The Italian

The Italian arrived Sunday about 1:00 in his beautiful, gray BMW, his “baby”. He is about 5’8”, thinning light brown hair, and hazel eyes. He was very polite and pleasant. We ate a Tuscan dish at a local restaurant, pappardelle; wide, flat pasta with beans, garlic, olive oil and tomatoes. Very good!

Later we walked to the park and sat for a moment. It was hard for him to sit for even a minute. He is a man I would call “focused” or maybe “driven”. He is very successful, but that seems to mean he works all the time and cannot relax for even a short time. He is happy with his life and goal oriented, but I wonder how he will make room for a girlfriend or a family in his life. Relationships need time, energy, and nurturing.

In the afternoon, we drove to Lake Trasimeno, after a long search found parking, and walked along the water front eating gelato. It seemed everyone in Tuscany was at the lake. It was very much a fashion show with everyone lined up along walkways or strolling along slowly, checking each other out. People were dressed to the nines, particularly the women. Spike heels, patterned hose, and skintight dresses in a variety of animal prints and unusual patterns were the order of the day. Not at all my style. I noticed the women looking me over with an appraising eye and dismissing me as frumpy and unfashionable; no real competition for their men. Generally speaking I don’t really care, but it does make one feel like a animal in the zoo, being looked over rather critically and having every move scrutinized. An odd feeling.
The Italian left at around 6 in the evening as he had to drive to Florence for business with a childhood friend. Always business, but we had a pleasant few hours together.

Yesterday, I took a breather as my knees were killing me. It felt as though all the water in my body settled into my knees making them swell to twice their normal size. They looked fine, but felt really strange and were quite sore. I did drag myself up the street for coffee, but did not do much else all day. Maria was kind enough to take me to Camucia, the town at the foot of the hill for groceries at the larger supermercato. It’s nice to have some variety in your diet! I’d like to have more variety in my wardrobe too! I have a pair of pants I really can’t wear anymore as they are just too big to look at all flattering.