Tourists!!

Panorama - by Derek Neal

The town had only one grocery store, and Steve wondered where the locals did their shopping. Certainly not here, but perhaps in a supermarket outside of town, one that required a car. Along with Julia, he picked up some Italian cheese, prosciutto, grapes, and a bottle of local wine, and they made their way up the hill to the house they’d rented for the week.

The two friends from college were proud of themselves. They weren’t staying next to the sea with the rest of the tourists, but in a different village altogether, one that required a short bus ride and where no other passengers got off. In the village, the few streets that existed were carved into the hillside, each one so narrow that they were forced to walk behind one another, instead of side by side.

It had been a long day, and they felt they deserved to indulge. They’d gone hiking high above the town, starting early and rising with the sun. The trail followed the curve of the hills, the open sea to one side, vineyards to the other. What lay before them not visible beyond a few yards. They heard fellow hikers before seeing them, but rarely was any Italian heard. When two groups passed each other, each group always smiled and let out a garbled “Buongiorno,” before reverting to their respective languages. Steve complied and mumbled “Ciao” a few times, but soon he began to feel like an imposter, playing at being Italian, or playing at being whatever it was people thought being Italian meant, and he resigned himself to nodding politely in response to the other travelers.

Back at the house, they opened the windows to let the late afternoon sunshine in, and realized they could access a small platform via their own bedroom window. It seemed to be a sort of roof, but instead of a house below, there was a suspended passageway that you could pass beneath. Steve climbed through the open window, and from inside Julia passed him a plastic table, two chairs, and what they’d bought at the store. Once everything had been arranged, it was a sight to behold: on one side, the hills bathed in light from the low hanging sun, on the other, the pink and yellow hued town perched atop the blue sea; then there were the two of them, and a plate of rich, sumptuous food in the middle.

They touched their wine glasses together, looked each other in the eye, and made a toast: “To Italy!”

Read More:  3 Quarks Daily