Casa Biondo: Day 1 (8/20/19)

Met Enzo this morning, he and Birgit are just lovely people – incredibly welcoming and friendly. Enzo drove me up into the mountains and dropped me off for a fantastic 6 hour hike! I spent quite a while just wandering the trails and had a relaxing lunch in near the peak. On the way back I stopped at a river Birgit recommended and actually climbed about halfway down a series of little waterfalls. I would have climbed all the way down but while the final drop would have made a great cliff dive, I couldn’t find any way I would be able to climb back up so I opted to hang out at the last pool I made it to. Nice place, very peaceful. I took a little swim and when a little crayfish came out of nowhere and snapped onto my toe, I let out a scream of terror that would have spooked a marble statue!

Enzo and Birgit’s family came over for diner tonight and they were kind enough to invite me into the party. Had a wonderful evening filled with laughter and good food: zucchini pesto with sunflower seeds (sounds odd but it was the star of the meal honestly) and a chicken salad with fresh veggies. After talking for several hours Enzo and two of his friends put on a little show. Lots of singing, some comedy, a little magic, and a sprinkle of word play. All in Italian of course so about 95% of it went straight over my head but I got the gist of it and at least knew when to laugh. Afterward there was a spontaneous little dance that was an awkward disaster of being the only person in the group who didn’t know the group dance, but we all had fun and that’s what matters!

Afterwards all the adults got together on the patio for a smoke and I played with one of the younger kids for an hour, rolling him into a burrito and playing with his Extensive collection of matchbox cars. He had fun and I got a small reprieve from the group which was good since the dance pretty much fried my social circuits. It was a fun night though, and I’m glad I accepted their invitation!