abandoning today, beginning again tomorrow

I stand next to you; a stranger. For the next 10 days your world becomes mine... I follow you through the streets of Paris down corridors to restaurants with accordion players, past the windmill to night mass at Sacre-Coeur, run down the steps too tired to think how many there were, waiting to hear "Charles DE Gaulle" in the monotone voice of the metro signalling that we would get to rest for a few hours. Walked through Normandy, ate a galette by the sea, saw where the soldiers lie. Take the night train with you. Wake up to Firenza. You left today but you are replaced by a lady who walks us past old prisons and tells us about the leather industry. Lets us wander the markets and climb the bell tower of Il Duomo. We ate dinner not far from the hotel but far enough to take a detour to see her old apartment on the way back. She laughs at my broken Italian, unlike how you just smiled knowing I tried my hardest with French. I got to see the shopping district through the eyes of a companion. She held tastes that I hoped would not be brought to light when she did my makeup that evening. Ortona, with you again. The sand so white with perfect shells meant for long walks as the sunset. You decided it was best not to take dinner on Italian time, my time, just to watch the sun drop over the Adriatic. Early up to meet Tomas who would guide us through Roma. To him, life was more mellow. The bustle of tourists and the strict schedule was not to help in savouring in all life had to offer. Two hours here, 3 there, the days left in your world were fleeting. The Spanish Steps, the Coliseum, the Vatican... but those were not the sights you really wanted to show us. Frascati, the little village on the hill just outside the city. How the hill lit up the sky. How we could sit with gelato and talk for hours.How we could just enjoy company, or silence, or food, or stairs, or the old that was seen as new, or anonymity... How precious time is, or seeing the world through someone else's eyes...