Orvieto

Here is an excerpt from an email I just sent to Jax's mom, Maggie about Orvieto...

I write this as the cathedral bells chime to signify the close of mass on a mild sunday afternoon in the sleepy Umbrian town of Orvieto, Italy. It is idyllic here...too hearty to be only quaint...the streets filled with families. The two year olds toddle between the ninty year olds with canes, everyone talking over each other in Italian. My casement window stands about seven feet tall and swings open onto a cobbled lane and the smell of wood smoke. This place slows me down and makes me ache for things I did not know I wanted. I like it here.

We were supposed to end up in Cortona, but our hostel got booked up and the winds of fate took us here instead. Life's greatest gems occur when the life you planned to have is thrown a wrench. We ended up choosing Orvieto for no apparant reason. When we arrived here by train we couldn't even find it...until we looked straight up into the sky and, like a heaven, there is sat, perched atop a hill and some perfect clouds.

Last night, getting choked up, Lee and I admitted that Italy - especially Tuscany/Umbria - has exceeded our wildest dreams. If only I could capture the sweet smell in the air here and bring it back in a bottle! To rent a room overtop a jazz joint and to see communities hang out in the middle of laneways with their children after having just attended the theatre...it is like we are writing a movie plot, but better. I love it here and will be sad to leave.

Today we are heading to a little tiny town of 30 people by bus called Civita Di Bagnoregio for a small tour and walk and tomorrow will most likely explore the caves that exist under Orvieto. But really, it is the writing letters and living life so slowly and reading and napping here that has put me in this state of blissful splendor.

I wonder if I will like France half as much?? We go to Paris on Wednesday and will climb the Eiffel Tower. We are also hoping JoJo -- the friend of Lee's that is supposed to take care of us for most of February --- shows up. If not, we will become creative with our itinery and our bank accounts.

Being away from Jax after barely having got ahold of him is taking its toll. Orvieto has played havoc with my heart --- so freshly healed --- and makes me want to, all at once, run home and run away. It is when I get quiet that I still feel the anger toward Jordan bubbling up every now and then and I realize that a wound unhealed with follow you to the ends of the earth. Someone loving you but not choosing you still hurts, even in Italy. Falling in love with someone new is still a big leap, even when you stand on top of the Eiffel Tower.

Ah, I said this trip would be life altering and I was correct.

And I can't imagine ever leaving.

And I can't wait to come home.