Around the Next Bend

A wise saying posits that we all wonder what lies over the horizon and what waits around the next bend. This wondering - conscious or unconscious - is what drives us to go on. This third book of my memoirs begins after I signed up for an immersion course in the Italian language. I landed in Rome, Italy at the age of sixty, not knowing a soul and unable to understand or speak more than basic Italian. From that wonderful, fascinating, sometimes hilarious, sometimes stressful three-month stay came a long love affair with Italy and all things Italian. I also developed a desire to travel to other places and to learn more about the world outside Australia. It isn't always easy, travelling solo, especially as a woman, but I managed, and still do. As you will read, in between trips outside Australia, I lived my ordinary life, with the joys and sorrows that befall us all. I am privileged to live in such a wonderful and varied country and throughout my life, I have managed to travel to many corners of it, and all places in between. Some of these experiences have also found their way into these pages.