Lifes a ' BEACH '

The first time i saw a 'beach' in Italy two years ago, i imagine that i looked like ' Veruca Salt ' from the movie Willy Wonka and the chocolate factory. Shes the spoilt little girl character who screams and shouts..." I WANT A GOLDEN GOOSE NOW DADDY...NOW! " but instead i was screaming..." I WANT WHITE SAND NOW LUCA...NOW! "

In the inland lakes district in northern Italy, there are no beaches, there are lakes...and the term 'beach' is used rather broadly for the patch of dusty grey pebbles in front of the lake! Within seconds of my first sighting of this 'beach' i quickly informed Luca of my disbelief, disheatenment and dismay that there was no sand here. The saga continued and the worst was yet to come( for Luca) as the small grey sharp pebbles my feet had just become accustomed to on the shore turned into large, slimy moss covered rocks once we were in the lake. As my feet fumbled over the slippery rocks i desperately wanted to scream " What the hell is this..where is the sand...I WANT SAND...THERE SHOULD BE SAND....". Instead of screaming this i just repeated those four phrases to Luca for the next 20 minutes.

After we left the lake that day, for the remainder of our holiday people would ask me to the 'beach' and i would reply "That's not a beach, its just dirty grey pebbles and slimy rocks...there's not even any sand..you cant call that a beach"...
Veruca Salt's character in the movie ' Willy Wonka & the Chocolate factory' meets a sad fate. She ends up falling down the rubbish shoot. My first northern Italian 'beach' visit also ended with me meeting a sad fate. I did not end up in the rubbish bin( though I'm sure that's where Luca wanted to put me) , my sad ending was that i arrived at the beach and instantly created a negative, obscure attitude and failed to see the beauty all around me...very sad!

This time around, two years later, its a different story. I'm a tiny teensy bit older, more mature and alot wiser. With this wisdom i have learnt and understood that in life there really is no GOOD or BAD. Life just IS! A thing just IS, a person just IS, an event just IS. It is neither good or bad, it just IS. It is our personal perception of this thing, person, beach or event that puts a 'good' or 'bad' stamp on it. Once you are able to fully understand this you are able to see, or experience something without instinctively putting a good/bad label on it. You are able to see something without judgment, just as it is. And with this my relationship with this 'beach' has become one of beauty!

The 'beach' here is no ordinary beach as the ones I'm used to in Australia, with white sand, blue water and nobody as far as the eye can see. The Italian(northern) version of a beach is a patch of pebbles in front of this glistening green lake that is surrounded by majestic green mountains all painted with historic old towns. Its packed full of outrageously brown bodies of all shapes and sizes, all with colourful BYO floatation device, men in bright orange 'speedos' eating bright pink icypoles walking( actually more like strutting) back to their bright green towel that is under their bright yellow umbrella. There are boats cruising past, bars with music & food, a lush grassy park just behind where there are people playing volleyball, doing tai-chi and cute little naked European kids running around playing chasey.....So beautiful.

The music plays, the church bells chime and the children splash & play. The sun is warm & bright, the sky is blue and the water is cool & fresh....and the pebbles...well i just wear my thongs, even in the water...because LIFES A BEAUTIFUL BEACH & I LIKE IT JUST THE WAY IT IS!