28. Wonderful People Are Wonderful!

I'd written a whole post this morning while I saw at a restaurant, and then the day got way more interesting, because I came across a bunch of individuals that made my life awesome today.

I'll explain.

I thrive on human communication. I think it's the reason we exist, and I think it's the single most important thing in life. Not money, not things. I mean, I like things, I like having things, and I like that money can help me travel, but they're not "the point". 

The point, to me, is meeting different people, learning different perspectives, and the beauty of life is being able to do that and have the freedom to decide whether you agree with those perspectives or not, and whether they can further influence the ones you current hold.

Growing. Not standing still. Not accepting that something "is what it is", and pushing for what could be.

Yes, Oprah is beside me on the plane. 

I have met four people / groups of people today that have brought me back from a slight brain detour. I say detour because travelling in countries in which you don't speak the language can be a challenge. Not because I can't order the cheese I want, or can't figure out which road to take. But because I can't converse. I don't have people to connect with in a conversational way. You can make out some words, you can gesture, and you can certainly make it work, but it's not a connection. It can't be, because language is such an important part of a connection with someone. 

Here are the people I met.

Apartment Guy

I met him on Sunday when he checked in at the AirBNB location I was also at. He was also travelling on his own. He's a man in his 50's or 60's, and from Australia. We hadn't spoken much, just a kind hello as one or the other left the apartment. Today I was killing time before I checked out (you'll see later in the original blog post I wrote), and he walked in. He'd left very early (I'd like to that the workers who built the building for their revolutionary tissue paper walls that look like drywall... it was really quite impressive, the amount of sound that came through), and was back to grab his umbrella. We talked for an hour and a half about travel, life back home (respectively), and then got into life philosophy what the "point" is. Now, he's quite a bit older than I am, and it was very, very cool that we both had nearly identical perspectives:

1. Live while you can, because you never know

2. Save for experiences, not things

3. Live for yourself, not others expectations

4. Be you, not the dictation of "you" that society gave you that day they realized you were different

5. Breath

He made my morning lovely, and based on our chat and my previous obsessions and loose plans, my next trip will be to Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand. Done. Not booked, but done.

Ladies on the Street

I've found myself reaching out to people who looked lost in Venice, because I got lost a lot. I mean, a lot. I have LTE, and paper maps just will not do in Venice. I saw these two women walking as I was going up the ramp to the boat to go to the airport. They looked lost, and I heard them say, "Well no, it's this way!" to each other. I paused and asked if I could help. They say no, but we ended up chatting around travel, life back home in San Francisco for them, and Toronto for me. We laughed a lot, and even griped about how difficult it was to maneuver in Venice. We also mentioned that we just want our bathtubs with a shower in them back, none of this shower and no tub, or shower separate from the tub. Silly things like that, which aren't even real complaints, kept us talking, in the rain, for half an hour. They're leaving tomorrow, and we both said we'd wished we'd met earlier and we could have saved each other from getting lost and hung out. They were a damn treat!

A few pictures of the platform that you wait for the boat to the airport in.

Lady in the Airport

I was sitting in a veeeeery comfortable airport seat at the Marco Polo airport in Venice, and a woman came over and crouched down near me to charge her phone at a nearby outlet. I ended up asking her if she was going to Lisbon, because the signage was a little whack, so wanted to be sure that I was in the right place. 

I was. And so was she. 

We ended up talking for over an hour, we even eventually lined up together. She's moving to be with her husband in Bogota. She's left her mother, sisters, and dog (she is equally sad about all, hahah), to move with her husband, who she's been away from for a year and a half. He got a job there and her business back home didn't work out, so she's moving to be with him.

She's an absolute doll, and she and I discussed classes she could take, cooking she could try, and other things she could do while her husband is the only one working for the first little while. She talked about winter in her home country, and it sounds pretty identical to the ones in Toronto, so we had a laugh about how ridiculous those can be. 

And then the funniest thing is, I couldn't get an emergency exit seat for reasons I won't bore you with here, and the flight was sold out. Except a fluke where she had an empty seat right beside her! She offered for me to change seats with her, but I didn't because the people in front of her put their seat all the say back, so it was better to stay where I was. But how funny that she and I would become flight friends, and the exact answer I needed sat with her? This world, I tell ya.

She and I exchanged information and we're going to add each other to Facebook.

Ladies on the Plane

If Lisbon is anything close to how lovely these two ladies were, we're in business! I sat down, absolutely crammed in my seat (I will definitely have bruises on my knees in a day or two) and these two sweet, adorable, older Portuguese women sat next to me. We ended up talking almost the whole flight, and they told me many, many things that I absolutely must do in Lisbon. The trick will be remembering them all, but I shall do my best.

We talked about design, their travelling (they're sisters), and mine. They were so adorable. There were sisterly arguments as one recommended something to me and the other didn't agree. Just wonderful.

They gave me each of their numbers and emails and said to contact them if I have any questions, and that they're not too busy so they're around. 

How amazing is that?

Anyhow, those were the wonderful people that I met all in one day. This has been rare on this trip, meeting even one person like this a week or two, so I was very grateful for today.

Moving on... you guys, I'm 27 days in to this thing! When did that happen?

It's been five cities, now onto the sixth, and then a short repeat stay in the seventh. 

This morning in Venice was dreary, it was rainy and cold, but I couldnt complain because it'd been a pretty great morning. The place I am (was) staying said I had to be out by 10am. Totally fair, and within the rules I'd agreed to. I'd spoken to the woman about a possible extension, and she said that's maybe a possibility, and that she'd let me know. We eventually connected and said it was not possible because there's someone coming in to clean at 10am. Makes sense, so I got up, and was ready to leave by 10:10am.

My dilemma is that I wasn't flying out until 5:15pm today. And so I'd have 4.5 hours to kill before I go to the airport. That's a long time with a suitcase in one hand, umbrella in the other, trapsing cobble stone streets. Not a complaint (well, slightly), but I didn't want to go far because the boat to the airport is near where I was, and I constantly got lost every day, so couldn't risk missing it. 

What ended up happening is that I hung out in the kitchen until 10:30am, the room all cleaned and ready for whomever to come in and clean it more. I heard the door, announced that I was there, and it turned out to be the apartment guy from above.

Do you think the cleaner came at any point in our hour and a half long chat? Nope. 

I was meant to rush out for 10am, but 12pm came, and no one. I guess the good news is that I had a recalibration conversation with this lovely man, and got to stay out of the rain... and didn't "get caught" staying later. Though clearly I wouldn't get in trouble if I was talking to a current tenant!

Anyhoo, then I went to Gam Gam again, and had some pretty delicious matzo ball soup.

Ah, yes, I should show you the place I stayed in Venice! It's pretty adorable, thought old school as all hell! 

When you book with AirBNB you can specify some things, clearly a hairdryer isn't that big do a deal, so it's not on the list. I always ask, because it's one less thing to pack. I asked and they said yes.

This is "yes". 

You guys, can we have a moment for this incredible relic?

It actually works, thought you can't turn it on an angle at all, or the broken plastic side (not shown here) hits the fan and it sounds like the end is coming. 

It did the trick, and I managed to get through with not horrible hair days. Unlike Berlin, which had an impressive-as-hell dryer, and just the worst hair days ever.

........

I'm in Lisbon now, and the place I am staying is wooooonderful! It's on the top of all of the hills in life, but, you know, taxis.

I will end this post with pictures of what I are for dinner here, my first Portuguese meal!

It was sooooooo good!

The chicken though... oh my word!

And with those delicious gems, I but you all a gooooooood night!