This summer I spent a few days in Italy that gave me the chance to revisit Venice, one of my favorite places in the world. Almost two decades ago, at the first trip outside of Romania, Venice was this magical place where every little thing was a source of wonder feeding my curiosity. I was eager to revisit it and see how my feelings about it stood the test of time. I wandered on the same streets, stopped at the same corners, taking (almost) the same pictures, but something was missing, not that I could figure it out at the time. I could not believe it. Was I becoming this skeptical, numb, ``saw it all'' person, no longer enthusiastic and curious about the world? It's true, I grew up, changed my life in ways years ago sitting in San Marco I could have never dreamt about, moved to a different country, found my place, traveled the world. And what about Venice? Well, she changed too, but what's two decades for a 1500 years old lady? A few scratches here and there. In the right light, from the right angles, she still looked perfect in pictures. The people changed too, no longer chained to their iron borders, east europeans were free to travel and Venice was a favorite destination, the waiters were a big surprise too, many being from Mainland China.

I realized what I was missing about 2 weeks later after landing in Hong Kong, my first time in Asia, where the old and the new mixed in surprising ways, where the 500 years old temple in Tai O could coexist with the much newer (1990s) Giant Budha statue at Po Lin monastery, the old dry seafood markets and houses built on water from Aberdeen and Tai O fishing villages contrasted with the state-of-the-art malls and brands stores from Nathan Road and Canton Road in Kowloon. Everything was ``the first'', ``the biggest'', ``the tallest'', ``the longest'', in a city that kept building and did not seem to shut down ever (except during typhoons, I heard). Even the Hong Kong airport, yes, award-winning too, operated 24 hours a day.

There are many things that I loved about Hong Kong, but ultimately I think I loved that it showed me that my curiosity for the world did not change, it just needed the ``right now'', the ``happening'', contemplating the past was no longer enough. So the wiser and more-traveled me, watching the Hong Kong skyline across the Victoria Harbour, found herself in the same awe as ages ago watching Piazza San Marco across Canale della Giudecca. While once upon a time a glimpse to the elegant beauty of the past took my breath away, I was now starstruk by the raw making of the future.

July 6, 2011