We thought you might like to see our town from a slightly different perspective...from the water! It's taken a year, but we finally have some watercrafts over here in Italy! No, they aren't kayaks and no we did not sail our 14-foot jonboat across the Atlantic. We bought two SUPs (standup paddle boards)!
As you may or may not know, the most difficult thing about living here in Duino for me personally has been the lack of any waves to surf. Except for our trip to Sardinia last summer (another blog post is coming about that trip I promise) I haven't surfed in Italy at all. So a compromise had to be made...buy an SUP and deal with it. I had previously vowed to never own an SUP (it's a surfer thing), but I have been pleasantly surprised by how much fun it is having these boards!
Just look at how much fun we're having! We bought one board a few weeks ago to see how much we liked it. We quickly bought a second board once we realized just how much fun it is to paddle around in the Adriatic. I think I can speak for both of us that we are thrilled to be back on the water! We both missed the various ways we had to be on the water back in NJ...maybe we didn't realize just how much we missed it until that first paddle around the castle, seeing the cliffs that we've hiked on so many times from this different perspective down on the water.
While it's not quite the same as surfing waves, it's surprisingly a very decent substitute. The muscles that you use and the balance that you need are very similar...and you're "standing" on the water just the same. Surfing is surfing. Did I just say that? Am I really prepared to be an SUPer? Just look at Kristen on that board standing out on the Adriatic...very relaxing just like riding a longboard on a little peeler in glassy conditions. Maybe I can be an SUPer?!?
Having the SUPs also gives us a real escape from our small town. There's a quietness on the water that you can't get in town. The cliffs block all the noise from the roads, the train tracks, and the students. In the evenings, when it's the best time to paddle here because the wind drops every afternoon, there are hardly any boats on the water either. Who knew that such solitude was just a few hundred meters down below those cliffs.
Well that's enough rambling...want to experience this for yourself? If you can't come and visit us to take a paddle for yourself watch this video to see how it feels.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q02PocgT9hc&feature=youtu.be
A dopo!
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