Hello Italy

Joburg to Rome via Addis Abbaba.  And finally Firenze.  The old man sitting on the pavement outside the corner cafe is still there.  A continuous fixed point.  The old woman with the pink hair, the fur coat, the lace gloves and the gold takkies passes me. On her way to anywhere.  I lug my now very heavy suitcase to our apartment past the Madonna and child painting which three years ago, at the beginning of this massive journey, I stood beneath crying.  24 hours later and I'm back in my old room.  The familiar sound of wheels on wet tar.  A church bell tolls.  A distant dog barks.  Third year has began.  Hello Italy.  Ciao Firenze.

(see full image)