Conclusion?

It’s tempting to try to wrap these last three months up in a nice neat “this is what I learned from my travels” post, but that would be silly. This has been a trip of a lifetime, but it’s not the first journey I’ve taken, and it won’t be the last. Also, just as you can’t decide what you’re going to learn from an experience like this beforehand, I’m not entirely sure that you can immediately know all that you’ve learned at the end of it. Plus, if anyone wanted words of wisdom about travel, I trust that they would not be looking for them in my blog.

But here are some insights from others, and some non-insightful summaries from me.

Thoughts from my fellow travellers:
“When you’re on your own, it makes you stronger – you have to deal with things by yourself, and you do deal with them by yourself. That’s a confidence builder; you know you’re a strong woman.” – N., Australian.
“You learn how you work with different people, and how you when you put yourself in different situations” – J., Finn
“$&%!” –N., Mexican
“Body language is very helpful.” – M., Greek
“Two people can see the same thing and have a completely different experience of it.” F., Brazilian (comparing her own reaction with the giggly girl next to her at the David)
“It’s warm enough here.” Un-named British Intelligence Officer (OK, not the BEST quote, but the source sounds so James Bond).
“I like to meet new people, learn about how they live.” – M., Italian
“Whatever it was I was looking for, I’ve found it” – T, Canadian
“You learn about different cultures. People are basically the same everywhere – they care about their families, having a good life. But you meet someone from Mexico – from then on you have an image of Mexico – it’s no longer faceless.” – J., Briton

Lists.
In this feast for the senses, here are some of the dishes:

What I saw.
Already wrote about it. I can’t put “top sights”, there were too many great moments and places.

What I read (and enjoyed):
Left To Tell Imaculee Ilibagiza (from TC)
The Silent Duchess (from Britt)
A Cadfael murder mystery (was in the convent, appropriately enough)
A House in Sicily (borrowed from Janean)
An American Journey, by Alistair Cooke (to be completed – left it in England for my next visit and my Dad’s perusal)
Several Daily Telegraphs
Michelangelo – a biography by Bruno Nardini
Lisa St. Aubin de Teran’s book about Italy (currently in my delayed luggage, can’t remember title)
The freebie Italian newspaper
The Half Blood Prince (JK Rowling)
A Small Place in Italy (Eric Newby, another lend from Janean)
King Leopold’s Ghost, Hochschild
Jesus the Christ, Talmage
“Learn Italian” book – but not nearly enough of it…
Emails and blogs of friends (and a page of birthday wishes from my co-workers that made me smile)

What I listened to:
Reggae in the convent
Mario Biondi – Handful of Soul (first when MarieAngela was playing it while cooking in the convent)
Grace Kelly, by Mika (on the bus, on the daily quiz show in the convent, in shops, in the bar in a hostel in Rome)
Church bells – sometimes the only sound in the morning in Florence.
Italian opera, natch.

What I smelled:
Urine in stations, especially on wet days – bleh. And really hot days. So pretty much always at the station
Wisteria, roses, lavender
Body odour
Lemon trees (very pretty. And the lemon flower is sweet…)
Good food cooking– garlic, onions, cakes, pasta, fish and chips, bakeries in the morning
Cigarette smoke

What I did and didn’t touch:
Didn’t (notable because it was HARD – I love nice fabrics and textures)
The costumes in the costume museum at the Pitti
The mosaic tables in the Pitti
The silk-covered walls at Tyntesfield
Did:
Unusual fruits and veg at the market in Vienna
Weeds
The candle/torch hole up a few feet in the rock face at the Bacchanalian temple
Nettles
The cats and kittens at the cat show
Marble
The Mediterranean

What I spoke:
English, German, French, Italian, Spanish! How impressive that would be if any of it was in complete sentences other than English. But my Italian did get better, at least.

What I ate:
I think we all know the answer to that is “way too much.”

And my top travel advice: If you’re going to do as many stupid things and get lost as often as I, make sure you always have cash, something to read, an umbrella, remember your yoga breathing, and try to see it as An Adventure.

And, I didn’t plan to begin and end with this, but here’s Billy Joel again. See what he says to you.

Vienna

Slow down, you crazy child
You're so ambitious for a juvenile
But then if you're so smart, tell me
Why are you still so afraid?
Where's the fire, what's the hurry about?
You'd better cool it off before you burn it out
You've got so much to do and
Only so many hours in a day

But you know that when the truth is told..
That you can get what you want or you can just get old
You're gonna kick off before you even
Get halfway through
When will you realize, Vienna waits for you?

Slow down, you're doing fine
You can't be everything you want to be
Before your time
Although it's so romantic on the borderline tonight
Tonight,...
Too bad but it's the life you lead
You're so ahead of yourself that you forgot what you need
Though you can see when you're wrong, you know
You can't always see when you're right. you're right

You've got your passion, you've got your pride
But don't you know that only fools are satisfied?
Dream on, but don't imagine they'll all come true
When will you realize, Vienna waits for you?

Slow down, you crazy child
And take the phone off the hook and disappear for a while
It's all right, you can afford to lose a day or two
When will you realize,..Vienna waits for you?
And you know that when the truth is told
That you can get what you want or you can just get old
You're gonna kick off before you even get halfway through
Why don't you realize... Vienna waits for you
When will you realize, Vienna waits for you?