Well, the day finally arrived. 2 ½ years in the making,
Zishan Aziz finally came to visit me. He was my lovely house guest here in Italy
as my time is winding down to the last days. And let me tell you, it was just
what I needed to appreciate my time here. And impress everyone with my
unbeknownst handle on the Italian language. I surprised everyone,even myself. I
guess it was the same when I was forced to speak Japanese in Japan. What can I
say, I cant be bothered….unless I have to be. Then I can hold my own.
Let me start off with the weather. It has been so cold and rainy……..and
this weekend brought SUNSHINE!!! Just as I prepared my guest for the raininess
and made him bring an umbrella….it was gorgeous. Of course. However, it still
was quite chilly. As I had been without heat, my guest brought his electrical
skills and figured out how to turn the heat on in our apartment. Two points for
Z!
Once Z arrived, I took him out for the real deal….Naples
pizza. That’s right. Pizza every day . I don’t think Ill be eating much pizza
once I come home for a while. It will be tacos and Chinese food and sushi and
Starbuck….. any way I digress.
Saturday came and I was able to take Z downtown. I was proud
of myself for being able to do it alone, since I have never ventured that far
by myself before. It felt good to know that I ( kind of) know my way around
some areas of the city. I guess just the travelling has made it that I don’t
have a NEED to go shopping every weekend
in the downtown portion, and I didn’t realize what I was missing. The whole day
was so much fun just walking around and exploring. We headed to the
“Showcholate” That’s right people, a whole festival about CHOCOLATE. A belated
birthday present to me! Fondue, chocolate bars, chocolate beer, wine, shirts,
covered things….you name it, it was there. It was really lovely. We spent the
afternoon enjoying it, then headed over for some coffee and deep conversation.
Leave it to Z to always ask the uncomfortable questions and make me think about
my life. Thanks buddy!
We then met up for what would be a very eventful evening with
Aldo and friends. Aldo, my sidekick here in Italy. I don’t know what I would
have done without him while Ive been here. Hes truly a very special guy !!
Plus, his mom feeds me chocolate, and he does too. Cant complain about that.
ANYWAY….. they met us at the Showcholate and I was able to show them where to
get the free stuff. All of a sudden, Aldo said that I could sing for free
chocolate. SO there, in the middle of Piazza Plebicito in the heart of Naples,
I sang Call me Maybe ( badly and forgetting the lyrics I may add) for free
chocolate. Im pathetic, I know. But its simple to make me happy!
We continued our quest for our night out with both Aldo and
Z teasing me about being an old lady who likes to be in bed at 11pm. I said
don’t be a hater, I needed my beauty sleep. We ventured down through the heart
of Naples on Via Toledo passing all the shops,
newly minted Christmas decorations, and street vendors. Now, these were
the same street vendors from Africa that sell random Chinese goods on the
street. However, now they were all dressed as Santa. Not like any Santa I had
ever seen. Aldo paid a Santa 20 cents to say “ Hey, Carries shy, Merry
Christmas Carrie”. See, its just like home. Someone ALWAYS likes to embarrass
me!!! But I like it.
We headed up the streets of Vomero, the nicest district in
Naples ( which could and maybe did change my complete opinion on Naples) to eat
some pizza. Do you see a theme here? Pizza and chocolate. We chatted while we
waited for pizza….but before we did we hit the jackpot. While we were walking,
we discovered a small changepurse/wallet. While we looked around to see if it
may belong to someone, as it looked like a senior citizens wallet….we soon
discovered that it probably was not. Hidden inside was a prophylactic, and 10
euros. We decided we didn’t mind that we found it then, and joked around about
its contents. Did I mention this was on the “immaculate conception” day? Just a
coincidence….anyway we enjoyed amazing pizza, amazing company, and felt full of
both food and laughter as well left the restaurant to enjoy our gellatto….now
paid for !
As we were arriving for our gelato, we kept thanking the
wallet man, and the gentleman who seemed to be dressed up as Oliver Twist.
There were so many laughs and jokes, it made it feel as if we were all old
friends who had known each other for years. I love nights like this.
Waking up on Sunday, unbelievably the sun was still shining.
It was so unheard of in Naples these past few weeks that I thought it had to be
a miracle! Z and I were able to take a walk, drink some coffee, have some
pastries ( again with the eating theme) and enjoy Naples on a Sunday. Now, Ive
mentioned before how this city shuts down on Sundays. I felt like such a liar
though as I had warned Z…….and somehow everywhere was open this Sunday. What
the heck!!! I couldn’t figure it out, and felt like I needed to eat my words. I
just couldn’t believe it. I don’t think Z would have even believed me if Aldo
hadn’t said the same thing the day before.
During our walk we ran into kids who “loved our English”, a dog
convention, a man who I almost kicked because he wouldn’t leave us alone after
I told him I didn’t want his dead people flowers, and saw a castle. Not too bad
of a day. Plus Z got a bouncy ball from a machine.
All was right in the world :)
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