We were traveling in Italy recently and what really made our trip memorable are the encounters with Italian Grandmas.
I had just crossed a busy road in Roma. A grandma right next to me sprinted across and came back with my toddler's missing shoe. I hadn't even noticed and she thought it would be easier to run twice than try to communicate :)
And another time, I was looking for Fontana de Trevis and had wandered off in the name of looking at this and that. Out came a Grandma from a small cafe and she instantly knew I was lost. She took me by hand and asked where I was headed. Then she went into a rapturous discourse about the fountain (I guess) and in 3 minutes, I was standing in front of the masterpiece. Just as she was about to disappear, she searched for my eyes and made signs for me to get back!
On the last day of our trip, we were in the local Metro train and a very old Grandma boarded. The train was full and many of us offered our seat to her. She chose me and couple of stops later, I found myself sitting again, right next to her. We chatted, she in Italian and me in English :) When she learnt my husband and I were headed to Tivoli, she spontaneously took out return tickets for us by an expensive inter-city bus and thrust it into my hand.
And I've lost count of the Grandmas that played with our toddler as if he was their own. But the warmth of all those Grandmas is very hard to forget.
