The Honeymoon is Over

It’s mid-July at this point in my blog, and our second honeymoon period is over as the boys joined us on July 23. They’re both in college now and need to work, so this is their last hurrah. One week in Viterbo with us, and a week in Manchester, England, where Fred is doing an Urban Sketchers workshop. 

See UrbanSketchers.org to learn what this is all about.

I left Viterbo early to make sure I got to the airport without any anxiety. You never know what might happen. Credit cards get stuck in toll booths, roads can be blocked, tractors might slow you way down, etc. But I didn't get tripped up on the way to Fiumicino until I was in the airport parking lot. I mistakenly got into a line to park in a lot for people with monthly passes. The gate closed in front of me AND behind me…. locking me in. Me, with no monthly pass or ticket or anything. I’ve been through this before and it always works out. Even with people lined up behind me. They’re used to backing up because often the machine is just broken. I pressed the help button, told her I had no ticket, and she said the gate behind me would open and I should back out… So, back out I did, all the way to the street and out again to find normal parking. 

From here it was very smooth sailing again. I waited for them to come out of the gate, snapped their photo when they did, pissed off Owen when I did that. Nice start. And off we went, back to Viterbo. Take ten.


After they unpacked, lazed around, napped and showered, we went to dinner at a new-for-us family-owned place around the corner.  As we left our apartment, the old lady across the street was looking out her balcony at us (per usual), so we told her our boys are here now. She was pleased for us.

Dinner was a very sweet experience. The son was our waiter, the father our host, and the mother the cook, we think. We never saw her, but the father came around smiling and chatting with people, and brought us biscotti and homemade dessert wine after our meal. The dessert wine was a ciliegia (cherry) liqueur which the host explained to us by bringing a bowl of soaking cherries to our table. They were delicious, too!

I ordered Chicken Viterbo-style, having no idea what that meant. Apparently, it's chicken and olives. They must've been surprised when I left most of the olives, but I'd just eaten a bowlful before dinner!  


The next morning we got up and out to join our Italian family friends the Basiles, next to whom we lived the very first year we came to Viterbo. We’ve gotten together every year since, at different houses among the extended family in and around Viterbo. One granddaughter Alessia spent Easter week with us as she was going to high school in Kentucky for the year! They are a lovely, boisterous, teasing, big family. It’s always a hoot to get together. 


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After this huge coffee gathering, they invited us for pizza on Friday, our last night. Stay tuned for those pics.