Letters From London

London, 19th of July 2021

My Dearest,



I hope you are well? It has been terribly long since my last letter for I have been so busy with quite a lot of things and so many things happened in life. I woke up early this morning, I saw your face in a dream. I have been seeing you quite often in my dreams lately, you looked tired and wore a red cap when I saw you which I thought was rather funny, do you have a red cap? You were working in the garden and your neck and nose were sunburnt. I hope life is treating you well since we last spoke. It was hot today like a one of those hot summer days on holiday in Italy. You can see the heat in the sky you can smell it in the air, its heady with the smell of flowers. I had breakfast in the garden this morning, some tea, a piece of toast and some fresh strawberries and I listened to Chopin. I walked on the grass barefoot and smelled the roses. They are quite beautiful this year, in various shades of pink and subtly scented. I sat in the shade and watched the sun appear from behind the trees as I had my tea if only, we could start every summer day like this. I smelled the roses and the peonies, and their scent reminded me of you. I am not sure what I shall do today, for it is bound to be very hot, I might read in the garden or go for a stroll in the park. I will probably wear my new hat today; it is a rather large boater hat with an Eau de Nil coloured hatband. I think it’s quite stunning with a summer ensemble. I bought it an attempt to cheer myself up which worked momentarily as I walked down Piccadilly in the pouring rain. Last night I spent the whole evening looking at old photographs, all sorts, from old photos that you have sent me to my parents in Venice and in the mountains. Not sure why it is so but one always drowns in memories when one looks at old photos but thank heavens I drown in happy memories.

Dearest, I just came home. I spent the day walking around as I often do. Exploring the places, I like best, often hiding from the sun. I sat with my book in a quiet corner of St James’s Park, it was wonderfully peaceful. It was so quiet that I read some passages out loud. Do you often do that? I find it very comforting to do so. I have spent a long time sitting on a bench looking at the trees and the sky and think. I think about a lot of things really, about life, the future, my family, the past and sometimes I think of you. I think it’s one of the great luxuries of life to sit somewhere in perfect quietness and review your thoughts and feelings, we sometimes forget that when we run from feeling we run from ourselves. It was a good day. Sometimes these really hot days remind me of past holidays when its too hot to do anything but to read in the garden with homemade iced tea with the scent of jasmine surrounding you or with a granita at the beach in Sicily. I’m not sure I will go this year, it’s a great pity, but what can one do? I’ll probably have something light for supper, some fish and asparagus perhaps, since it’s too hot to do anything else. I hope you had a lovely day? Not too hot? I hope you’re happy.

With Love,

Fabio