Ciao Gio,
I have always loved travelling but found staying in a
closed vehicle restrictive and boring if without any book or companion.
If I were a physicist the favorite topic would be teleportation. Yet
this time, you have kept me in a good spirit all along. First with the
Economist, and the many glasses of wine, then with some good aspirin
and sleeping pill, not to say three blankets which I robbed of you.
Do
you remember the American woman on the train? Despite my ennui with her
American ways, I can relate to her feeling of travelling alone, and
perhaps without a clear destination, like a rolling stone. Some people
travel with faith & hope to discover new things or to confirm an
old belief, some travel with others to share different experiences,
some travel with missions big or small, altruism or selfish, some
travel for pleasure, and some travel with curiosity for whatever may
come their way.
I
had expected to see a country with magnificent architecture, unbeatable
fashion and style, rolling hills & vineyards in Tuscany and
delicious food that fills up my stomach, leaving my tastebud craving
for more. Even with all the expectations inflated by LonePlanet, I was
overwhelmed and speechless when presented with the Duomo, Venice,
Uffizi, Mt. Vesuvius, the Mole, the crowds at spanish steps and the mix
of life&art in Piazza Novano. For a moment, I felt like being
thrusted into a time travel tunnel. The dizziness was blinding. I
cannot remember when I felt this way, maybe when I visited the
forbidden city, not even on the Great Wall. It was more like my
childhood dream when I found an underground palace which was so vivid
that the next day I convinced my 5 year old friend to troll along. If
you visit any Chinese gallery the comparion will be impressive--the
most precious Chinese paintings from the ancient times were of scenery,
still life but not of people & people alone--the sketches that
accompanied Chinese poems paint people in a few abstract lines to be
consciously lost in the peach blossoms, sitting on a lonely stone with
a zither in the bamboo forest in & out of fog, or a dot in the
distance with a fishing pole and some big bird flying into the ninth
high. When the protagnists in Chinese painting were escaping into the
nature, the ones in Western arts were embracing humanity with passion
& empathy. Inevitably, in my flight of thoughts, there was Xi'an
terra-cotta and the Great Wall both of which attributed to Qin Shi
Huang, the Great Emperor. How much is an art's worth when it is "art
for art's sake" and when it is "art for power & glamour"?
You
would laugh if I said that I missed China in the ten days I was away. I
never knew homesick was like hair on the face, once you brushed it
away, the feeling of it was still there, itching, itching. I was too
well taken care of and too enamoured with everything new, I hardly
asked why. Now I asked myself if I speak the language, whether Italian
or Cantonese, if I relate to the culture in the foreign country or a
slightly foreign city, how would that change how I feel? Maybe I will
never know till I have mingled and immersed. Perhaps that's part of the
appeal of change. You won't know untill you've travelled and adapted.
I
have thoroughly enjoyed my time travel and physical travel. I am
looking forward to travelling with your country's great mind--Leonard
Da Vinci in the next few days. Eventually I hope to travel back with a
mission and deeper understanding & appreciation for everything good
and enjoyable, everything problematic & needing change. You have
been a great travel companion and love, helping me to understand your
family, friends and people around. Grazie mille. Please also give my
regards to your sister, your parents and your trouble-maker brother
next time you visit.
Ciao,
XD
