There is nothing like a trip to Europe to flood the senses of a Texas small town woman. My trip to Italy, one week before the earthquake, was memorable indeed.
The Pope opened his window and blessed the crowd in 27 or so languages as my friends and I emerged from the Sisten Chapel. Turns out it was International Women's Day, and he was blessing us. Yes, I felt very special, even though I stood among tens of thousands of women. Crowded but civil under a clear Roman sky.
I won't recount my adventure here. This is a blog about lifewriting, not travelogue, but I will say this: The only way to truly understand the world is to see it. I studied world history, Roman mythology, the major religions, etc., but until I walked where Caesar walked, until I actually saw Michelangelo's's David, until I meandered through the Catacombs, knelt in the church St. Francis rebuilt, until I sat in a gondola as it slid through the narrow canals of Venice,until the aroma of garlic and oregano and basil teased my taste buds to attention, until the taste of Parmesan from Parma melted in my mouth, until my own eyes witnessed the exquisite architecture of antiquity... until those ten days in Italy, it was all second-hand information.
In the meanwhile, the journal I have is full of pictures, postcards, menus, and scribblings to bring up those memories that I believe are now a part of my DNA. Nothings beats first-hand experience, but the memory fades unless prompted, and my journal is the key to my memories of Italy, 2009.
Well said. You and your readers may find Lisa Dale Norton's "Shimmering Images: A Handy Little Guide to Writing Memoir" helpful. I certainly have.
Janet Riehl
Posted by: Janet Riehl | April 20, 2009 at 07:57 PM