Vacation Within a Vacation

Today found us swooping down long hills on trafficked roads with our first views of the Adriatic Sea. The weather got warmer as we descended and the sign on the road said, “Welcome to Italy!” Indeed, our destination town of Muggia is actually part of Italy! There were the Italian shutters and Italian signs and people shouting at me for slowing them down as they bicycled past or to "Get out!" when I bicycled up on their private property driveway thinking it led to the lighthouse. (A bit of a contrast to the sweet, civil Slovenians). We stopped at a bench in the town square looking out at the boats while we ate our sandwich and apple and topped it off with a treat from the Gelateria. 

 

And then just sat and watched people walking by. Remember that? Just sitting and people watching? Not hunkered down in your phone? The fresh sea air, the familiar sounds of Italian conversation, the warmer weather, felt like a vacation within a vacation, arriving somewhere clearly new and different and a bit more reminiscent of summer (weather and water). It was a surprise uplift within all these days that already felt uplifting, just with a new twist and one perhaps slightly more familiar. Eating dinner in shorts by the water’s edge brought me to the sensation of summer that is familiar and welcome. 

 

To top it off, there’s a large, warm, inviting swimming pool that one of us already tried out and the rest of us will enjoy tomorrow on our day off from biking. Summertime and yes, the living is easy.