Advertisement
Published: April 15th 2023
Edit Blog Post
The highlight of our last few days here in Sorrento was the much anticipated arrival yesterday of a very dear friend who lives in Rome, but who also has an apartment in Milan. We first met this remarkable lady (Laura) way back in 2014, when we rented her palatial apartment in the Prati district of Rome for two weeks. The following year she arranged to spend an afternoon with us when we were in Florence; and we met again briefly at the Rome airport in 2016, just prior to our flight back to the states that year.
During the intervening years we have developed a special kind of relationship and bond with her. She is without doubt one of the most fascinating, kindhearted and energetic people we have encountered during our many years of traveling, so we were overjoyed when she offered to endure the 3-1/2 hour train ride from Rome to stay overnight with us in our apartment.
We greeted her at the Sorrento train station when she arrived around 1:00 PM, and she had not changed a bit! After we returned via taxi to the apartment, Dee served a delicious spread of antipasto, cheeses, charcuterie, olives and
salad, which we enjoyed with a bottle of sparkling rose purchased for the occasion.
It was quite a reunion! The conversation seemed like it was a continuation of our last one, many years ago. Laura has traveled extensively during her lifetime, and speaks excellent English, even though it's not her native language; nor does she have any occasion to speak the language. So, for the next couple of hours, our conversation ranged widely from Italian and European culture to the Trump phenomenon in American politics. We also discussed coming to terms with and adapting to age-related issues that confront us all at this point in our lives (she is our age).
At Laura's request, we had made a dinner reservation at Benvenuti in Casa, the restaurant across the street, for 7:00 PM. During the meal we enjoyed more interesting conversation. After we had all shared some cannoli for dessert, she excused herself from the table briefly. It was shortly thereafter we discovered that, over our objections, she had paid the dinner tab!
Shortly after croissants and coffee the next morning, as we said our good-byes, Laura reminded us of her standing invitation to visit her in Rome.
She then insisted on walking to the train station, instead of taking a taxi, and we watched from our balcony as she strode away pulling her little travel suitcase with one hand, while waving back a cheery farewell with the other. She is a remarkable lady indeed, and we are missing her already!
Dee's Comments: On the morning of Laura's arrival there was blue sky above, but a cool 54 degrees and quite breezy, when we drove by taxi to meet her at the train station. As Mitchell describes in his commentary, she is the special friend we met 9 years ago when staying at her beautiful apartment in Rome. Since then we have never lost contact; she even went out of her way to meet us briefly at the Rome airport 7 years ago.
Laura has become a very special person to us. After coming back to the apartment, while serving her a light lunch, we talked about everything from family to politics. She is so well-traveled, and full of interesting anecdotes and insights. I believe the language of friendship is not expressed in words, but in meanings; true friends stay with you, no matter the
distance or passage of time that separates them. Laura is one of those special friends we have met along the way that have helped us appreciate our journeys, and why we love to travel. Ciao!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.092s; Tpl: 0.019s; cc: 14; qc: 27; dbt: 0.0247s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Jeni
non-member comment
What a beautiful visit with Laura, love the photo of her waving goodbye. Happy you got to see her and have a great time. That cake for the soccer team is incredible and the pottery is beautiful. The Italian lizard is adorable sitting with the flowers. Have a wonderful day today. π