It was a chilly September day and I was wandering through the streets and museums of Zurich when I saw this couple by the river. Looking at them warmed the day. The tenderness and emotional interchange felt contagious. I took that warmth back to enjoy dinner and wine with the gallery owners. I had brought a bottle of Nova 7 with me. It was recommended by the woman at the liquor commission when I said I was looking for some wine that would be about Nova Scotia. At first I thought ice wine. But now Nova 7 has become my favorite. I’m not much of a wine drinker, actually prefer beer, but this is special. We sat around before dinner sipping the wine and exclaiming its beauty. Nice.
The night before I had an exhibit opening at the Halde Galerie. The trip getting across the pond was not easy. I had planned on arriving on Thursday as the opening reception was on Friday. But when I was sitting in the Montreal airport, already ticketed, waiting to get on the plane going to Zurich, I was called up to the desk and told I couldn’t board. My passport had two months until expiry and apparently I needed three months leeway. I spent the night in Montreal, compliments of Air Canada, renewed my passport the next morning (for ten years!) and continued on to Zurich, finally.
I arrived on the morning of the vernisage, went for an afternoon drive up a mountain with my generous host, enjoyed the view and a delicious Swiss ice cream, and then there was the opening reception that evening.
On Sunday I took a train to Paris for a week’s stay. That is a very different story, one for another day.
What does all this have to do with love? Just that I learned a lot about patience and pleasure on this trip. Despite various hardships, it was a warm and loving experience. Love asks you to deepen your methods of learning and communication. Learn not to take anything or any one at face value. Take the time and make the effort to look beyond façade, get to know the real person beneath those layers, get to know the real person you are.
This post was inspired by a photo/travel blog I follow. At the end of her post on Travel theme: Love, Ailsa posted these two quotes:
Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive. — Dalai Lama
A coward is incapable of exhibiting love; it is the prerogative of the brave. – Mahatma Gandhi
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