Coming and Going

I left Switzerland last Friday morning and I need to reflect more on my experiences there before I write on Basel as a whole. I have to admit it is somewhat shocking to live in the phenomenon I've studied and read about but never seen firsthand, that is, post-Christian Europe. My time there was relatively short, but I will return at the tail-end of my trip and so will most likely write on the city between two countries when I return to the States.

I now reside in Sestri Levante, Italy (decidedly not post-Christian), a small beach city on the northwest coast of the good ol' boot, where the internet is an endangered species and no one but me speaks English. This will be my home for the next 5 weeks and I can't say I'm unhappy about it.

Sestri is a small mushroom shaped peninsula and as such is known as 'La città de due mare' or 'the city of two seas'. Because of its shape, there are two bays on either side and at some points the land is narrow enough that you can turn your head right and look at one and turn your head left and look at the other without ever moving your feet. The northwest Italian coast is also dotted with mountains so when I leave the beach my vista is the low green mountains of the Alps. Not a bad way to live.

There's not too much to the city - sort of your typical slow and layed-back beach town. I have found a couple of places I really enjoy already though; one is called 'Baia del Silenzio' or 'Bay of Silence', but I think it sounds much nicer in Italian. It's the smaller less populated bay and you can hike up to a point on the mainland where you can see the peninsula of Sestri and across it to the other bay. No one goes up there because it's quite a steep climb, but the view is worth it. I stay up up there and read when I get a chance to go in the daytime or just take in the moon's reflection on the Adriatic if I go up after the sun has set. Not exactly the best way to practice my Italian, but now that I'm living with the Levis, a silent moment is difficult to find.

And speaking of the Levis, next time I will write the tail of Daniel and the lego man. It qualifies as a Shakesperian tragedy.