Magic in Verona (28th June 2005/ Train from Verona to Venezia/ 10:22pm)

So we’re off again, dragging our backpacks on another train ride to another city in Italy. It’s Venice this time, one of my most anticipated cities to visit.

Now to rewind backwards a little about last night…To me, it was one of the most perfect moments in my life. Standing there on the balcony, feeling the night breeze on my face, nice view of the quaint town which is falling asleep, sipping a cup of warm cereal drink (Nestum) and chatting with a Danish woman about cultures, traveling and everything that crossed our mind. Below us in the gardens, small groups of people were gathering around, laughing and chatting. At that moment, I was again touched by the simplicity of life, and how happiness is about living in that moment and being able to seek the beauty around you. The laughter below turned into a singing chorus, enveloping the night and reminding me that I’m in a country which gave birth to the beauty of operas. I felt goose bumps and heaved a sigh of happy content. Which reminds me of Eternal Sunshine, the scene where the couple was lying down on the ice, gazing at the stars, and Jim Carrey dreamily exclaimed something like, “I’m so happy I could just die now” (Jess reading this beside me menyampuks, “You wouldn’t want to die now! You haven’t seen Venice…Firenze…and that was just a rehearsal for crying out loud, it wasn’t even the real thing!”) Well, I guess there are points in your life where you feel will make a good full stop to your life story, and that was one of them.

I was so drawn to the gay singing voices that I excused myself from the Danish woman and stepped down from the balcony, finding my way to the gardens. Whether it was me being too shy to approach the singing people, or was it that their merry making sort of forms a magical shroud around them which I should not disturb…I sat down on the steps leading to the garden and enjoyed it from afar. Someone must have also felt the same drawing effect, as I was soon joined by another guy, an Asian, who stood at a distance enjoying the show.

Thinking that I should get some rest, I went back to bed, thought that perhaps I could squeeze in some Italian words/phrases which I could memorize in my sleep. As the dictionary kept slipping off from my hands, I knew that my Italian lesson will have to be postponed for another time. Soon, the laughing and singing voices were accompanying me into the unconscious world…