Two days through others' eyes, August 2007

Thursday August 2 was our second anniversary of the move to Verona, and we were...each in our own way...having a Peggy Lee 'Is this all there is?' moment. Then Sally and John from New York arrived.

New friends (Angel had met John once years ago, through cycling), they were in Verona for Friday and Saturday. Showing them around Verona let me see the city through their eyes, and refreshed my own view.

We walked and talked for hours. Angel and I skipped taking them to museums and churches, thinking it best to leave that to them and instead choosing to show them the streets and courtyards and views of the city. The four of us had great meals, told funny stories and laughed a lot.

I get caught up in the daily rituals of life. Visitors to Verona sometimes ask me (thank you, Sally and John, for not asking this annoying question)...'Well, what do you do all day?' I try to answer...I go grocery shopping, to the butcher, to the frutti vendola, to the cleaners, we go out for coffee and brioche in the morning, take our morning walk, we clean the apartment, take care of our balcony and terraza plants, play with the cats, sit in a park, have a gelato, plan trips, go to the Lake, relax (we are RETIRED, people!)...but wait! that is the wrong answer.

From now on, I will say...'I supervise the maid while she cleans and straightens up, I give the cook her instructions, what to buy for the next two days, I have lunch with the ladies, I peel grapes and eat chocolate'...oh, I forgot, I'M the maid and cook. Angel does the heavy lifting. My bad.

I think the questions they WANT to ask are really, What is retirement like? Is living in a foreign country what you expected? How is it different? But the easy question is 'What do you do all day?' When Angel and I were planning this move, he would ask me, What are you going to do differently in Italy? And I would answer, I'll be doing the same things but I'll be in Italy. I thought the obvious difference was rather profound.

Angel is doing the same things that he did in New Jersey, cycling, cycling, cycling...but instead of riding to the Delaware Water Gap and back, he is riding Mont Ventoux, Alp d'Huez, Izoard, Galibier, a week in the Puglia, a week cycling around Corsica, etc etc. Instead of the Memorial Day Tour d'Somerville, he is in the VIP tent at the Tour de France. But that's his story.

Instead of going to Cape May for a week in August (though enjoyable), I'm going to Paris, Vienna, London, Lugano, Venice whenever I like. Instead of our daughter coming to dinner, she comes to Verona and we have her all to ourselves for a week or ten days, and I take her shopping. Fun, fun, fun. Our lives are the same but totally different.

So to be taken out of the routine by a surprise visit by friends I hadn't yet met, that is a good thing. It didn't hurt that the weather was perfect, not too hot for August, no humidity, breezes. And it was especially good that Sally and John are such delightful company...they are funny real people, with tons of enthusiasm for life and the native New Yorker's edge and wit, no holds barred.

I saw the city again, in all its beauty. Thank you, Sally and John. Come back sometime.