In our own steps

Why would anyone buy a book or a magazine about places they know already? It is as if they were walking in their own steps, I guess... There can be so much happiness in the rediscovery through someone else's eyes, I have found at my own expense when leafing through pages of Ulysse first and of Pia's latest lovely creation. In a way, this is also why I am so eager to know what dear friends thought about a place I know and have visited many times: it is risky to pop the question, but so rewarding too because you are let into their own experience and appreciation (or lack of it)... As a result, it adds a rich layer of feelings and thoughts and that is also probably the all point of sharing in the first place.

Reading is a bit more difficult to share right on the spot, but at least it traslates the willingness on the part of the reader to open up not just the cover, but also to new visions. So this is what I did when I bought a copy of Ulysse all dedicated to Italy, my home country or where the heart is, if you prefer. The Dolomites are vividly described just as the quaint shores of Lake Como where we admired intimate and breathless views no later than last summer... A flood of memories hit me with no nostalgia, just a shining happiness kindled inside with a smile on my face as I lay on the couch with the description of these cherished treasures...

Pia has offered me the same experience on the urban side of the world, taking me back to the small and winding streets of Amsterdam to try and find out about the latest vintage store (did anyone say that "vintage" is a word to be banished from fashion?!) or dusty workshop just over the cobbled bridge. What a revival of emotions thanks to her little guide! The "negen straatjes" have no secrets for me and yet, she managed to make me walk in my own steps again to make sure that I had not missed on this particular talent or that small window decorated with wooden flowers... And right she is in offering magic wanders through this village-city because habits do tend to make you unaware of the marvels right at your feet.

And since we are talking of magazines, books and their contents, I will walk hand in hand with the mainstream fashion and suggest these two travel with you on vacation for an added trip to the actual trip. Now, you can't turn this adventurous reading offer down, can you?

Happy summer days and travels to all of you!

Credits: picture 1 - Pia Jane Bijkerk

picture 2: TheDaydreamer