Enlighten 2015

Gelato Messina

Finally!

Wish You Were Here - Venice

On our last night in Venice my husband and I went out for one last dinner at a small and very old restaurant just off the piazza where we were staying. As we left we could hear music playing. We turned the corner and the piazza was filled with Venetian couples dancing the tango at 10pm on a Tuesday night. My mind was completely blown by the way in which these people lived their lives.

During the day the piazza was a place where people met, watch the world go by and exchange the days gossip. In the afternoon it was a playground for the children. Of a night, a dance hall! As we sat watching them dance and eating our gelato, I remember thinking how much happier we would all be if we lived like that. I fell completely in love with the city.

Lauren

Wish You Were Here - Kyoto

Since I was old enough to remember, the pictures in our family album of Kiyomizu-dera fascinated me – the graceful, yet strong beauty of the wooden supports, make the temple stage seemingly both float above the trees, yet be firmly grounded on the mountain. 

From my first visit at the age of five, it has drawn me back whenever I am in Kyoto – to see it appearing from a sea of blossoms, or in a green flush of leaves, embraced by autumn hued momiji, or surrounded by the bare branches of winter. 

Even the name Clear Water temple on Sound of Feathers Mountain gives it a mystique that inspires and delights me – feelings that capture my love of Japan – its natural beauty, art, architecture, language, food, culture, and of course, its people.

Sara 

Wish You Were Here - Lower East Side, New York City

It was a winter’s night in New York and I remember sitting in a bar on the Lower East side with one of my closest friends with only a few days left of our holiday. The Sigur Ros song ‘Samskeyti’ came on and I commented “I used to imagine walking down the aisle to this song, but I don’t think I want to get married now, it isn’t really something I want to do”. At that exact moment, he was across the road high above us overlooking the city and waiting with rose petals and candles leading to the rooftop where he soon changed my mind. Exactly one year later, on the same day and at the same time, we went back to the very spot and said ‘I do’. That corner of the world will forever be my favourite place.

Sinéad

Wish You Were Here - Far South Coast NSW

When I was a child I lived in what is now known as 'the Shire' but my grandparents lived on a farm on the far south coast of NSW. We had holidays at the farm. Sometimes we went as a family and Dad used to toot the horn on the car in a special way as we came down the last hill on the highway before the turn-off to the farm. 

A couple of times we went to the farm on our own, just one of my brothers and I. It was when Mum was having another baby. We had a pet lamb on one visit but the next time we went the pet lamb had turned into lamb chops. We used to help Grandpa with the chooks and sometimes we would find a nest of eggs with dozens of eggs in it that we would be allowed to throw at a post because many of them would be rotten. 

My Nanna was my special friend and she called me her 'treasure'. Eventally we all moved to the farm and even though it was no longer a holiday destination and there was much work to be done by all, and life was not always easy, it is the place that restores my spirit and a sense of peace in this crazy world.

Deirdre 

Canberra Croquet Club