Final Impressions
When I left off, I had finally made it safely back to my hotel in Nice. It had occurred to me that I would need some extra cash for my trip back to the states the next morning. It was still daylight out, so I walked to the automatic cash machine to get a hundred euros. There was a homeless man sitting under the cash machine. So how do you tell someone that you don’t have any money after withdrawing money from a cash machine ? I turned around a walked down the street in search of another cash machine. Four blocks later, I found one and was able to get ninety euros out of it. Then it was time to eat my final meal in Nice. After finding five Italian restaurants and no French restaurants, I settled on a middle eastern place in which no other customers were sitting. This was a nicely appointed place with wicker chairs and music playing that sounded like Sufi music. The proprietor confirmed that it was Sufi music that I was listening to. He served me french wine and roasted vegetables. He explained to me the spiritual message of the lyrics to the music. He then proclaimed that I had found the restaurant and that the restaurant had found me. The experience of eating there was like that of attending a religious ceremony. I was a calm, contemplative end to a stressful day.
Although I may have talked about the negative aspects of my vacation, the vacation was a wonderful change of pace which jolted me out of my stale, daily reality. It was an educational cultural experience that undoubtedly changed me for the better. The next morning, I flew to New York and then to Atlanta.
Happy voting,
I.C.