Hannah Martin – Co-Founder of Talented Ladies Club - Helping mums achieve fulfilling careers after having children. See http://www.talentedladiesclub.com for more on training and other products. Way back, when Hannah was 19 years old, she was on holiday in the South of France with her family. Her dad, being a bit of an adventurer, decided one day to just drive over the border to Italy, to have a look.
‘We had no passports with us’, recalls Hannah, ‘So I’ve no idea how we got into Italy, but I do remember visiting this little town, with narrow streets, and washing hanging out – for me, it seemed so exotic and beautiful and romantic – just like a scene from Romeo and Juliet’.
It was 21 years before Hannah returned to Italy, but she never forgot that initial childhood image. On her 40th birthday, she met up with an old friend from Hong Kong. ‘She’s Australian Chinese, and we’re born 4 days apart. Every few years we meet up somewhere halfway between Australia and England. Our 40th birthday straddled a weekend and we decided to meet in Venice. Again, it’s such a wonderfully atmospheric place. We just walked and looked. It was just lovely to be somewhere beautiful. I enjoy going off the beaten track, down the backstreets and seeing real life…’
What Hannah particularly loves about Italy, is that even in the most touristic places, you can find everyday life.
‘People live in Venice, and we forget that sometimes, but they need to shop for their dinner in the markets, and I love that juxtaposition that Venice provides. I love this thing of people living in a living breathing monument’.
