The great October escape: da una parte

About this time last year, I'd taken one great escape down to Singapore, not quite so far away. I like to travel in October. It's that time of year where I know it's fall somewhere in the world, and fall is (for some very odd reason that, I swear, has everything to do with the Gilmore Girls) a season that I adore. The trees are prettier. Even if I'm standing in Malaysia, or Singapore, or any other country close by the equator.

This year, the Annual Great Escape took me to places I had never dreamed I would be able to see.

I saw Hong Kong. I saw Italy.

I saw the most beautiful sights in the world, lived the loveliest days. And at night, I went home to the prospect of a daily phone call with my favourite person in the world.

I won't have much to say on the subject here; I -do- write for a living, after all, and Italy is all about work. What I will come out and say, however, is that...

...Venice is not the most romantic city in the world. It's the small little town of La Morra in Piedmont, where the countryfolk sell the most gorgeous squash, tomatoes, and zucchini flowers. Grapevines stretching out in vineyards as far as the eye can see.

That, my friends, is true romance.

I fell in love with the earth.
I walk it still, toes deep in soil,
Knowing that my travels have brought me
To what I know is pure, utter magic.

Cheers, ya'll. Viva Italia!