It seems entirely appropriate to post this photograph of Franco waving to me…
He was the only artist set up when I wandered by early this morning. Today is a religious holiday in Genova. It’s the day of their patron saint, Giovanni.
We exchanged greetings then he took me by the arm and we strolled over to the cafe for coffee together. And just like Roberto in Lerici, we didn’t have much language in common but it was lovely to spend time with him.
I wandered on down via San Lorenzo afterwards, veering right in search of focaccia, then on into the caruggi. About halfway into that walk, I realised I was deeply exhausted and wondered why I was taking on a stroll that involved a rather steep incline on the return ... considering that I was operating on 4 hours of sleep.
I made it back to the apartment but needed to lie down for 10 minutes. I may have used up almost all of me and have this wicked plan to sleep tomorrow away. We’ll see, I recover relatively quickly usually.
So anyway, in the last few hours of travel, there has been the realisation that I left my favourite foundation and perfume back in Genova. My idea was to wait until the sweat had dried before applying it. In all honesty though, I was cleaning right up until I left and the sweat never did dry. Then there was the man sitting in my train seat on the train to Milan, but he accepted the bad news graciously and turned to be okay. He managed to prevent my suitcase from causing serious damage when it rolled out into the aisle. Italian trains often have those little rooms of 6 seats on each carriage ... I suffer.
Then the airport was reached in comfort and style (as opposed to being crammed on the hot and crowded airport bus), via the Malpensa train from Milan Central.
However then came the overweight suitcase ... 36 euros. I’m blaming the gifts. And there was the small matter of an abandoned suitcase up near check-in that had security waiting for the police, alarming the check-in woman who had charged me for my excess baggage. I was happy to leave the area ...
Anyway, waiting for the plane, hoping I can sleep on it. I’ll leave you with Franco, out on Via San Lorenzo, in amongst all the artwork.
