Pranzo with Aunt Gale and Uncle Ellis

This morning was ordinary. I sat in CLIDA class for 1.5 completely fed up with the Italian language. I didn't want to do anything, and couldn't understand any of the grammar points that we were learning. We had History of Costume at 11 and Elisa showed up late again, 30 minutes into class. Once class was over, I was happy to walk down along the Arno for lunch with Aunt Gale and Uncle Ellis.

They arrived from the States late Wednesday night and had called yesterday with a lunch invitation, which I was happy to accept. I made it to their house in about 20 minutes and Uncle Ellis was standing at the door waiting for me because apparently, I'm a slow walker. I already knew that, considering my 5'2" stature.

He brought me inside and I greeted Aunt Gale and their friend Dino who had come along for the ride. Then, I got a tour. Their house is completely incredible! It used to be an office building which they bought in 2001. It took them 4 years to get it completely renovated. Uncle Ellis had all the before and after pictures and I was shocked. I couldn't even figure out how it looked the way it did. During the renovation, they had discovered 4 fresco-ed ceilings which they also had uncovered and restored. They were absolutely magnificent and soooo colorful! Everything was state-of-the-art. The kitchen was beautiful tiled and just the right size. The bathrooms had those tiny mosaic tiles that started on the floor as dark blue and tapered off to white as you reached the ceiling. I wish I could have taken pictures, but I didn't want to be weird.

We had a really nice lunch. We started with cheesy parmesan pasta and zucchini, and the main course included a great fish in a light olive oil and tomato sauce. There was also awesome salted spinach. Dessert included an apple tart, berries with sugar, and espresso. It was all wonderful and we had a really nice time talking and catching up. I'll also be going there for Thanksgiving when they return in November. They have a tradition to have all their Italian friends over (about 30 people) for an American style Thanksgiving. Each year, they have a theme. This year, it will be NYC, so everyone has to wear black. Easy enough. I'm really looking forward to it.

Anyway, this week has been a rough one, so I'm excited to go out tonight. Not sure what we're doing yet, but we want to find a new bar and just hang out. We'll see what happens. I'm totally sleeping in tomorrow.

Ciao!