Italian Retreat
A one-minute story - ✈️TRAVEL
I have escaped from my work and from the seething miasma that is Milan. I am taking a well-earned retreat for four days at a small monastery run by Dominicans on the shore of Lago Maggiore.
How ironic it is that in Milan, a staggeringly oppressive city of over three million souls, I feel so isolated and alone, while here in the cloister, behind secluded stone walls, I have found a family — several lay brothers, two aunties who do the cooking, and a handful of frazzled businessmen, apparently trying to regain their equilibrium.
For four days we nod at each other passing in the corridors and say little more than “Buon giorno”, “Buona sera” and “Buon appetito”. It is enough.
Here are two more stories of travel in Italy you might like: - just click
Such a thought-provoking post, Sharron - thank you. What a wonderful retreat.
I agree that bustling cities can feel isolating. The years I lived in cities were the loneliest of my life - on the surface it didn't show, because (at the time at least) I had a very active social life and was busy doing all sorts of exciting things, but gosh, deep down it was all a big load of ice-cold empty nothing. Not just with hindsight - it felt like that at the time, too.
Do you know the song 'I am a rock' by Simon and Garfunkel? It's about loneliness, but I adore it - it's one of my favourites. I mention it because the following lines from it popped into my head as I've been writing this comment: "I have my books and my poetry to protect me", and "hiding in my room safe within my womb I touch no-one and no-one touches me".