by lauriejeanne
I pinch myself. Has it finally happened? After years and years of living in Vienna, a mere night train away, am I really finally here? How long have I dreamed of it? How many times did I/we plan it yet it fell through...It's me, I'm awake. And I am in Venice. I didn't even know when I left for my holiday this summer that I would be coming here. But a last minute translation for the Institute of Folk Music Research at the University of Music in Vienna threw some extra Schillings into my account.
It had been a difficult translation; hence the need to spend the remuneration in style. Now here I sit. Pinching myself.
It's me, I'm awake. And I am sitting in a small restaurant on a narrow canal overlooking zerfallene Haeuser... how do you say that??? It's a residential part of Venice -- not a tourist to be found... Not a word of English to be heard... The couple to my right don't notice another soul -- they are lost in each other's eyes. Across from me a large party order steamed mussles. The plates arrive, hot and stacked high. Everyone laughs and wine pours freely..
It's me, I'm awake. And I am drinking a smooth rich Chianti and eating the single most amazing and creamiest gorgonzola I have ever had, let alone could ever imagine... Is it possible to be able to eat it slow enough? To let it last forever?
It's me, I'm awake. And the breeze from the open window next to me is flowing through my hair, silouetted on the table cloth. I pinch myself. For I simply can't take in how beautiful life, in all its simplicity, really is...