Her eyes pulled me in.
If you've ever been to Italy, you're all too familiar with the Gypsies that swarm the streets begging... and pick-pocketing.
In Florence, all the young Gypsy women had the same story:
"Please, I have three baby... I have sick baby... I pregnant...".
It seemed everyone was pregnant AND had 3 sick babies! Made you wonder if someone sent out a memo!
By the time we got to Venice, we were jaded and adept at ignoring every Gypsy that mobbed us. That is, until I was stopped dead in my tracks by her eyes. They echoed the Adriatic Sea that surrounded us. How could something so strikingly beautiful exist in such despondent conditions? I wondered what she was like when she was young. I was mesmerized.
My trance, however, was shattered when the old woman spoke to me:
"Please, I have SIX baby... I have SIX baby..." over and over again. Ummm... No... I did not believe her. But I did giver her some cash in exchange for letting me snap some photos.
She was oblivious to the fact that an arrow was pointing at her -- it was as if life was saying: "Don't ignore this woman."
Well, with those eyes, that's almost impossible.
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More photos to come...
