back to the world

Exciting news at the start: We're back from vacation. You know what that means! Yes, a day of laundry and bathroom cleaning... but that's not what I meant. New Where's Joe's Head pictures! Enjoy.

It was a long night, and it was a cold, cold morning. I realize that I have no right to complain. Getting on the train home meant coming back to our northern corner of France. I don't take that for granted...

But lordy, did being near the Ligurian Sea feel outstanding. The air was chilly, and it wasn't until our last day in San Remo that the sun really came out in full force–meaning we were gorging ourselves on red wine, pizza, salty meats & sunshine all at the same time, all while sitting near the sea.

This felt like our first real vacation together, the first trip we took where we let ourselves relax. We woke for a nine o'clock breakfast in the hotel's dining room before heading out on walking tours of the La Pigna ("pinecone") district. The district was built into labyrinths* of stairs, hills & arches that wind toward the top of the city.

Why all the stairs? Funny you should ask. The city is on the sea, so in its beginning pirates were a serious issue. The system of walls, stairs & doors were designed to make the city confusing & cumbersome, protecting it from potential invaders. It was like walking through the set of a movie, but it was real & it was filled with beautiful Italians people. What I found most shocking was that many of these people, the true San Remo residents, were more than ready for retirement. Yet they were cruising the streets & cobblestone steps like it was nothing.

From the moment we stepped on the train, we found ourselves planning a retirement to this region of Italy or France. We were making plans to learn Italian. We were admiring properties & looking at postings in reality offices. We'll put that in our box of dreams for later; we'll start practicing more conversational Italian soon.

When people ask me about marriage or why I'm really married; when they cautioned against getting married so young and "settling"; when my friends tell me that they're worried we're giving up on dreams to find somewhere in the middle, I try to find the words to explain my love to them. I never feel the need to justify; they'll figure out one day or they won't. But I want to give it words, to define it somehow to share my happiness with people.

My trip to Italy with Joe is everything that I expected from marriage–not because it's travel or Italy or exotic, but because it was a moment of our hard work & passion coming to fruition. On top of his job, Joe has dedicated himself to multiple students for private tutoring sessions. The money, along with my small addition for tutoring, has gone to our travel fund. It fed us for most of our trip.

What I first loved about Joe was his passion for reading & writing. It's the passion I've had longest, the one that has only grown, only become a larger part of my personality. I needed someone to share that with, and I got lucky–more than lucky–when I found him. His favorite author, Italo Calvino, spent a large part of his life in San Remo. When I knew we were coming to Europe for a year, I was excited about seeing Joe in San Remo, seeing that dream & that passion become something real.

When Joe stood in front of Calvino's school, walked along the street named after him & looked at the Calvino books in San Remo shops, I could only think that this is what I meant when I said that I loved him, that I wanted my life to be his as well. I wanted to be there in these moments, remind them that it was really happening & that it was our work that got us here. I wanted to see him get excited & anxious & eager to write; I wanted to push him past it–You've seen it now; you've felt it. Use it.

I'll dig into these emotions & the scenes that surrounded us throughout the week. For now, our adventure has been uploaded to Flickr; feel free to explore the photos. Feels good to be home. Thanks for coming back!

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