Caro AMici e Famiglia,
I wanted to write today because I was really distracted when I wrote my email and I felt so detached. Here I am in the Internet Train and one of the all time greatest songs just came on: Neverending Story. So Sweet. Now I am motivated to write.
So, how do I feel about coming home? Well, I have very mixed feelings. I do not want to deal with the extra luggage I will be returning with. I do NOT want to sit on a plane from Frankfurt for 12 hours. I am afraid I will have to wear my pajama pants, as I have finally gone over the limit of which my jeans can hold. I mean, they work, but if I am sitting in them for too long, I fear my legs will have to be amputated upon exiting the plane due to lack of circulation. It does not help that Thanksgiving is only three days after my return, so my diet, or fasting, cannot start until Friday at the earliest! Of course, the holidays are coming, so I suppose I will end up putting it off for a New Year's resolution. Ok, I figured it out, diet starts Jan.2, 2007.
As I told you guys, I had an amazing trip to the Cinque Terre. I think that is where I got some of my best photos too. Overall, I have had a nice week. On Tuesday night I decided to wander in search of a new restaurant. I found a place, Ristorante Ricchi that seemed a little pricey, but looked nice and a little different. It was the most amazing meal I have EVER had. I could not decide what to eat, so I asked the waiter to choose for me, even though that is sometimes a bad idea. He did a great job. I started with this soup made from orange squash. It had a small fillet of cod in it, as well as a few clams and rosemary. Sounds kind of iffy, definitely not something I would order. It was awesome. I could have licked the bowl and asked for more. Then I got a fillet of seared ahi served with a homemade tartar sauce and fresh diced tomatoes. Um, awesome. Since everything was so good, I HAD to order dessert.
Being on your own in a restaurant can have some great advantages. Sometimes the staff really warms up to you. Maybe they feel like you are lonely, or maybe it is easier to pamper one person. Either way, they were great. I sat by the kitchen and was adorned with great service, free tasters, and even got to be the subject of a dessert experiment. The chef gave me little tastes of three desserts and they all bet on which one I would like the best. Tiramisu, cheesecake, and hazlenut gelato. Suprisingly, the tiramisu was the best and the owner was pleased, as she knew I would choose her pick. Honestly, I think they thought I was a travel writer or a food critic. Everything was served immaculately. Or, maybe it was because for one person I did qquite a bit of damage on the bill. Everything was so good that I wasn't too upset that I made a wine mistake: The menu said, I thought, that the bottle I chose was 25 Euro. However, I got a small bottle, a half bottle. Oops, the price was 25 Euro for a half bottle. It tasted great and upon doing some research found that it is a really good wine from Montepulciano. The night was a splurge, but worth it!
Today I finalized all my packing. My stuff is sitting in my apartment waiting for Alex to help me shove it in a cab and head to his house. I had to stay in my apartment and extra night because Alex's Mom has been on a neverending visit, taking up the guest room. However, she FINALLY left today. Mom, if you ever want to surprise visit me, please do not do it for 3 weeks. Love you!
I really feel for sorry for Alex though. Last night I had to help do some internet research on luggage and flights. You see, in the three weeks his mom was here, she bought a small store to take home with her. She lives in Paris with her husband and youngest son, plus there is another son in Paris. For each of the three, she bought a leather jacket, pair of shoes, a dress shirt, and two T shirts. For herself, she got a jacket, shoes and other clothes. For friends she bought a total of 4 purses and 20!!!!!!!!!! bottles of parfume. I am sure there is more, but I cannot remember. Now, I know Flroence is a great place to shop, but she lives in Paris!! Don't they have great shopping there? I am just kidding, I think it is hillarious. So, she is leaving with two GIANT bags, a big carryon and her purse. The problem arose when her brother, Carlo, told her she would have to pay a ton of money because her stuff is so heavy. He said his friend was charged 700 Euro for a bag that was too heavy. It made her stomach hurt. However, upon my research, I found that if his friends really got charged that much at 6 Euro per KG over, then his bag weighed about 150 KG. Ummm, that is a really heavy bag. Either he is exaggerating or his friend was transporting gold bars, maybe? Who knows. In the end, Alex had to deal with all of that last night, get up at 6 to drive her 3 hours to Rome for her flight, unload it all, only to come back and find the car had been towed. He is currently on his way back to Florence to come to my house, get all my crap and cab it to his house, then come back to finish out the afternoon/evening at work. Poor guy with a heart of gold. Now I don't feel so bad about my two mediumish, not so heavy bags.
I guess I will spend this weekend closing out and seeing the stuff I have yet to see. There are plenty. On Sunday, Alex is going to follow me around the city for a picture marathon, allowing me to finally get pictures of me in Firenze!
I hope you are all well! Miss you tons!
Tanti Baci,
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment