Day Whatever This Is - Verona

So, like I envisaged, I haven't had access to a pc since I got to Italy. Not to worry. I've been very busy soaking everything in and forgetting the little things that wouldn't really make much sense to you.

I did, however, write on the train on the way here.

I'm currently on a train en route to Venice. I haven't had a chance to sit in front of a computer since I left Munich so I'm emailing myself a post for later. This place is magic, it really is. The women are perfectly put together, no matter their age. Sure, some of them wear far too much make up but there are a lot of natural beauties here. I've found the men so in love with their own reflection it's hard to find them attractive, but still, some are.

The language in Verona is pure Italian. It's so relaxing to just listen to them talk, even if I don't understand everything. Dialects are a huge part of Italy's culture and I know, where my family hails from has a great one. It's also horrible Italian. It's hard to explain. It's easy to understand if you're used to it. Having said that, I still think I'll struggle when we get there. In Verona I've found I can understand most things that are talked about, when I'm involved in the conversation. Some of the Italians speak insanely fast, and that's impossible for me to understand.

As far as the people go, I've net some of the nicest, and some of the least nice people here. Some are impatient with us as we attempt to speak and understand a language we don't use at home. Some are the complete opposite, they'll listen and smile and wait as you try to explain your way around words you don't know. Some will speak in English in an attempt to make things easier for you, and that is just lovely. I have a new found compassion for tourists who are attempting to speak English in Australia.

Some people will speak English even when we're so keen on trying to improve our Italian. Mum's Italian has gotten a lot better, she doesn't stumble around sentences or words so much. She's quite in her element here and It's SO good to be audience to that. I still struggle with some things but am able to get by with relative ease. Making reservations, only just learning what the word for 'reserve' is, reading newspaper articles about waves in Hawaii and Lady Gaga and understanding it all. They're little things but I wouldn't have been able to do them a few weeks ago.

Travelling by train is the best way to get around, It's not that expensive, and sure, It's not that quick, or the most comfortable travel, but the views out the windows are just amazing. It's the stuff you see in movies or read about in books. The terrain is mountainous, the land is never empty, there is always a town to be seen. Bright green fields and those perfect lines of farms and vineyards. Bare trees and old houses. Tiny car race along tiny highways. It's serious magic. Nothing I could write or say would ever do it justice, and I knew that when I started.

<3 to your mother.