I had planned to drive to Bassignana today, hometown of my great grandparents. However, the combination of the late night before, the rain, and the holiday, convinced me to put that off until another visit. The rain was off and on, mostly while we were driving. Nothing torrential really, rain here kind of comes and goes and lingers. A rainy day in Italy is sort of like every day in Hawaii, with the upside being that most other days are completely rain free. This was the only rain we had the whole time.
I also found myself falling asleep during the drive. Originally, I was thinking I wanted to leave around 9 am. However, when it turned out that Annie was going to stay with us Thursday night instead of Wednesday, I figured that might not happen. We got home from dinner after dropping Bruno off in Lucca, around 1 am, just in time for a call at work. I managed to keep that relatively short. Then I fixed the issue that work had called me about while we were at dinner. Then we watched the latest episode of Project Runway. That has been our ritual with Bella every Thursday. During the show Annie fell asleep. About 3 am we went to bed. That’s been pretty much the usual time I get to sleep. I try to get done earlier some nights, but often it’s even closer to 4. I generally sleep until 10 or so, and then take a nap in the sun during the day. Once in bed though, Annie did not want to sleep any more. Tossing, turning, sighing… Well, I’ll admit, the new couch may look a lot better than the old one, but the fold-out bed really isn’t very comfortable. I think we should find a futon to put on top of it. I woke up around 5 and she was finally asleep. Around 7 she was awake again, but there was no way I was going to wake up, despite her poking and prodding for the next two hours. Finally at 9 am I went in the bedroom where Bella was watching TV and shut the door, and she complained about being all alone, messing about doing who knows what in the kitchen. I got about 30 minutes of sleep and decided that I should get up after all. At that point, she went to sleep for the next 2 hours.
I have had several friends visit Pieve di Cerreto and most have been completely wonderful. I don’t like to lay down rules, but I’ve realized a few things about traveling with friends:
1. Be where you say you’re going to be, and carry a cell phone. I keep a spare phone to lend to friends that don’t have international calling and it’s always worked out very well. Annie, however, refuses to carry a cell phone. Hence the mixup on Wednesday. I have very little tolerance for that sort of Luddite behavior.
2. Get on the same sleeping schedule. I hate succumbing to jet lag and try to get myself on a normal sleep pattern as early as possible. Usually a night with benedryl helps, and then lots of coffee in the morning. Trying to keep up with work on US time is a bit harder, especially with California, but I like having my days free when I’m in Italy so it’s worth it. However, demanding I be awake during sleeping hours, and then sleeping during daytime hours, wears out my patience fast. Annie really has no excuse here though since she lives in Paris!
3. Enjoy eating. People on special diets, or no-food diets, should not come to Italy with me. One of my favorite things here is the food. Sure there are things I don’t like, and I expect there are things that everyone doesn’t like. But to not eat anything, then complain about how hungry you are, not able to find anything to eat anywhere… Or to demand pizza at 3 in the afternoon — after lunchtime — when we’re all enjoying gelato… And then to not try the food that I make… Well, I won’t be inviting you back to stay with me again.
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