7-13-09

This is my last post for awhile as I am traveling to Shasta with my family for the week. I will be busy wakeboarding and basking in the glory of the summer months and will have no time to update this tell-all tale. So now you know.

My mom and sister (Erica) arrived by train at Cortona. "Finally!" said my mom as she embraced my dad and me, "you wouldn't believe the train system here." And right she was. Trying to navigate a metro system is hard enough when the signs are in English! And next to impossible when they are in Italian or German. However, with a little help from the natives (mainly finger pointing and short phrases spoken in broken English) they made it. But before they arrived...

My dad and I went for a drive on the country roads that surround the sleepy Tuscan town. We stopped at a restaurant which had been converted from a mansion-villa. It was so big we spent 20 minutes searching for someone to sell us a couple cokes. Once we did, we sat on the portico overlooking the valley and lake. We sat and sipped as an old man watched us from a few tables away. He was nicely dressed in a summer suit and panama hat. Just a curious old Italian man living out the last days of his life watching strange tourists sip Coca-Cola and speak funny languages. We asked him if he spoke English, and he replied by shaking his finger and saying, "No No," urging us to continue our conversation as if he wasn't there. So we did, and left shortly after finishing our sodas.

That night we met with Margie, Gunner, Julie and Tom (friends of Charlie and Victoria). Margie is the life of any party, she's loud and vivacious, the instant friend. Gunner is Margie's husband. He is a large German purebred who loves to cook and take pictures. Tom is Gunner's kitchen partner, meaning they cook together in the kitchen. Tom loves European history and has a sharp pallet for wine. Julie - Tom's wife - is somewhat reserved and soft spoken, but loves to laugh. Thankfully these four personalities have opened their villa for Cameron and I. Otherwise, we'd be stuck with sharing a couch - which would get old quickly. And the bonus is that we're staying with two gourmet chefs! How's that for a touche?

When evening rolled around, Cam, Charlie and I we went out for drinks at a bar in town. I had a Screwdriver (Orange juice/Vodka - a classic, I found you drink many of them in college) and Cam had a Sidecar (1 part Brandy, 1 part Cointreau, 1 part lemon juice - I was suprised he didn't just order "One Appletini please" and when told it's 6 euros say, "Oh my! I'll have to get my checkbook out of my man purse! Just one moment honey!" with a wink and slap of the butt.) I sat listening to Charlie and Cam bicker about this and that, slowly getting drunk. Charlie left after awhile to find the grown ups, so Cam and I upped the ante. We ordered two Absinthe (for those who've never had Absinthe, it is a neon green drink that needs to be sterilized by burning sugar cubes before being poured over ice. It is said to have psychedelic effects, but all I got was some heightened color which could have been due to the alcohol. Did I mention it tastes like black licorice?)

After the Absinthe we were both in the mood to find girls. We found a couple sitting on the church steps in the main square. One spoke awesome English because it was her first language. The other spoke none. We sat on the steps talking until 1am, and just as I was about to make the move and invite my girl back with me she said, "Oops! Sorry it's late, we have to go." Even Italian girls have curfews, so we headed back to the villa for some sleep.

Now before we left for the bars, Gunner pulled us aside and said, "Listen, we don't care what time you get back, just make sure to keep quite when going to your room." How hard could it be, right? Wrong. There is nothing harder to do than sneak into a century old villa drunk on Absinthe. If you ever did it, I applaud you because Cam and I failed. We were giggling and bumping into things, opening doors and eating bread, I was amazed nobody woke up. We miraculously found our beds on the fourth floor and passed out. I realized after piecing my night together - lots of Absinthe = hazy, hazy, hazy night. Just a warning.