The plan and all the other plans

Ten years, quite exactly. That's how long I had kept away from Austria. How funny it was I ended up going back now, so randomly! I mean, Spain was the plan, Morocco easy to slip in (you know it's so so so very close and all), Italy not so much of an off-track step either and I had considered visiting my darlings there also previously. But had someone told me in May I'd end up in Austria, I doubt I had found it very likely.

Clearly it wasn't impossible, either!

Piece of cake. Or two.

Hiking, peppermint picking, outdoor consert under the rain, tea, laughter -and cake.

No more cake tomorrow!

And it never works out.

Sigh.

No more cake tomorrow.

Everything's so green!

Imagine you could keep your horses up there for the summer! Wow.

Please tell me it's raining

'Please tell me it's raining in Austria' I wrote from Milan. She promised me it was, somewhat less excited about the whole thing than I was. And when I got there, it indeed did rain. Sounds nuts but after Spain, Morocco and Italy it felt like a blessing to me. Rain! Air! Green! Lush! Whoa! Also it suddenly made sense why I had been carrying around a pair of shoes for some six weeks. Because when it gets chilly, socks and shoes work better than strappy sandales.

Austria was the last card I pulled out of my sleeve. Why? Because that's where my Twin lives. I was wondering before I got there if two weeks was going to be bit long but of course it wasn't. It was almost too short! She had made such cool plans for us so all I had to do was follow and smile.

There was some little get-aways out of the city. One stop included a night on a sleeper couch. Me, Twin and The Dog, doggy being just a pup. So we coudn't avoid of thinking we had replaced our beloved Junior with another youngster. And yes, it was so very funny a tought that we might have ended up laughing.

Curiouser and curiouser

Also, something really strange happened to me in Milan. I got locked in to a second-hand shop. I got little anxious there and tried to call the numbers on their visitors card I managed to find from the shop. The cell number just kept ringing and the land-line -well, needless to say, I would have been the only person available to answear to the demanding noise by the till.

I didn't have time to totally freak out though. I was released after about fifteen minutes in the middle of old vinyl-players and a gigantic spiderman figure. But boy it felt long, I already started checking ideal spots for a nap and pondering what sort of sign language I could try out if other passer-bys saw me in and wanted to enter the shop, possibly thinking I was actually working instead of being a prisoner.

Milano-times!

Milano-times! I avoided every single tourist attraction but browsed the little boutiques, stayed in a superb backpackers with a little backyard and a balcony (perfectly suited for yoga) and red my books at funky coffee shops. I enjoyed being on my own again and, on the other hand, met some amazing people. I filled myself with great food from overwhelming aperitivo-tables and had couple of virgin aka. non-alcoholic mojitos whilst enjoying of the balmy summer nights on some of those terasses by the little canal with some other travellers -she had the most beautiful british accent I've ever heard, he was cracking funny and oh-so-stylish.

I was getting all inspired and managed to even shop some cool little things, my preferred shopping being yet another book (and how I had thought I'd be safe in Italy with the books as I don't speak the language..).

Milan was simply great. Really enjoyed it. Feeling an urge to go back.

Re-visit

I missed my train so went back to Torino for a re-visit. Big thanks to my dearies for having me again!

The capital of pesto

Genova gave me a lot of photos, a dress with polka-dots and tons of delicious pesto. The old town was perfect: big enough to get intentionally lost but still small and cosy. It was mysterious and spooky but in a comforting way and also full of interesting details.

Just more photos

It made me photograph and it was fun.

Just photos