Greetings from the busy-relaxing Sorrento

Dear Friend,

If you have ever wondered where I’ve been lost, fear no more – I am living happily in the sunstruck Sorrento Peninsula in Italy.

I won’t steal your time by making you read pages of my vain effort to describe the improbable beauty of nature and people around here but, god forgive me (^^), I cannot resist to share my excitement about our (me and my fellow volunteers) daily route with bicycles through the busy streets of Sorrento and the neighbouring towns.

I am sure that you, as me, have read of and seen in your mind’s eye the vitality of some busy seaside town in South America or the Carribean. The streets of Sorrento are very much like them but with the tidiness and wealth more charecteristic to Europe.

Pedestrians, mostly rich elders, move along leisurly while the cars and motorbikes are beeping and jostling, all trying to squeeze into the narrow roads. The buildings host an abundance of hotels, restaurants and speciality stores for the many tourists visiting this magnificent shore.The breath of the nearby Mediterrian and the swelter of the sun makes it all more colourful and intense.

Meandering with my bike between the vehicles and hustling for a space on the road and for the privilege to get going makes me feel like being part of this flow of people playing the game of life.

It is not the anxious rush and impatience of the big cities, though. Despite the buzz people seem more relaxed and less self-absorbed. Probably the vastness of the sea which is just around the corner and the mountains hanging above it all make one feel smaller. Or a less romantic but more credible explanation could be that a great part of the people are on vacation without the need to think about their daily chores.

After spending hours in this exciting but energy draining jumble it is a blessing to return to our outlying house surrouned by gardens and unwind on the terrace overlooking the busy towns on the seashore.

I hope you are doing well, and drop me a line, if you feel like.

Sincerely,