Under the Tuscan Sun The train begins to pull away from the small Swiss station. I look at my watch. It's 11 p.m. Sleep beckons me. The narrow bed is hard, but as I lie down, my body and mind sink into unconsciousness. Dreams consume the night. It's a country I've only imagined but have felt drawn to through stories of my ancestors who originated from this unfamiliar place. Finally, those images are about to become reality. The sun seeps through the cracks of the shaded window. I awake, my heart pounding with excitement. As I swing open the door of the couchette my eyes are amazed. Pulling down the window the warm air hits my face, sunflowers cover the terra cotta colored hillside with their faces smiling towards the morning sun. Villas and farm houses are sporadically spread across the landscape. The train pulls into the Firenze station. I step off and find myself experiencing some of the thoughts and feelings evoked in Under The Tuscan Sun, a New York Times number one bestseller written by Frances Mayes, a creative writing professor at San Francisco State University. The urge to begin again and reinvent a life, to look for something enormous, something to occupy psychic space is the feeling expressed in this non-fictional journey. How do you find that after being married for a good portion of your life, raising a family and carrying a career with the end result being divorce? The way to do it is to make a promise to yourself to travel to a new land each summer. What happens when during those summer adventures you find that you have fallen in love with a place? The solution: gather a lifetime worth of savings and buy an abandoned villa known as Bramasole: bramare meaning, to yearn for, and sole, meaning sun, in Cortona a town in the Tuscan countryside and restore it. Throughout the whole restoration process from beginning to end, Under the Tuscan Sun creates vivid imagery, scents, tastes and an underlying sense of turning dreams into reality. Mayes feels a strong sense of freedom in what she has done and how she has changed her life. "Reconstructing a house offers many challenges," says Mayes, "but it's a way of changing the things I don't like in my own life and house." It was easy to relate to this travel memoir because of the strong desire I felt to change and find myself. I felt a void in my own life. There was such a strong need to be set free, to explore and become in touch with different cultures and people. I found this during a summer long trip to Europe, especially in Italy, where there is a connection to my own roots. Outside the train station the air is humid but I find myself unfazed. After longing for the chance to go to Italy my dreams are a reality. I take everything in as I ponder my next move. This back-pack is a constant reminder of the freedom I have to move about. A place to stay is where I shall begin. Is Bramasole anywhere near? Felicity John editor in chief |ISSUE #3|FEATURES|A&E|INVESTIGATIVE| |GREEN WATCH|IN MOTION|FYI|INDEX|