Today (my day off of class) was truly simple but truly delightful. It started off with a delicious bowl of cereal, a quick load of laundry, a bit of Italian homework, and a post card in the mail. I then made myself a truly simple but delicious salad and met Margaret at her apartment to run to the Mercato Centrale and then explore the city.
We browsed around the market for quite a bit, eying all the mounds of produce and interesting cuts of meat you can buy there (or not buy if it was up to me...stomach/hoof/muzzle is not my cup of tea). After Margaret picked out some things, we dropped her stuff off at her apartment and set out again for the afternoon.
We walked all over, poked into a few shops, found a jacket I might like to buy, split a goat cheese sun-dried tomato panino at Il Due Fratellini (my favorite panino spot, as of right now anyways), had a really good laugh that included a few tears about the "brothers" that work the panino shop (while Margaret claims they are different brothers each time she goes, we realized that actually the original brothers must be dead since the place was started in 1875...don't worry, you probably had to be there), got limone granites, walked through the Giardino Botanico that we pass on the way to Italian class, then called it an afternoon.
I came back to my apartment and watched the most recent episode of Modern Family (it's absolutely hysterical if you haven't seen it yet) and laughed really really loudly by myself. Nobody else was home, so nobody thought I was crazy.
Then the girls came back, and we ate a quick dinner before Christie and I headed out with Caroline to support her in her endeavors on the soccer field as she played on the CET-Georgetown soccer team in a match against another team of Americans. This was so much fun--there are two small soccer fields in a courtyard above the Duomo where all sorts of American study abroad students can join leagues and play soccer! While our team (apparently called "Vandy-town"--Vanderbilt and Georgetown combined) may not have dominated the soccer field, Christie and I were in total cahoots on the sidelines as we watched our friends out on the seemingly VERY slippery field... I won't use any names, but some people may have fallen a few times out there in the very first few minutes of the match, but with great honor and dignity. The other team was also incredibly serious and aggressive in contrast to our fun-loving, low-key demeanor...so of course there were many moments that had Christie and I crying laughing. It was so much fun, and we are excited to go support Vandytown in the future! And also get some more good laughs.
After that, we met up with MR and Margaret and went to (you guessed it!) Cantina del Gelato. We always seem to laugh here when we go because the two men who work the shop tease us and shake their heads when we attempt to speak in broken Italian. Tonight, the younger of the two men who work there tricked me into believing that he had run out of marscapone-nutella gelato, forcing me to order something different. I got caramello and cioccolato (Margaret's signature combo) and was not disappointed in the slightest, but it was not until Mary Raine was ordering and I had practically devoured my entire cono piccolo that he let on that he had pulled my leg and actually had a full tub of my favorite flavor. We laughed and laughed, and he seemed quite pleased with himself. Caroline then told him that she had an Italian test tomorrow, and he said, "Tomorrow? Ay...."
After all this laughing and exploring and cheering and eating, I am feeling totally satisfied and so very happy to be where I am. It was a truly delightful day filled with easy time with sweet friends in a fabulous city.
Ciao until next time!
Grace
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