I've had so many thoughts and feelings about the places we visited, and already they are beginning to fade. I'm going to try to get some of them down tonight, as always in a hurry, but better something than nothing.
Iceland was an amazing trip. I loved how it felt small, the people like a close-knit family, everything accessible. And at the same time, the landscape felt open, vast. The wild-ness of the environment is such a contrast to the close-ness of the people. I hope as it becomes more popular as a tourist destination, it doesn't lose either the wild or the close. It's sweet and quirky and fierce and *cold*!
In Norway I loved the way of life. Oslo is a huge city but the people there still know the beauty of living outdoors, breathing fresh air and feeling sun on your skin. Everywhere we looked the people were walking and hiking and biking and swimming. There were always places for children to play and to learn. Their children are welcomed into all places, and at the same time are allowed to be children, to have freedom play and explore. Things are clean and orderly, but not sterile and metallic. In summer particularly, people in Norway seemed so happy to just be alive.
Italy does not try to be anything other than Italy. The food is always Italian, always fresh and always absolutely delicious. The shops and people move at their own pace. They do not try to cater to you, they hold to their own way of life and their own attitudes first and foremost. Rome is ancient and resists modernity, as it has every right to. Rome is a city to wander and eat and shop with no watch and no schedule and no demands. It is jarring place at first but as you settle in and "get" the pace, it is full of delight.
I want to take some of each of these places with me into my "regular" life, but I don't know if that's possible. To remember how to gasp in awe at Mother Nature's wonder and fierceness, to let my kids run through the grass and soak in all that the world has to offer at their own pace, to remind myself how to wander and eat and admire and think on a daily basis.....and so much more.
Coming home to all that is comfortable and familiar almost makes me yearn to leave again so that I can live all these things without the difficulty of figuring out how to weave them into a normal life. That's silly, I know, but I feel like if I don't live some of what I've loved in these different countries, what a waste.
One bite at a time, I will try! And then travel more and then try some more. :)
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