Dinner and a Car Crash

We went out to dinner with Valentino's friends. One of his friends works at the restaurant we went to, so we got a few complimentary items. The restaurant is part of a hotel and is really nice. We got so much food though. First, they brought bread, an alfredo pizza, and raw meat balls on top of lemons. We didn't eat the raw meatballs though. They also brought us all a glass of champagne. We ordered our food and I got steak and fries and Tiffany got a pasta with fish and caviar. Both were really good and Valentino asked to waiter to bring us a whole extra plate of fries because we are American. After eating the meal, the waiter brought us a plate full of desserts. There was almond biscotti, strawberries, and apple cake. We ate some of it and then they brought us some chocolates to eat. I'm sort of getting used to being full constantly. After dinner, we met with more of Valentino's friends and they wanted to go to a pub. We found one, but they said it was empty and wanted more people in it. I told them that it's empty now, but if we go inside it will be full because together we had about 8 people in our group. They agreed and we went inside and ordered drinks. We all left after one drink but it took us forever to get in the car because they all talk so much to each other. Finally, we were going out of the parking lot and Valentino's friend was going really fast to look cool. Because of how fast we were going, we almost hit a pole but he dodged it and ended up hitting a stop sign with his front right tire instead. I could not believe he knocked down the stop sign. The tire cover flew across the street, part of the bumper came off, and his tire became flat. Valentino, Tiffany, and I had to get home, so his other friends took us. I hope that his other friend's car is okay though.
Tomorrow we leave Italy, and I'm really sad to go. We've had so much fun here, and Valentino's family has been really nice.

The Bruschetta Fraud, Valentino's Dad, and Strange Toilets

We ended up going out to dinner tonight with Valentino and his parents in the town where he goes to school. We drove there in his dad’s Mercedes. His dad always goes really fast in that car and it’s a lot of fun. In Italy, you also get points deducted you’re your license for traffic violations, only here you start with 20 points. Valentino said his mom only has 4 points left so she hardly drives now, but his dad has all 20 points even though he always speeds through red lights, makes U-turns, and drives too fast. The town we went to for dinner had a lot of stores in it, just like the ones in Milan. His parents had some errands to run, so they told us to go to the restaurant and get a table. The people at the restaurant told Valentino he needed a reservation, so we went back outside to call his dad. In Italy, it’s rude to be on the phone inside of places. Valentino always steps outside to take calls or he walks away from where we are. So his dad came to meet us, and Valentino explained the situation. Even though his dad is short, he’s really tough. He said “no, no” and winked at Tiffany and I and then went into the restaurant to yell at the workers. In about 2 minutes, he came out and said “viente minutos,” which means 20 minutes, and then we went to a café to wait. Tiffany and I just had to laugh at that. Valentino says that his dad is the boss of Italy because he always tells other people what to do. The café we went to was really cute, and we got bruschetta and cute little fruity drinks. So all this time, America has misled us when it comes to bruschetta. Bruschetta doesn’t always have to be hard bread with tomatoes and onions and olive oil and cheese. Bruschetta just means “little bread” and can have almost anything on it. We got about 6 different types of bruschetta at the café. One had salami with another vegetable on it, one had shrimp and a sauce on it, another had ham and a vegetable, one looked like a sandwich, and another had something like a salad with dressing on it, and the last one looked like it had salmon on it. They were really cute. I wish that they had different bruschettas in America. We went to the restaurant, and Tiffany and I spotted gnocchi on the menu, so we had to get that. We got 4 cheese gnocchi, which was really tender and good. We were so full from the bruschetta that we hardly ate anything, but Valentino said not to worry about it. He and his family ate everything on their plates, though. Valentino and his dad got spaghetti, which they twirled like pros, but his mom got just vegetables. Valentino said that she had a lot of food from the holiday so she is trying to eat light now. During the meal, Tiffany had to go to the bathroom. When she came back, though, she told me she didn’t go because the toilet was in the floor. Literally, the floor was flat and had a porcelain dip in it which was the toilet. They also had 2 places for your feet to go so you don’t slip and fall in. Valentino explained that it was cheaper to have that kind of toilet. I didn’t get to see it, but it sounds really strange to me. Even though Tiffany and I were stuffed, they insisted we get tiramisu. Tiffany didn’t eat any, so I ate the whole thing because it was so good. Valentino said that Tiffany can have tiramisu tomorrow since she was too full today. We watched some Italian TV when we got home, which were American shows with Italian voice over.

First Day in Italia

Today, Tiffany and I arrived in Italy. It was not an easy trip, though. Chris’ friend was supposed to drive us to the airport, but he was out of town so Tiff and I had to walk all the way to the train station in the snow with 5 bags! We also had to switch to 3 different trains. People helped us along the way, but it was no picnic. When we finally got to the airport, we were relieved and got a suit case cart. We checked in, had a nice lunch in the terminal, and waited for our flight. We had a lay over in Zurich, Switzerland and then had a delayed flight to Milan because of the weather. I was worried because I told Valentino that we’d arrive at 9:20, but we didn’t get in until 9:50. He and his parents were waiting, though, and we greeted each other traditionally, with a kiss on each cheek. His parents dress really fashionably, I think it’s because they live near a fashion capital. His mom has red hair and was wearing all black and super high heels. She is really short though, and so is his dad who wore ripped jeans. They told us they were taking us out to eat a traditional Italian dinner. The city we drove through reminded me a lot of how Spain looked. At the restaurant, Valentino’s parents ordered us 4 big pizzas because they wanted us to be able to try the different types. They were all thin crust and really good. His dad got some pasta. Afterwards, they insisted we have dessert. They didn’t have tiramisu for Tiff, but we got chocolate gelato instead. They also made us eat a warm apple cake with chocolate dipping sauce. It was different and also really good. At his house, Tiff and I have almost our own apartment. We’re downstairs with a bed, TV, table and chairs, our own kitchen, and our own bathroom. It’s really nice! Tomorrow, we are all going to Milan to shop, I can’t wait!