Tag: courage
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A visit to Queer Cinema Festival
The film I’ve just seen was a documentary on Intersec. It was stunning, touching, heartbreaking and joyful. The experiences of the people interviewed were shocking and troubling and the efforts made to maintain a purely binary view of sexual identity by society and the medical profession were terrible and still exist today. What came through…
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Not ready to leave
I have packed and am ready to leave. I really loved it here and will miss Cristina and her family. It’s been one of the best experiences I have ever had. Breakfast on the terrace with the smell of flower and the sound of the swallows in the sunshine I shall always remember and the…
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Quotes on courage
Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage. Anais Nin I have accepted fear as part of life – specifically the fear of change… I have gone ahead despite the pounding in the heart that says: turn back…. Erica Jong It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to…
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A La recherche de temps perdue
Well I’m lying in my top bunk ready to board my train to Paris later this morning and leave a chilly and dank Geneva. This hostel is terrible. It’s clean and the room is good but it’s so anonymous… like a big hotel with absolutely no atmosphere. 5 floors of anodyne corridors, an empty games…
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Il Torre Asinelli
I did it … 97.2m and 498 steps … I as terrified but it was exhilarating… and fantastic views of the city … when I dared get close enough to the edge. There used to be over 100 towers in Bologna but only 24 remain. Asinelli is the tallest. The neighbouring tower, Garisanda leans at…
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Some quotes I’ve been thinking on lately which seem to resonate with me more than ever
Often we allow ourselves to be upset by small things we should despise and forget. We lose many irreplaceable hours brooding over grievances that, in a year’s time, will be forgotten by us and by everybody. No, let us devote our life to worthwhile actions and feelings, to great thoughts, real affections and enduring undertakings.…
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Escaping ….
I’ve called this blog escape to myself and it’s struck me how many people I’ve met are escaping from something… or trying to find a place where they fit. Like me there is a dissatisfaction with their lives and they are consumed with the idea that somewhere there is that place in which they find…
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Leaving Genova for Trieste
Well I’m feeling better. Not because Cedric and I spent a wonderful day in Genoa … he showed me his favourite spots and Brignole is a really great part of the city but because I feel that I have dissipated the guilt I felt for not helping him out in Verona and he was so…
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Ducal Palace in Mantua
The Palace is remarkable. It is a huge space with so many rooms and galleries. It is a testament to the wealth, power and pride of the Gonzaga family who ruled here. The frescos by Mantegna in La Camera degli Sposi are absolutely wonderful. Painted into wet plaster they seem fresh as the day the…
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Pompeii and the Bay of Naples
Well it was a four and a half hour trip. It could have been much less if we hadn’t dropped people off in Naples and taken an hour to get through the city. It’s a strange place and driving through the suburbs and centre didn’t inspire me very much. A trip through the docks was,…
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Staying in hostels and connections
Hostels So far this has been a great experience. All the hostels bar one have been clean, friendly, great roommates and wonderful facilities. Varied in price and obviously Paris and Rome have been more expensive but between €35 and €50 per night … some with breakfast included. My only real gripe is that Paris had…
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A morning in Nervi
Just 15 minutes by train from the centre of Genoa is Nervi. Today it looks fabulous. No tourists so I’m sitting writing this in a cafe by the sea. It’s a pretty little town and I’m practicing my Italian where I can. For €1.50 what a bargain on the train! I think I may be…
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In Milano per Una notte
In Milan for one night before Genova … bustling, busy, full of fashionistas and on trend shops. This my first night alone. Of course I’m missing Cedric but this is all about me and learning about myself … coping in the world. We’ll see. I’ve already had a wander to the centre to the the…
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Looking back to Paris
Well having left Paris behind I’m looking at the highlights of my visit and my impressions. Firstly the people I met … friendly and witty. The buildings beautiful and well kept. The vibe was so exciting, on trend and easy. I think the 4eme is wonderful. So many independent shops of all types; wonderful chocolatiers,…
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An interesting day
Musee d’Orsay in the morning. Then a great walk around Paris with Cedric and lunch at a fantastic Japanese restaurant. Decorated as a fish market with sound effects. Fish everywhere (not real! But very realistic) and dressed with all the accoutrements of a dockside. Cobbled floor, baskets of fish, overalls, scales … pretty inventive. Food…
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At the Musee D’Orsay
What a wonderful and humane Manet was. Breaking the centuries old barriers of art consumed by the male gaze. No longer a “nude” but a naked prostitute looking the viewer straight in the eye. This is no coy woman at a man’s beck and call.
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Catalyst
2022 has been a strange year; my life pivoted in July when I hit an age I never imagined I could be; 70! Then I encountered a much younger man and became madly infatuated with him. He was beautiful, sensitive and so open emotionally. At 70 I never expected such an intense sexual relationship. Older…
Escape to myself 