Do you recall the moment in which summer began? That one particular event, that first cold beer perhaps or that first time dining outside of which you now know: yes, that was exactly my first real moment of summer. I remember exactly where and when my summer started this year. It started with rain. A big shower of golden confetti, that is, in the arena in Turin. That night, it was the night the Eurovision Song Contest final took place, would mark the beginning of my favourite season. In the two previous weeks, which we had spent being locked up in that large arena, a transformation had taken place outside. On the first of May, I arrived in Turin dressed in my faux fur coat to keep me warm. Two weeks later, on the day of the finals, the temperature had risen to 30 degrees, although it was only halfway through May. It seemed that summer had come early this year. And summer it would remain for a long time to come.
This summer deserves a big throwback in the form of this Monday blog. Because it’s safe to say that it was quite an unforgettable summer!
But now it’s September. And even though it’s still very warm, you can feel that summer is coming to an end. Just like the first of January, the end of summer always represents a closure, and a new beginning at the same time. But before I look ahead to what is to come, this summer deserves a big throwback in the form of this Monday blog. Because it’s safe to say that it was quite an unforgettable summer!
Friday the third of June would become one of my favourite days of the entire summer
From Turin, I went to the Netherlands, where I joined family and friends at long garden tables for three days. Officially, it was only spring, but here too, it already felt like summer. On Friday, I flew back to Rome, after having waited in the security queue for ages and with a 2.5-hour delay. The following day, we celebrated the christening of an Italian friend’s baby girl in an open-air church in the Viterbo countryside with a very modern priest and a breath-taking view of the valley. Only three days later, my parents arrived in Rome, for a trip that had been postponed for 2.5 years. We spent four days in Rome, and four days among the vines in the rolling hills of the Castelli Romani, a very special and precious family holiday. Then June arrived and the temperatures rose to forty degrees, much to the concern of the Romans. With this heat, there was only one thing to do, and that’s how Friday the third of June would become one of my favourite days of the entire summer: the very first beach day! We went to a remote and small rocky beach near Sperlonga with an azure, glittering sea. There are few moments in the year that I cherish more than that very first swim at the beginning of summer.
After one last night in my friend’s guestroom, which was interrupted so very unexpectedly because we had to rush to the vet with their cat, I got to the Netherlands, to then get back on a plane again only four days later
A week later, I took a flight to Alicante for a friend’s marriage ceremony, and my very first Spanish wedding (read: a dinner that lasted no less than four hours). I stayed with the sweetest abuela – Spanish for grandma – and enjoyed the hot Spanish summer sun on the beaches of San Juan. Back home in Rome, two busy weeks followed in which there was lots to arrange: I was to leave my house on the first of July, and after one last night in my friend’s guestroom, which was interrupted so very unexpectedly because we had to rush to the vet with their cat, I got to the Netherlands, to then get back on a plane again only four days later. This time not just by myself however, but with my five (!) best friends for a girls’ trip in Croatia. We laughed, dined, drank wine, cycled until our buttocks hurt, clambered down rocks and swam in the sea. Back in The Netherlands, we organised a baby shower and only a few days after, I got on a train to Brussels, the city where I lived several years ago. I came back on Thursday evening, only to leave again on Friday, but not before organising a surprise wedding for friends who had secretly married that week. And of course, there was no way we could let that go by unnoticed! The next morning, we got into the beautiful convertible of my friend and headed for the Champagne region. With seven friends, we visited six champagne houses where, in forty-eight hours, we tasted more champagnes than I can possibly remember. At night, we walked all rosy-cheeked and satisfied up the creaking spiral staircase of the idyllic house in the French countryside where we were staying.
Friends who promised to see each other again soon, while the golden confetti rain came down on us for minutes on end
August arrived and summer weeks followed full of barbecues, swimming in the lake, visiting my dear friends in Rotterdam and a day of shopping in Maastricht. But just like every year in August, Italy was calling as it is the one place where my summer traditionally comes to an absolute high. The south-east of Italy was my destination, and on the eighth of August I got on a plane to Bari. Beautiful weeks followed, during which I toured the entire region, visiting places like Matera, Taranto, Lecce and Monopoli. But no matter the beauty of the scenery of your trip, or the tastiness of the local cuisine, it’s the people you are with who really make up your memories. Memories that stay with you much longer than the summer lasts. On my trip through the south of Italy this year, I was reunited with no less than four of my very best Eurovision colleagues that I got to know only three months earlier in Turin. Colleagues who, after two weeks of doing Eurovision together, felt more like very good friends. Friends who promised to see each other again soon, while the golden confetti rain came down on us for minutes on end. To see each other somewhere in the south of Italy, this summer, that – without us realising it – had started in that exact same moment.
A beautiful and memorable summer. So happy to have you share it with us. I share your tastes and interests and you always stimulate my imagination and desire to explore.