Excursion

Yesterday we finally got off our asses and out of Rome for the day. We drove to Tuscany on the sea to look at a villa with Alex, our rental agent here in Rome, and his friend Roberto, owner of the villa.

The villa is lovely and right on the ocean although the countryside around it isn’t nearly as pretty or as interesting as the areas inland in Tuscany we’ve looked at. It was a gorgeous day and we sat outside in the garden enjoying the view while Roberto, an excellent cook, whipped up a delicious lunch of pasta with eggplant. Throughout the day, Alex’s cell phone kept going off—his ring tone is the sound of car siren!—and we listened in awe as he effortlessly switched between French, Spanish, English and then back to rapid Italian. All this while driving, too. He says his Portuguese is even better than his Spanish and he can speak a little Chinese having lived in Shanghai for a few years.

On the way home, we stopped at the near by town of Talamone to look at the marina, the usual scene with fisherman repairing their nets. When we stopped for coffee in Porte Ercole I had my first maroconini, a coffee, cream and chocolate confection that was absolutely delicious and definitely gave me a buzz. For a moment, I considered making this new drink a regular feature of my day but then I thought hey, I've given up diet coke why take on another possible addiction. And, then, there's always prosecco.