After just a few meters, a window grabs her attention: local life painted by street artists. The exhibition has only just opened; she hesitates... can she afford to deviate from her itinerary, probably not? Her watch shows 07:12 and seems to be saying that her indecisiveness has already cost her 2 minutes. Finally her curiosity gets the better of her and she heads the museum... but again she stops: a hidden church, a little marvel tucked away on the corner of the street. Gothic? Roman? Impossible to say. She disappears inside to find out. Emerging in a state of wonder, already she knows she'll be distracted by her another treasure in a matter of seconds. She has given up trying to resist her curiosity; her original itinerary seems distant and irrelevant. 10:30, according to her watch. 11:00... midday... 02:00...She's unstoppable. Hidden arcades, charming fountains, little cafes, and hideaways, musicians, flea markets, building facades, bazaars... Riches everywhere she turns... So afraid is she missing something that she devours this microcosm of the giant city with her eyes, as if tomorrow she might wake up blind.
Her time shows 5:00. Turning around, she is stunned to realize that she is 500 meters from her hotel. She hasn't even left the district where she started. All this beauty, so close to her left unobserved. She had never taken the time to notice it.
She smiles as she ponders her day, her journey of 500 meters which took skyscrapers, no official museums, no imperial monuments, no chic restaurants. And yet, she reflects, she didn't miss a single part of the real spectacle, the true hidden beauty visible to those who really look.
She turns around and heads back, feeling light and happy, this time she didn't bring her camera. She's just being with herself.
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| Cris is her name, and she definitely has time to discover the world! :) |
