17 September 2009

Another homecoming


I am almost jumping out of my skin! Tonight I return to Venice.

It’s just for a brief holiday. I will be a tourist again, and it seems like that will be the hardest part for me. I keep wondering, How will it feel to pass by my house on Calle dei Fuseri? But maybe my status was changed by my extended residency. Maybe I’ll never really be a tourist in Venice again.

Anyway, tourist or not, I will stay at Hotel Bel Sito again (albeit in the little “nun’s cell” rather than in my usual room with its balcony and bathtub – finances just wouldn’t permit that luxury this time). The important thing is, I will celebrate my birthday among friends in La Serenissima again.

I also wonder, Is there any other madness as sweet as obsessive anticipation? It seems just like old times around here…

I have counted down the days, just as I always used to do.

I have exchanged excited email with the friends I expect to see again.

I have made sightseeing and study notes from my many books – amazing that there is still so much for the lady Venice to reveal to me.

I have outlined the days and nights of my holiday calendar, without cramping the ever-hovering spirit of Serendipity, a surprisingly frequent phenomenon in Venice.

I have indulged in my very favorite form of OCD – packing, unpacking, and re-packing – more than a few times.

I have been trimmed, styled, manicured, pedicured, polished, waxed, and threaded.

And, of course, I did not sleep a wink last night. Good! That means I will dream away this dark transatlantic night and wake up tomorrow morning, watching the Alps give way to the blue-green lagoon…

Finalmente! The SuperShuttle van is due in just minutes… I am on my way home again!