I don't really like Superman, most of the time he has things under control he doesn't seem to suffer like we do but when I was young I used to love that quote "It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Superman".
As the date to the trip approached, The recurring question was "whats your plan?". My plan after a few weeks of listening to Leonardo DaVinci's biography on my commute to work, I have a hard time reading so I have to use audiobooks, was to experience Italy as DaVinci did, so I was going to Land in Rome, go to Florence and then Milan for my Italian experience after that I was going to fly to Athens and see where Socrates gave births to thoughts, no number of days defined for any city just go with the flow, which meant I had no hotels, tours to be honest I didn't even have a clue of what I was going to actually see in each city. I just wanted to walk the same streets as my muses.
I would fantasize every day on how amazing this experience was going to be but as Lao Tse said "if you are anxious, you are living in the future". So to avoid disillusion I stopped listening to the biography and disconnected myself from the event. I bought everything and booked the airbnb the day before the trip and didn't get my bag ready until the day off. I went to the office to say goodbye to my friends and James my favorite sales person said "doktor this is one of those trips thats going to change your life", to which I responded "I hope so" and yes its a k, I've been doktordan since 2000, I looked up to my brother who went by doktorlet.
My flight itinerary was Boston -> Toronto and Toronto -> Rome, short flights don't concern me as much. I can distract my mind writing or listening to music. The real herculean labor was Toronto to Rome, as I said before I cant sleep much the night before and I cant sleep on the plane either. My body feels tired but not getting caught off guard is more important then rest. Usually the first few hours of a plane ride are the hardest on me, there is some sort of acceptance by the end of the flight.
I landed in Rome and my roaming was barely working. I took a train from the airport to the city and decided there was no rush on getting anywhere, So I went for a walk after 24h of no sleep. A long walk, an hour walk with no internet only a dropped pin on google maps. I thought go big or go home and at this point in my life, Im no longer sure where home is so had to go big.
After 30 minutes of walking through Rome I thought for sure the wheels of my suitcase where going to give up on me. The stone streets look beautiful but they don't get along with suitcases, I thought I'll deal with it if it happens. I think the suitcase had something to proof to herself too and it endured. It took over 80 minutes to get to the airbnb, I mean what did you guys expect its my first time in Rome and all I got is a map with no routes but I made it and finally got to lay on a bed. I realized when I was trying to plug my phone I had no adapters, this kind of things never bother me because the unexpected is were the fun is at.
I took a nap and went to Saint Peter's Basilica, as I saw all the saints judging me from above I started wondering what am I actually doing here. Who am I actually searching for, am I still looking for God, am I chasing ghosts why am I destroying my body like this. It started raining and my first instinct was to leave but instead I decided to sit down in front of the basilica in a lotus flower position, I was wearing my purple Kobe hoodie and took the hood off so I could feel the water. I mean let's be dramatic, Im across the world unsure of what Im trying to accomplish. I look at people rushing to take selfies and part of me wishes I was them, that I could be happy like that. After Im soaking wet I decide, I'll probably get sick so I walk back.
At this point Im hungry, there were many restaurants I could've bought food at. There was this man outside of his restaurant under the rain asking people to come in, the restaurant was empty and I felt bad for him. I thought this man deserves a shot people are judging him on looks, I know what your thinking don't do it thats a red flag and you know what? your right I never thought I would have the worst Italian food in my life in Rome.
I buy the adapter get back to the airbnb, take a shower, lay in bed and I cant go to sleep. Im exhausted, the walls start shrinking, there are so many ambulance noises, I start regretting every decision that got me to that bed, to that moment, to that feeling, Im not superman...
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