Ciao Amore Ciao!

It was Friday, the 13th of April. It was a beautiful spring evening in Rome and I was going to see Lana Del Rey live on her Lust For Life tour. This record had been very influential to me in many ways. So much so that I got the title of the album tattooed on my arm. To me it was a reminder to myself. A reminder to be present and grounded, a reminder to not lose my lust for life. It’s so easy to stray away from where you want to go. To let your self doubt get the best of you. It’s so easy to fall into the traps you set for yourself. And I wanted to change that. And in many ways I have, at least to the best of my ability.

Sharing magical experiences

The concert was amazing and I was blown away when she performed my favorite song West Coast. Seeing her perform had been on my bucket list for a long time. And here I was, at her concert, listening to my favorite song live in Rome. It was perfect! And just when I thought that it couldn’t get any better, she did a song requested by the fans. It was a song called Salvatore, from her album Honeymoon, which I feel doesn’t get enough credit. I liked the song, but I had never been obsessed with it. But by the time Lana started singing the few Italian lyrics in the song, something awakened in me. The whole arena went wild when she sang Cacciatore and Ciao Amore! It was the most magical moment I’ve ever experienced. It felt like with her beautiful voice she had brought all of these thousands of strangers together under one roof and we all shared an out-worldly experience together.

Ciao Amore!

And since that moment I just couldn’t get the words Ciao Amore out of my head. I wanted to remember and cherish that beautiful memory. So much so that I had to get another tattoo! So the next day I did. The tattoo turned out to be quite bad and I had to retouch it after I had returned home. But it felt right and now all of those things had a special place in my heart – Rome, Salvatore and Ciao Amore!

I’ve been writing on and off for more than the past ten years. Whether it was poetry, short stories, numerous blogs or my failed attempt to write a book, I’ve always felt the need to write. I feel like there are so many stories waiting to be told. And for a while I had forgotten about those untold stories. But I’m here to tell you all about them.

Ciao Amore!

Photo Credit: Ruth Orkin, “An American Girl in Italy”, 1951