Dinner and a Gift

The skies clouded over yesterday afternoon and it looked like rain. A slightly cooler wind settled over the mountain relieving a bit of the terrible humidity and heat we’ve been suffering.

A couple of interesting things happened yesterday. First of all, I trotted up the hill to buy my very last porchetta sandwich from the handsome porchetta man, who was kind enough to introduce me to his WIFE. She was polite, though not overly friendly, and I could hear him babbling away to her about how I speak English and taught him some English words. I do believe he was defending himself although there was no reason. American woman have a reputation here of “giving it away”, although I can assure you I’ve not given a darned thing away to the porchetta man or any other.

Next I ran into one of my new friends, Perry, from England. We wandered down via Nazionale, talking, and came to a stop, still talking, in front of Bar Signorelli where I drink coffee. The man that works in the morning, Claudio, walked out of the bar and stopped in front of Perry and me and gave us a long, hard look. Then he looked at Perry and said loudly, “She’s my friend.” and extended his hand to shake mine, but not Perry’s. Being the innocent I am, I’m thinking, “Awww, how sweet.” My friend Terri, the resident expert on the Italian male, had a slightly different take on it. “Ohhhh”, she said, “He was warning Perry.” So, that brings me to the question of why. Claudio has never touched me or made such strong eye contact with me before so why now? I asked Laura and Maria what they thought as we drove out of Cortona to a restaurant on the mountain, and they both thought he was being protective. A “you can go out with her, but she’s my friend and you’d better behave yourself” sort of thing. It was actually kind of sweet that someone is concerned enough to look out for my well-being.

Dinner was heavenly! We drove to Castel Girardi, a family-run pizzeria and ristorante high upon the hill, where we had reservations to dine on the terrace. We arrived shortly after 7:30 and walked around the side of the stone building to a covered terrace overlooking the tree-covered valley. The entrance was decorated with roses in bloom and the low stone walls surrounding the terrace were decorated with bright red geraniums in terracotta planters. Tables were decorated with gold linens and lit by antique-style lanterns. I took some pictures of Laura and Maria, who were both dressed beautifully; Laura in a white halter dress and Maria in a black skirt and pretty top. I, of course, was wearing jeans since they are all I possess, and a black top.

The sunlight gently faded as we sampled an appetizer of wild boar and thinly sliced ostrich, followed by a pizza for me, rabbit with truffles for Laura, and a salad with prosciutto for Maria. The food was outstanding and Maria treated us to a bottle of a wonderful red wine, a Syrah, which I have never tried before. The table was ours for the evening so there was no hurry for us to depart and we talked, drank, and laughed until nearly 11:00. I enjoyed listening to the Italian guests at other tables, talking and laughing so comfortably with family and friends. The many children were quiet and well-behaved, and even the resident cats were polite!

After dinner we drove home slowly on the drk, narrow, twisty road and then Laura and I ran over to the gelateria and bought a container with 4 different types of gelato. My favorite gelato guy even included some biscotti (cookies) for us to nibble along with the creamy, sweet gelato. I brought out my computer and shared some of the beautiful pictures I have taken, including the ones I took at the medieval wedding which they attended with me. After hugs and thanks yous I finally headed for bed at 12:30….and didn’t sleep more than 3 hours. It’s just too hot and maybe I am a little too emotional these days to really sleep well.

This morning I went to Bar Signorelli for coffee as usual, and when I left the sweet lady squeezed my hand, gave me a double cheeked kiss, thanked me for everything, and asked when I was returning. Claudio also kissed me farewell and gifted me with a bottle of Chianti with wishes that I would think of them as I enjoyed it. You can be sure I will always treasure such kindness. Today I feel loved.