Last June I traveled to the Calabria region of Italy — the toe of the boot — for the first time to scout for a photo tour that I’m leading there in the fall of 2020. A local friend showed me around and I made this photo of the Santa Maria dell’Isola Monastery, an icon of the small city of Tropea, Italy.
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| Santa Maria dell'isola Monastery, Tropea, Italy |
(Stay with me... this is where this story takes a turn!)
Fast forward to last week when I was on another photo adventure in my home state of Indiana. My friend, fellow photographer, Sally Meyer Wolf, and I, were doing what we love: driving country roads in rural Indiana looking for photogenic barns, scenic landscapes, and old towns.
We stopped at Dawn’s Diner in tiny Coatesville, Indiana, population 546.
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| Dawn's Diner, Coatesville, Indiana |
We learned from the owners that Dawn’s Diner is in what used to be a bank.
“Check out the bathroom,” said our waitress. “It used to be the bank vault.”
Dutifully, I did check it out and sure enough, the thick vault was visible in the entryway. “Cool,” I thought.
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| The walls on either side of the entry are part of the thick metal vault. |
The bathroom itself was roomy, clean, homey, and nicely decorated with paintings of far away beaches and other pleasant scenes.
I was washing my hands and admiring the art when it hit me.
There on the wall, the largest picture in the room, was a painting of the Santa Maria dell’Isola Monastery, of Tropea, Italy, very similar to the image I made a few months earlier in a place 5,141 miles away!
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| Painting on the Wall of Dawn's Diner in Coatesville, Indiana |
I don’t know about you, but I find that extraordinary.
Happy Holidays everyone. May the season be filled with intrigue, and especially the joy of family and friends!
