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june is almost gone. heat waves must be moving up at a crawl from the south. but i’m not particularly keen on the high summer, when temperatures would go up to 36˚c and never drop below 33˚c (91˚f) during the day time. i couldn’t bear the humidity of our japanese climate. i wouldn’t survive either without my air conditioner, although i don’t like it on.
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a mediterranean climate would be perfect for me to spend summers. south california, andalusia, tuscany and sicily are the best keywords to get closer to my kind of bliss. i miss the breeze from the lush valley or the calm sea. 15 summers ago, i went on my p'tit grand tour in late june. i first flew from tokyo to roma and travelled by rail to firenze and venezia (names in italiano sounds so much nicer). that was my first visit to italia and i loved it there. actually, the very moment i reached santa lucia station i was so smitten by the melancholic feel of venezia, the elegant city floating on, or sinking into? the adriatic sea.
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the sea, i clearly remember, as much as my eyes could see from the water bus i took was surreal turquoise blue. i strolled under the summer sun and sat for a while at an alfresco café table in piazza san marco where a local band played the theme tune of ‘summer madness’ over and over again. on the way back to my hotel i crossed the bridges then i got lost in dead-end alleys a few times. venezia is indeed labyrinthine. venezia is also romantic. it wasn’t a place to holiday alone. loneliness utterly engulfed me, making me feel like running away. i could not cope with it for the first time in my life.
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so the following day i left the achingly beautiful city by the night train, which was named ‘le corbusier’ if my memory serves me, for paris. in the sleeper compartment, two more passengers showed up after me. one was a young italian student who was doing his phd in theory of baroque opera at università ca' foscari and another was a jewish lady from paris who’d visited her cousin. we had chats until the light was turned off. when the sleeper delivered us to gare de lyon (or bercy?) early in the following morning, we got ready to set off and we wished each other a good luck. after i bade good bye to the young man on the platform he quickly disappeared into the crowd…i wonder why summertime memories are always sentimental like this way.
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imagining myself having a mediterranean summer takes me back to italia. but at the same time, it leaves me even more disappointed at the fact that i’m definitely summering here at ‘home sauna’. i’m sure it is going to be another unbearable one owing to the global warming. what could make me happy and positive towards the high summer, then? ok. there’s one more fact: this sticky, muggy, sweat climate is extremely good for my dry skin. i really should think i’m lucky.
*
a mediterranean climate would be perfect for me to spend summers. south california, andalusia, tuscany and sicily are the best keywords to get closer to my kind of bliss. i miss the breeze from the lush valley or the calm sea. 15 summers ago, i went on my p'tit grand tour in late june. i first flew from tokyo to roma and travelled by rail to firenze and venezia (names in italiano sounds so much nicer). that was my first visit to italia and i loved it there. actually, the very moment i reached santa lucia station i was so smitten by the melancholic feel of venezia, the elegant city floating on, or sinking into? the adriatic sea.
*
the sea, i clearly remember, as much as my eyes could see from the water bus i took was surreal turquoise blue. i strolled under the summer sun and sat for a while at an alfresco café table in piazza san marco where a local band played the theme tune of ‘summer madness’ over and over again. on the way back to my hotel i crossed the bridges then i got lost in dead-end alleys a few times. venezia is indeed labyrinthine. venezia is also romantic. it wasn’t a place to holiday alone. loneliness utterly engulfed me, making me feel like running away. i could not cope with it for the first time in my life.
*
so the following day i left the achingly beautiful city by the night train, which was named ‘le corbusier’ if my memory serves me, for paris. in the sleeper compartment, two more passengers showed up after me. one was a young italian student who was doing his phd in theory of baroque opera at università ca' foscari and another was a jewish lady from paris who’d visited her cousin. we had chats until the light was turned off. when the sleeper delivered us to gare de lyon (or bercy?) early in the following morning, we got ready to set off and we wished each other a good luck. after i bade good bye to the young man on the platform he quickly disappeared into the crowd…i wonder why summertime memories are always sentimental like this way.
*
imagining myself having a mediterranean summer takes me back to italia. but at the same time, it leaves me even more disappointed at the fact that i’m definitely summering here at ‘home sauna’. i’m sure it is going to be another unbearable one owing to the global warming. what could make me happy and positive towards the high summer, then? ok. there’s one more fact: this sticky, muggy, sweat climate is extremely good for my dry skin. i really should think i’m lucky.
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