A Compliment

Monday, after coffee and a ritualistic daily trip to the internet point, I treated myself to lunch at Fufluns. I sat at a table in the small side room with the arched, red brick ceiling so reminiscent of a wine cellar, and tried to decide between tagliatelle al ragu’ or my favorite pizza crostone. I have not indulged in the wonderful rich, red, Tuscan meat sauce since my return to Italy and, while I was sorely tempted, I stayed true to my old favorite, pizza crostone. I read a bit while awaiting my pizza and overheard two American women sitting at the table directly to the left of me. I eventually struck up a conversation and we three chatted away through lunch. They are here in Cortona for one week and then will visit Florence, Asissi, and Rome to complete their 2 week visit. Both ladies, Carol and Barbara, have visited Italy many times and Barbara speaks Italian about as well as I do, due in large part to an informal conversational Italian class she takes as a member of an Italian organization in San Diego where she lives. At the end of lunch I was surprised and delighted to have been invited to join Carol and Barbara for dinner. I wasn’t sure where the restaurant was, so we agreed to meet in front of Snoopy Gelateria at 7:30.

I took my leftover pizza home in a box and wouldn’t you know I came face to face with the waiter on via Roma. You know, as a larger lady, I hate being seen eating unhealthy food or carrying large food boxes through the streets, so I was none too happy to have been caught by the waiter. He was wearing a white button-down shirt and black dress pants with a royal blue sweater tied around his shoulders by the sleeves and he looked great! He mouthed a silent greeting at me as we passed like two ships bound for different ports of call.

Maria caught be on the way upstairs and invited me for a walk later that afternoon. We drove partway to the Monastery, Le Celle, The Cells, where she attends church, parked the car and continued by foot. We visited San Francesco’s cell as we had during our visit last spring and I took a picture in the small chapel adjacent to his cell. The bubbling torrent of water running down hill through the monastery has dried up leaving just a few determined puddles of water behind. I am so glad that I took some pictures of the stream on my last visit. The woods were quiet and peaceful as we strolled over the arched bridge and up the hill to the parking lot. The walk back to the car was up and down a number of hills but the sun was warm on our faces and we walked slowly savoring the tranquility. Maria mentioned that she had run into the elderly gentleman who used to stop me to discuss the weather, the man with the face sculpted by a life of joy and happiness. He lives in our alley and he stopped her to mention he’d noticed that I had returned to visit and had lost weight.

I dressed for dinner in my “Cruella de Vil” purple shirt, so named because it has a rather high cruel collar, an open neck, and a bodice fastened by tiny buttons, reminding of me something wore by the evil villan in the 101 Dalmations movie, along with a new necklace purchased from the shop Terri works in containing dangling tiers of purple, pink and gold-colored beads. While departing my alley I encountered my elderly friend whom I greeted. He stopped, grasped my hand and complimented me on my weight loss saying I was “piu’ magra e piu’ bella”, slimmer and prettier. He continued on for quite some time and, true to form, I understood only about 10% of the conversation. Somehow it didn’t matter. I understood what he wanted to tell me and appreciated his kindness and effort in doing so. I notice that he no longer talks to me about the weather, however he has begun to wink at me every time I encounter him in the piazza. What a flirt!