.
Pablo Neruda
I found Pablo Neruda's words in my inbox, via The Quotationist, and I thought 'yes'. Sometimes I just need 'the road' because ...
These days have been dizzy, giddy, fast-moving days. And in recognition of the pace and insanity, I am quietly developing this habit of throwing myself back at my bed on a Sunday - to read and nap and sleep and rest because I have been tired.
I returned from Italy and stepped straight into 10+ days with the delightful Miss 7. She had 8 of those days off school but we read a lot of Harry Potter, walked in the park, talked about interesting things and maybe we had quite some fun.
My stepdaughter arrived for a few days too. And I was cleaning and cooking and slipping back into this life while trying not to think about the fact that my daughter and her daughter are moving countries soon.
I'm fortunate. Their destination is no longer that small South American village, reachable only by horseback ... that place where tarantulas and scorpions are commonplace. And it's no longer New Zealand ... some 16,000kms away from me.
Instead, it's just next door, over in Germany. I can do that.
Gert used his environmentally-friendly gift cheques to buy me a bicycle ... a brand new one. The first brand new bicycle I've ever owned but that's a whole other story that needs blogging, with photographs. I love my new bike though.
I've been putting together my book on Genova, and editing it ... because I edit. It's not a good thing. It may be that I'm seeking perfection ... just perfection. So yes, I need someone to take my first draft from me, as I write, and not let me edit until the whole thing is done. I know this thing about me but I'm not sure of the solution.
And I have received the first draft of the story of a special wine and a family and their friends in Italy. I can't wait to write that up and share the photographs with you. It's one of those stories that make me smile whenever I think on it.
I have made a yoga date and hope to become a creature who rescues herself with the practice of yoga.
Paola, Simon and Matteo came to dinner on Saturday night. It was good to sit down and catch up with them again. They bought wine ... my beloved Banfi. Gert cooked a pie from The Hairy Bikers Perfect Pies Cookbook. It was lovely, although we're still experimenting with pastries here in this country that doesn't sell the New Zealand pastry I knew and loved.
On Friday, I was running all over Brussels, meeting with the most delightful people. First stop was my accountant ... she who rescues me from the hellish complication of daring to be self-employed in Belgium. Then on to Paola, to return her Genova keys and catch up. And then a little further, to the inspiring New Zealand artist, wise woman, and friend, Wendy Leach.
Oh, and I sold a photograph that will be published in a book. News to follow when that all comes to fruition.
Hmmmm, Stephanie and Catalina came to dinner last Wednesday night, and I had a tooth rebuilt on the Tuesday ... a second tooth. I do appreciate my wonderful Belgian dentist.
There was an English church fete on Sunday with Stephanie, Catalina, Miss 7 and I ... and a phone call home to my dad because he turned 76. And on it goes. You see the giddy mad slide that is my life?
But I think I must love it because nothing ever changes. It's always kind of mad and chaotic and full of good people, and frustrations, and things slipping through my fingers, or arriving - in all their beauty - in front of me.
Anyway, all that to say that I haven't been quite so bloggy lately but I will be again ... soon.
At the weekend, and thanks to the kindness of Stefano and Miriam, I finally met one of my favourite bloggers, ceramic artists and B&B owners ... the lovely Diana Baur.
Diana and her husband run a beautiful B&B in Acqui Terme, Northern Italy, and it so happened that I discovered that they were located just a few kilometres down the road from where I was spending the weekend.
I will use their words, already written, to introduce you to their beautiful B&B in Italy: B&B Baur is a top-rated inn, located in the beautiful Roman Spa city of Acqui Terme, in Piemonte, Italy. Surrounded by history and thousands of hectares of wine hills, Piemonte is known to gourmets and wine experts from all over the world as Italy’s premier gastronomic and enological region. To read more ...
Diana showed us around on Sunday, explaining the renovations, and talking with Stefano and Miriam of NYC. A place much-loved by all three of them.
Anyway, I can't recommend this beautiful place highly enough, and Diana and her husband are delightful hosts. You can get a sense of the B&B via her photographs here.
Her art and ceramics can also be viewed on her website. And she has her first book being published soon but you can read more of that on her blog - A Certain Simplicity.
Grazie to everyone who made that meeting possible.
Kim asked if I was in Genova yet ...
I so am.
I have this huge and uncontrollable smile on my face. It started as I journeyed from Milan towards the mountains and Genova ... and I can't stop it.
I've been trying not to frighten anyone, with my madly happy face, as I run errands upon arrival. I'm working on containing it within me, as a quiet bubble of joy.
I have a beautiful bouquet of flowers. I have an internet connection. I have wine ... and I'm still smiling. It's like that.
I am back in this city I love so well.
All kinds of threats have been made if I return without completing the book this time ... and so I must.
But Kim, yes, I am back.
I interviewed Michael Schiller over in my Interview section way back when ...
Tonight he announced that his book, Something in Another City, is available on iPad and iPhone.
Check it out.