A ‘solo travel’ moment

While in Bolzano, in May 2016, I went looking for a restaurant I had seen earlier, Cucina Casalinga Toscano, or Toscano Doc (Via Cappuccini 8A, Kapuzinergasse, Bolzano, Italy; phone +39 0471 181 20 78). It had a chalkboard sign outside advertising homemade pici (thick, hand-rolled pasta), one of my favorites, for €12 (near $13.50), but I couldn’t find it! 

When I stopped a nicely suited elderly woman to ask if she knew of it, she smiled, said she did and offered to take me there, as she was headed in that direction. As we walked, we had a brief conversation in our limited English and Italian. She told me the trattoria is an “oldie” in Bolzano and mostly visited by locals.

When we finally arrived, and before we parted, our eyes connected and held for a moment. As we said ‘Good-bye,’ we even touched hands, with the knowledge that we would never see each other again.

Partly why I enjoy traveling alone, it’s that kind of thing that makes an indelible, unforgettable experience for me.

MARILYN HILL
Portland, OR