Tag: life change
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My last day
Well I’ve just finished my last lesson. My Italian has improved and I’ve learned a lot although I got off to an over ambitious start which dented my confidence. The grammar of prepositions has been very difficult as Italian has about seven variants for each one and they use them differently … English is much…
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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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At the FolkeMuseum Bygdoy
This was a great day out and the weather was beautiful today; a ferry trip to the museum and a wander around this enlightening space. Founded in the 1890s it’s sim is to display Norwegian culture and heritage through buildings and objects. It is a little like our Weald Museum in Sussex and it contains…
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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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A room with a view
I’m sitting at the table having my colazione of cereal, yoghurt, fruit and croissant looking at the view of the terrace in Cristina’s apartment… it’s sunny today after yesterday’s rain and the swallows are flying high squealing … they zoom everywhere. The bells of Firenze are ringing out from the churches. It’s one of those…
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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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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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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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Off the tourist track
Walking with a native Parisian reveals the small corners and unusual sights … a flea market, perfumer that sells coffee, graffiti and some wonderful bookshops dedicated to art, literature, lmanga, fashion and photography
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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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Inspiration
Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that’s okay. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind.” –…
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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 