As the bus wound through the narrow streets of Pisa on the short ride to the station, I saw two runners. I noticed that I immediately relaxed, and then I thought about it a bit... These runners had absolutely no impact on whether I would find a place to sleep, find my way in general, and be safe. But somehow, seeing runners made everything seem more normal and familiar.
When I got to the train station, I saw a young woman finishing up her run, and when I arrived in Lucca, crossing the medieval city walls in the dark, feeling all kinds of tense again (medieval walls are beautiful, but tunnels through, up, and over them can seem a tad creepy in the dark!), I saw another runner going along and relaxed a bit again.
There's not a lot of logic to it, (though, I guess one could argue that an unsafe city might not see many runners out and about), but it was neat to observe my own reaction, and I thought you folks might relate.
And now, I'll go explore Lucca in the sunshine.
