Chapter 31

 Over the next six weeks, I travel to Bologna, to Florence, to Venice, to Sicily, to Sardinia, once more down to Naples, then over to Calabria. These are short trips, mostly--a week here, a weekend there--just the right amount of time to get the feel for a place, to look around, to ask people on the street where the good food is and then to go eat it. I drop out of my Italian language school, having come to feel that it was interfering¹ with my efforts to learn Italian, since it was keeping me stuck in the classroom instead of wandering around Italy, where I could practice with people in person.

These weeks of spontaneous² travel are such a glorious twirl of time, some of the loosest days of my life, running to the train station and buying tickets left and right, finally beginning to flex³ my freedom for real because it has finally sunk in that I can go wherever I want. I don't see my friends in Rome for a while. Giovanni tells me over the phone, "Sei una trottola" ("You're a spinning top"). One night in a town somewhere on the Mediterranean⁴, in a hotel room by the ocean, the sound of my own laughter actually wakes me up the middle of my deep sleep. I am startled⁵. Who is that laughing in my bed? The realization⁶ that it is only me just makes me laugh again. I can't remember now what I was dreaming. I think maybe it had something to do with boats.

1 interfering   

adj. 妨碍的 动词interfere的现在分词

参考例句：

• He's an interfering old busybody! 他老爱管闲事！
• I wish my mother would stop interfering and let me make my own decisions. 我希望我母亲不再干预，让我自己拿主意。

2 spontaneous   

adj.自发的，不由自主的

参考例句：

• The eruption of a volcano is spontaneous.火山的爆发是自发的。
• Spontaneous applause broke out as soon as she finished speaking.她一讲完，大家不约而同都鼓起掌来。

3 flex   

n.皮线，花线；vt.弯曲或伸展

参考例句：

• We wound off a couple of yards of wire for a new lamp flex.我们解开几码电线作为新的电灯花线。
• He gave his biceps a flex to impress the ladies.他收缩他的肱二头肌以吸引那些女士们的目光。

4 Mediterranean   

adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的

参考例句：

• The houses are Mediterranean in character.这些房子都属地中海风格。
• Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean.直布罗陀是地中海的要冲。

5 startled   

adj.受惊吓的v.使惊跳，使大吃一惊( startle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• A crowd of 2000 was startled near the end of the concert. 2000名观众在音乐会将近结束时大吃一惊。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Startled by the sudden whistle of the train, the horse broke away. 火车突然鸣笛，那匹马受惊脱逃。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 realization   

n.实现；认识到，深刻了解

参考例句：

• We shall gladly lend every effort in our power toward its realization.我们将乐意为它的实现而竭尽全力。
• He came to the realization that he would never make a good teacher.他逐渐认识到自己永远不会成为好老师。