First Friday

I set my alarm to wake up and get going, trying to set the rhythm for our time here. I don't know if it's the overcast day or finally being able to relax after being in viaggio for a week, but I'm super sleepy today! 

This morning involved doing just a few things, including supervising Mariella and Andrea putting up Elena's Christmas garlands, before Vincenzo called us down to lunch.

Ah, Mariella, what lunches you create! Today, being Friday, meant pesce, of course. I heard Giuseppe the fish monger ring the bell at 7:00 this morning for his delivery.

Mariella prepared it simply, with scant bits of garlic and cherry tomatoes simmered in olive oil, then chunks of salmon, calamari, sweet petite shrimp, and the tiniest clams called lupini. With a sprinkle of hot pepper flakes, it was a mouthful of heaven balanced with just enough hell. Delicious. The secondo was a spinach frittata and crusty bread. Mariella sent up poached pears last night, so we have dessert if we want it later.

Now upstairs, I'm debating between a nap or a trip to the store. Maybe both?

******

No nap, since I got enmeshed in the Delta refund process. It's been a boring day (except for lunch ). Now evening, I'm ready to get out. Unless it's raining. Nope; not raining.

Joe joined me, and we walked, as usual, to Deco. I wanted to get wine for cooking and for bringing to Cucina di Mariella, as well as a few things for meals and snacking throughout the week. 

As we approached Deco, I noticed an enormous cloud of white smoke at the end of the block. It's either someone's radiator overheating, or there are chestnuts roasting! I had stopped at the ATM for cash, so I was ready for the latter. It was at a weirdly positioned and busy traffic triangle, which, despite it being the season for chestnuts, made me think it could be a radiator. But no! Chestnuts! 

First, our shopping. I was fairly literally driving the cart, putting things in, and getting what I thought looked good, as Joe wasn't in the mood for responding to my requests for input. No matter. It's all good; pretty hard to buy anything but optimal ingredients here!

I missed the chestnut guy, as I was busy walking and outlining our options for a light dinner. We ended up back at Bar Cristal, having the assortment of pizzette, olives, and snacks that accompanied our wine and Negroni.

These overseas trips appear to be long and a little hard and maybe boring for Joe. To be fair, I've talked about jumping off to Thailand in the middle of this trip (to the point of labeling it as such on the calendar), but it again feels as if that's not gonna fly. We had discussed it as a honeymoon trip, but maybe it will happen for our third anniversary? Europe is easy for us, so I hope to do the more complicated trips now; more of Europe when we're older. And there's no rule we can't occasionally go off and do our own trip here and there. I just think it's fun creating experiences together! Rainy days bring out the worst in travelers; me, topping the list of them.

After a "discussion," we talked about places closer to Sicily as a potential getaway. So maybe we'll break this stint up a little. I'm up for considering any good compromise.

We lugged our groceries home, noticing the new and bigger location for OVS, a favorite clothing store.

We walked down via Trapani, stopping short of our front door, and nearly got a baseball bat (or whatever may be the Sicilian equivalent) to the head, when we saw and approached Giovanna in her garage. I could tell we were out of context for her for a minute, so I just stood there, smiling, until I saw the lightbulb go on. "Stai pensando che siamo ladri?" I asked, wondering if she thought we were robbers. And then she was all over us, hugging, chattering away, telling us we are always inside her heart (demonstrating by shaking her hand under her enormous left boob, setting IT a-jitter). We hugged again, and promised to have tea together soon.

Now under the covers and in my PJs, I hear Agnese and Rachele with Alessandro in the room adjacent, which is his office. They are doing homework together. It's such a sweet bunch of noise, even when Agnese gets vocally petulant. Alessandro is a stern, loving, and fun dad, and the girls adore him. Listening to them is the equivalent to having a bedtime story read to me.

Tomorrow, the weather looks drier, and Joe will hopefully get in some tennis with Vincenzo and friends. I will probably go buy the dish soap and toilet paper that didn't make it into tonight's haul.

All in all, it was a much-needed day of repose. Sometimes boring is good.

Happy weekend!