New blog

Dear reader,

thank you following me here. I´m now moving to Wordpress.
The blog will be available from the 31st of March under
www.claudiaferretti.com/blog/

See you there!
xxx
Claudia

Of cats and pumpkin lamps

I woke up to a grey sky in the late morning. Well, it can't be so bad, I'm in Alanya! - I thought. Full of hope I packed a few things into my backpack and headed to what's already my favourite bakery. After chatting a few minutes with the clerk, who assured me that his working shift of twelve hours is perfectly normal here, I walked towards the beach. My plan was to enjoy the breeze while having börek. In fact, I did fulfil my plan. However, I ended up eating pretty fast as the breeze wasn't exactly pleasant and it even started raining.

One of the reasons I came here is that there isn't much to do around this town, especially in this season. So I could rest at last. However, my inner control freak started wondering what I'd do here the whole day with such weather. I knew there was a cave around there and oh! - as for chance, it was just a few meters away from where I was. My control freak started getting uneasy again after a few minutes, as soon as I realised that the cave was just a small place. Once outside, I simply decided to go back to the port and have a walk.

However the weather is and wherever in the world I am, the sea has always the power to fill my heart with peace and joy. Its smell and sound, the waves coming and going, the endless giving and taking between sea and shore...

I wanted to reach the small lighthouse but the way wasn't where I expected it to be. I had a look around and decided to visit the red tower, the most important monument of the town. Included in the ticket, one could visit the shipyard. I love everything that's connected to ships so I went for it. I had a look and supposed I'd be done in a few minutes.

And then I realised that actually, right out of the shipyard, there was a path leading to the walls of the castle. I walked uphill. The view was breathtaking. I climbed a smaller path through orange trees in bloom, olive trees and flowers in the grass. A sign pointed up – I followed it.

I found myself in a different place: no tourists around, nobody trying to sell me something. Only houses made of stone and wood, flowers, a paved narrow road and birds singing. And then I saw him. He looked at me with elegant and lazy eyes and turned back. To my left there were hundreds pumpkin lamps hanging from the wall of a small house, and more pumpkin lamps above the road and at the windows. I was in a fairy tale. He stopped by her and they looked to each other. He was striped and slow, she was spotted and was sitting on the stairs like a matron. He meowed to me – I greeted him back.

And then a man arrived. He came from uphill with a bunch of fresh flowers in his hand. He took the cat into his arms and they showed each other their mutual love, rubbing and kissing each other noses. I couldn't help but staying there in the middle of the road, staring at thar heartwarming demonstration of deep affection. The man greeted me, gave some of his flowers and introduced me to his cats. In that moment, the Pharaoh arrived: Sultan – the queen of his heart. I've rarely seen so much love in my whole life.

The man invited me to follow him and we walked to the Eastern bastion of the castle. Sultan and Marco (the cat I followed in the beginning) came with us. The man picked something from a tree and offered the small green fruits to me. I'm usually very reluctant to try new things, especially when I don't know what they are and they've just been picked from a tree by a stranger.

They were almonds. And I was delighted. I had no clue one could eat fresh almonds.

We climbed up the walls, at the very end of the peninsula that makes old Alanya, and simply stayed watching the sea and the rare ships. We sat there for as long as it was, Sultan asleep in his lap and Marco walking around and keeping everything under control. He told me about the story of the town, his life and his choice to live there, surrounded by cats and the beauty of nature, far enough from the city centre. We talked about our relationships and our countries. And we talked about God. He wondered how comes we always go to God when something isn't working, when we are ill or don't get what we want, but we forget about It when we are fine.

How can we get more of what we have if we forget to be grateful?

He asked nobody in particular. I looked at him and I saw pure joy in his eyes. Apparently, he has so much less than one might need, and yet I realised there wasn't really anything he was missing. I saw how much love he was able to give to his cats and to himself... He said:

What's the point in life if you can't take some time and go collect some flowers for your house?

We walked back to his house and when I left I had not only my hands full of presents from him – flowers, fresh rosemary and a small pumpkin lamps – but also my heart filled with his loving presence. 

 

Sometimes all we have to do is to trust deeply and follow the path under our feet. 

© Claudia Ferretti