323. Holidays: To Go or Not To Go
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| Venice |
This week begins what I call the great exodus, meaning that
from the 15th which is a bank holiday, onwards, most of Italy shuts
down. Shops are closed and only the
occasional baker is open. Offices are
closed, expect for vital ones like the post office, and not all of them at
that. Up to just a few years ago even
grocery stores were closed. The streets
are empty of people and cars, the urban areas and town centers seem to have
turned into ghost towns.
You will find Italians splashing in the sea, hiking on
mountains and some even visiting what are called “art” cities like Venice or
Rome and many other like cities, even if not so well known because Italy hosts
2/5th (I think, if not more) of the world art treasures. And while other Italians take off to some exotic place or
other many tourist from abroad come to populate the endless stretches of
beaches, the mountains and the art cities.
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| Not all the world goes on holiday |
You may wonder why I am writing about the obvious. Well, I have often wondered why people consider
having a holiday, going somewhere, seeing something, doing something different
is so vitally important to the majority of mortals. The answer to that is obvious- or is it?
Perhaps not so much in our Western world but beyond it, there are
millions of people who don’t go on holiday and even in our world, before the
war and for a decade or two afterwards few knew what a Blackpool stick of rock
was, and yet I don’t think we were much scarred by it.
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| As kids we had Walsall Arboretum at home |
But today, today is different, if you don’t go on
holiday, you simply are just not normal.
And I sigh at the thought of packing my bag, being stuck in a car jam,
endless searching and queuing at airports, museums, churches or whatever,
hotels that make you feel better off in your own shed, packed like sardines
under one sun shade next to another… maybe I’m getting old but I’m sticking to
my all time policy on travelling- if I don’t need to go… I just won’t.
Ahhh Sigh… why do
I write such irksome posts?
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| Florence: a school outing |
