Wednesday 18 May 2011

Love, actually...


As the plane came in to land, I felt dizzy. The sky was the darkest shade of navy blue. To everyone else down there, it was just another April night...  "I" was looking at Van Gogh's Starry Night, because looking at the sky of my native Puglia, I just wanted to cry... Millions of stars were holding hands... I knew they were greeting me. I wanted to jump out of the aircraft, make myself the shiniest shade of silver and join the stars. I thought I could see a ferry on its way to Greece, but I discovered we were flying over the Isole Tremiti, the islands, and they wearing their most glamorous evening dresses covered in silver sequins. The Islands had lit all their lights to welcome me, I thought. And I felt so happy!
I stuck my nose to the small window and felt like I did as a child when, before Christmas, we would get out all our fairy lights and switch them on... the magic never failed! And it was happening again. Only, this time, I was a woman!
And that's how I felt as the plane started to make its way down, towards Bari Airport. My ears were hurting so much, but MY city was so big and beautiful and totally lit, like a huge Christmas tree, a bonfire on the 5th of November. I had  Pink Floyd music playing inside my heart. It was beating fast. I was Michael Shumacher driving a red Ferrari. I could feel the adrenaline flowing. I felt happy to be HOME once again, and though I was temporarely deaf in one ear I could hear the sweetest music ever and I knew I would sleep extremely well, that night...
As we waited for our bags, I looked through the doors, as they opened to let passengers out. I knew I would spot my sister's smile immediately! It was bright and beautiful and she was waving!
Out of the airport it was hot... nine o' clock at night... it was dark, it was busy with people laughing shouting, moaning, people kissing "Hello" and "Goodbye." The palm trees greeted me with a samba. I felt like I was on the set of "Love, actually" "Love is all around you" How true is that, eh?

 I remember sitting right where that girl is, in the fashionable Via Sparano, Bari.
Il Lungomare, Bari



This where my Babbo's family originated from. Bari.


Old Bari


The Norman- German Castle, Bari

Shopping
Outside Palazzo Mincuzzi, department store, Bari
Palazzo Mincuzzi, with Benetton
We even have our own Giorgio-Franco Armani (he ate my cheesy pig!)
I bet you didn't know you could light a BBQ with a hairdryer!

6 comments:

  1. Home coming is such a wonderful feeling isn't it? It's not as exciting as your arrival by plane but when you drive towards Salisbury you can see the tip of the Cathedral's spire poking up above the skyline through the trees and fields, getting closer and closer.
    I love your pictures, the light and the buildings are beautiful. Have a happy time!
    Jane

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  2. Jane, I was in Italy exactly a month ago, but when I wrote this I wanted to use the present tense so I could re-live the experience. I like writing because you can defy time and space. My mind is like a little Tardis and I really like that!
    I'm glad you like my pictures. I have fallen in love with photography and feel really enthusiastic about it. Thank you.

    Did I read in your profile that you like Jane Austen? I have read everything she wrote. Didn't Colin Firth make a FANTASTIC Darcy in the BBC production of Pride and Prejudice? The diving scene... oh, WOW! Darcy never looked so good, did he?

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  3. Hi Anna, I agree with what you say about writing and the point of this is that we are creating something (truth, fiction, autobiography, memory)that pleases us- and hopefully some other people too! Reading your piece reminded me how much I love that first sight of home.
    I too am very keen on photography. Digital cameras have given me a chance to take picures and experiment, without having to be brilliant with lenses and developing, its such fun.
    I do love Jane Austen and Colin Firth is by far the best Darcy...so sexy! Which is your favourite of her novels? It has to be Persuasion with me.

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  4. Jane, I quite like Emma (an interesting character!) but I have to admit that Pride and Prejudice is absolutely fantastic! What a plot and what a world! Having read all the novels I found that in the end the plots were all very similar and could be blended together into one. But I don't mind that... it's all very charming and so clever! I wish I could write like that!

    What about Mr. Darcy in Bridget Jones, then? Colin Firth, again. Could Helen Fielding have been inspired by Jane Austen when she wrote Mrs. Jones's Diary?

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  5. Hi Annna, Yes, I think the first Bridget Jones follows the plot of P&P almost exactly and also the second Bridget Jones book follows the plot of Persuasion.I wouldn't have noticed the second one except that I was reading both books at the same time! Its not exact but it can't be just a coincidence...I love the layers of jokes about Darcy/Firth in the book and the film too.

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  6. Jane, it's not a coincidence... it's just very, very clever... "female" clever! You know, maybe I should try and portray myself as an intellectual woman, and I could do that, if I wanted to, but... isn't it fun being able to relax and have a bit of a laugh, every now and then? I just love those "feel good" British movies, maybe because... "I feel it in my fingers... I feel it in my bones!" (or is it toes?) And Renee Zeelwhatever is really great! She overdoes the "Queen's English" but she's so sweet! What would Jane Austen make of Bridget Jones, eh? I think she would be very confused...

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