Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
He pointed down the road to a small pathway that was covered by trees as well as by
darkness. It had been right there all along, but I never would have found it.
“Grazie mille!” I exclaimed before returning to my native tongue, “Oh, thank you, thank
you, thank you.”
I got back on my bike and finished my prayer.
As I was saying, universe, you rule. Really you do. And so do you, Kindness One. And
so does everyone on the face of this planet. We all rule. Wait, does that really mean I have
to become a Hare Krishna?
* * *
As I approached the tall, metal gates of what looked like a rather large villa, all I could do
was hope that my Italian friend had actually sent me to the right place. Otherwise, I would
be riding into a random man's house in the middle of the night. In America, I would most
likely have been shot. In Italy, maybe strangled with spaghetti? All I knew was that it was
too late to turn back. I opened up the gate and drove into the dirt yard that stretched across
the front of the old house. I went up to the door and knocked. I looked around and waited.
Okay, universe, if Filipo answers, I will . . .
But before I could make another bargain, the door swung open, and an older man in a
crisp, button-down shirt and fine leather loafers came out to greet me. He smiled broadly
as he announced, “Benvenuto, Leon!”
Filipo immediately pulled me into his house, as though we had known each other
forever. I was just another good friend coming to stay the night, and I immediately felt at
ease.
“Do you know how difficult it was to find you?” I laughed, still giddy from locating his
darkened villa in the middle of a moonless night.
“Long road, huh?” he replied, his voice speaking of an empathy that I wished I were
better at offering. It wasn't the “Poor Leon” sympathy I had craved as a child, but the, “You
will make it” faith that I hoped to give to everyone I met.
Filipo's cool only seemed to highlight my excitement as I offered him my tale, “I got
completely lost for hours, and I didn't know where I was, and I stopped this guy in the
car, and I said to him, 'Do you know Filipo?' I didn't think he would know you, but then
he said, 'Yes'—well, 'Si!'—and he told me where you were, and I was like, 'This is just
crazy.' And here we are!”
