Landing in Civitavecchia was a feeling of relief. Not only had we reached land, but we were in fact in Italy, a place I had heard so much about, and the first gate back into a semblance of the wild worlds to the east.

I love the feeling of marinas and ports, and the feeling of this small Italian port was distinctly quaint, filled with little fishing boats and little pleasure crafts. 

The road from the port into Rome was easy to find as a result of an ancient design surrounding roads and that particular city… maybe you’ve heard of it. 

The city of Rome (understandably) holds a much more profound and complex sense of historical context than almost anywhere I have been. Around every corner there are architectural feats that I have seen depicted since my early years in a classroom. Upon waking up the next morning I was struck by the reality of the city, and of my being there.

The first days were spent going from one famous building to another, enthralled and drenched in a feeling of cognitive dissonance. From the Colosseum to Saint Peter’s Basilica, the wide range of history and societal context that is contained in one city is astounding. It is impossible, I think, to fully understand the full depth of importance in these places when you are standing in their presence. Yet another layer of impossibility is added when you have seen them on screens and in pictures for years leading up to your actual experience of them. I have had this experience many times on this trip, but in Rome it was so constant it was almost overwhelming. Never have I been somewhere that I learned so much about before getting there, and thus the surreal feeling was more extreme. 

It also happened to be a very serendipitous time to be in Rome. During the preparations for the voyage from Barcelona, the news broke that the Pope had died. This meant that the choosing of a new pope would occur in the coming weeks, at which time Kai (who was still with me) and I would be in Rome. We were both interested in this prospect, to be in such a historical city, during a historical event like this. Upon our arrival we found that the excitement in the city was palpable as the cardinals prepared to enter the Sistine Chapel to begin the process of choosing a new pope, a ritual known as the conclave. This barred entry to the sistine chapel, but we explored St Peter’s Basilica and waited for white smoke with everyone else. 

When the actual papal decision was made, however, we were on our way back from a trip south to Naples. We decided we had to explore the Amalfi coast, and of course get a few slices of pizza.

We spent a few days there, playing frisbee on the beach , meeting locals, and hiking through the rugged terrain of Mount Vesuvius (famous for its explosive, “time defying” work in the city of Pompeii).

When we arrived back in Rome, we were met by several congratulations on our newly chosen American pope. After a celebratory beer or two we started to make plans for our next trip to the north, deciding on Florence as a next stop. 

Florence was teeming with life and art. The streets were lined with beautiful buildings, markets, and churches. We reveled in the beauty of this small, meticulously crafted city. There was a deliberateness that can be felt there that was not present in the big cities of Spain, or in Rome, a sort of delicacy to its beauty. 

For hundreds of years Florence was home of the Medici family; the wealthiest, most influential European family from the 15th to 18th century. Their wealth and power still resonates through the carefully planned and curated streets of Florence today. It is as though the entire city is a little French chateau in itself; perfectly held in a delicate balance of beauty and function. 

For several days we explored this little balanced city, but at some point we had heard too many American accents, and decided it was time to head somewhere off the beaten path. This also came from my urge to continue on into less ‘perfected’ areas. Somewhere that the reality of life can be felt. Florence was a dream, a cloud to float on, and I was ready for the solidity of the world ahead of us. 

After a quick stop in Bologna, we continued eastward towards the Balkans, entering Slovenia, a quiet little country, nestled into the mountains. Ever since I left the Balkans I have been excited to return to this world of wildness. 

As I began contemplating what felt so exciting to me about returning to the Balkans, I realized that this concept of wildness held a big role in the area’s importance to me. Wildness is a concept I think of often. To me it is separate from the idea of wilderness, and larger; more encompassing.  Rather than describing a space uninhabited by humans, it describes a larger concept of raw existence simultaneously plentiful within and outside of human lives and interactions. It is the vine devouring your neighbors shed, and the root breaking through the pavement. It is the middle finger you gave that truck on the highway and the firing of machine guns at a Macedonian wedding. It is the action and reaction that comes from the most primal instincts in every living being.

This is something I think in many ways we are scared of. I would even venture to say we create our laws of societies, both explicit and implicit to contain this exact concept of wildness. This is much more true in the west than I find it to be in this region of the Balkan states. It is as though indulging our natural, wild instincts would be a danger to both ourselves and our surroundings. 

The contemplation of this concept comes with a few questions;  is this innate wildness something that genuinely needs containing? At what point does it cross the line from a question of safety, to a question of the suppression of something innate? And is that good for any of us? Necessary? The answers to these questions seem to change as setting and society changes from the west to the east within this region of ‘greater Europe’. 

This concept, and the questions that come with it are closer to the surface in the Balkans, in Turkey, and the Caucasus. 

I will continue to contemplate them

Back soon,

D