Have you ever, like I did yesterday, seen a woman and thought that you were looking at the most beautiful woman in the world? I can't really say that I was entirely wrong about the waitress who I asked if I could take shots of - she did look entirely wonderful in every respect. The shameful thing about it was that I didn't really think that she was actually that attractive until I'd done just a little work on the shots when I got back to the hostel. She was really quite special and I don't think she'll have a long modelling career but sometimes it's nice to be proved entirely wrong - hope she does. The location of the restaurant did leave me feeling just a little like I'd been there before or at least seen pictures of it in some place or other. There was something very Salmah-Begum-like about the other waitress - who was really very similar in the manner she moved in. There was the most remote facial similarity as well and I wonder if Ms Begum actually has some form of Italian links in terms of her family heritage. There was something I couldn't place as being Muslim about several of the women who worked at Teleperformance and I don't know if I'd be correct in saying that most of them, if not us, had some form of Italian link or other. It does leave me wondering, after seeing someone who looked like my Grandmother in Il Chianti whether or not I had any significant family link with Italy. There was someone who bore a strong resemblance to her in terms of facial expression in Guatemala, a place a genuinely doubt that I have any family connection to - a simple cultural accident may have taken place. Will I find out the linkages between her olive coloured skin and the European heritage that she may have had....
Anyway, I can't really think about anything else at the moment - it does seem quite nice in principle at least to have some important links with Italy, even if they're of family who may not have been here for a century. Carl Chinn did make a point in one of his Sunday shows on WM that there have been quite extensive Italian communities in Birmingham arriving from Southern Italy - I didn't really give consideration to the possibility that my relatives may have been amongst them. I've noticed a little Italian influence over several people I've known as well and didn't know that they were drawing from Italian styles when they dressed slightly different to the majority in the UK. This was something that I wasn't aware of at the time though I'm sure that the style-awakening that many British people go through when making what generally gets called the class transition, from working to middle class, often includes attempting to be as stylish as an Italian counterpart would be rather than to try as stylish as a very fashion conscious fellow Brit would be.
I have not really had the sense of occasion in my life to really have a substantial awareness of what to wear when and why - this should be one of the main factors in determining what to wear and why and if you lack awareness of the generally and specific conventions in society then there is not much chance that what you'll choose to wear will be entirely suitable. When I photographed the events at Coventry's War memorial for the Earlsdon Echo the only thing that really influenced the way I dressed was the hounding that Thatcher gave Michael Foot over the green duffel coat he wore on Remembrance Sunday in the mid 1980's. Not the most important of events fashion-wise, it was only really done for political mileage, or at least that's what it seemed to achieve. I was slightly embarrassed about the fact that I hadn't got a tie on but that is something that I should perhaps have taken into consideration. Even if you don't wear a tie for work, Remembrance Sunday is perhaps one event in the UK that it's appreciated that men do wear a tie.
I think about it in some respects - one of the mistakes I made in job interviews was to be rather untidy and in no way approach the role of leadership which is one of the key underlying values for project leadership in Health Promotion or Public Health through my clothing. This isn't suitable - Britain isn't a nation of clothes snobs to a ridiculous point but being very smartly dressed on a formal occasion is taken as an indicator that the participant, be they the interviewee, is obeying the same conventions for the same reasons as the other participants, the interviewers - that we've made progress through years of conflict in Britain and this is partly reflected by adherence to dress codes - it's a sign of respect for the interviewer which indicates an understanding of what they've achieved to get into the position that they are in.
Still I have a little time to spend in Florence and perhaps will see another waitress or woman who is as delightfully attractive as the one above who served me lunch yesterday. Then coach to Pisa tonight without having seen the leaning tower or Michaelangeo's David. It's difficult to say what other major attractions I should have seen - but I've largely missed them all. It hasn't made the least difference - Firenze has been a sight to marvel at.
I do wonder if the 24 hours I lost in Dahab in 1990 was spent partly in Florence - I seem to have recalled events which involved a few people from the UK and I do wonder if they were brought to Firenze - was there reference to it at the border crossing as I left Egypt to go back into Israel after the trip to Israel. I don't know what happened during the 24 hours but I guess I find out one day. Who else may have been in Firenze - and do they know I was taken from Dahab without a stamp in my passport. Perhaps there was the usual messing around and I remained there - I can't say. It's been funny seeing the glass ceiling/floor inside Haworth YHA and the long driveway up to Florence YHA both of which I've had dreams about. I think I had the dreams about two years ago, it seems like a rather strong memory. Was I doped to then have dreams about such places? It's not worth raising the issues really.
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