4. My first day living as a Florentine

Tuesday April 8th, 2008

My first whole day living as a Florentine. I wake up and get ready to roam the streets. First place to hit up? Il ristorante Marios, where the menu changes daily and is in every 'where to eat' travel magazine, book and newspaper. Simply put, one of the best Florentine steaks around. I arrive and see Fabio, one of the owners of the restaurant and he smiles and instantly puts me at a table with 3 other Italians. 'Ciaos' all around and the 3 go on with their conversation. Perfecto I think because all I want to do is observe and listen and try to make out what they were converstating about. While Im eating, they talk and I love it how they talk with their hands and I kind of get parts of their conversations, but not all. I eat my vegetable soup and roast beef and begin to walk to visit Sara, the manager of the b and b we stayed at last month. I visit her and boy is she surprised im back in Florence. We talk for a little bit, but a couple of customers arrive and she needs to take care of them so I leave. Off to Gelato Mezzanotte, where after tasting the gelato in Florence and Roma, I decided its my favorite spot. Mezzanotte (Midnight) is the name of their specialty, cookies and cream. Walking, smiling with my gelato in my hand, I head to the piazza to sit and have my gelato. I sit and observe the various people walking about, tourists with maps in their hand, groups of students laughing and joking, businessmen walking around with their terrific suits, oh and also the people kicking like how Im kicking it. After my gelato, i feel so sleepy or jet lagged so I begin to walk back home and crash for a couple of hours.

I'm awakened by a kiss on the forehead and a 'ciao bella'. Before coming home, Mr. Uomo stops by his restaurant and tells me that Massimiliano is asking, 'Where is she, when is she coming?' I think to myself, do I have enough energy to see everyone tonight? I àm tired, but I cant wait to see Nico, Massimiliano, Anthony and Patrizia. So off we got to his restaurant on his scooter because its drizzling. Turning the corner, I see Ciro sitting there talking on his phone and I smile to myself. I met Ciro on my first trip to Florence. He is one of the funniest guys I've met recently. He is Italian, but is really Americanized and had a girlfriend from Newport Beach for a couple of years. Walking into the restaurant, I get all smiles, hugs and kisses. Instantly I have a warm feeling that is growing inside my heart and will not stop while having dinner. Even though Mr. Uomo had to do his rounds and talk with his customers, I am never alone. They just changed their menu that day and took off my favorite plate, the carne ensalada, which is thin cut slices of raw beef topped with slices of parmesan cheese, sliced artichoke, chopped up herbs and drizzled with olive oil. My mouth waters every time I think of it, anyways, they took it off the menu! You should have seen my face, well, everyone at the restaurant did, so in less than 10 minutes, a plate of carne ensalada was in front of me. Oh joy! But what Mr. Uomo ordered was incredible, it was shrimp wrapped in I believe pumpkin flower in a cream sauce that instantly melted in my mouth. For our main meal, I ordered the spaghetti de mare and Mr. Uomo ordered the veal. What a surprise when Claudio came in. Who's Claudio? My future roommate.

Mr. Uomo has been a doll lining up places for me to check out to live while in Florence. Im staying at his place for the time being until i get my own place, because I do not want to impose, plus the fact that i need my own closet space and truthfully my own space. but you should see the place that he got for me and Claudio! First off, we go check out the 2 bedroom, 1 bath apartment, one street down from Mr. Uomo's and 1 street down from the headquarters of Gucci. I know. Its in the neighborhood of Santa Spirito, one of the last neighborhoods where grandmothers sit outside and talk to their neighbors. Its a little older, which is perfectly okay with me, because it gives it that Italian feel. All the furniture is mix matched, it has a little terrace, the rooms are completely on opposite sides of each other and I absolutely love it.

But Claudio is the best part. He does not speak a lick of English. Okay, he can say 'good and okay' but thats it. And he cooks and cleans! Hes the person Ill be getting my Italian cooking lessons from! At first my thought was okay its a man ill be living with twice divorced, hmmmm. But Mr. Uomo tells me to trust him. He explains to me that he trusts Claudio with his life and he wouldnt hurt a fly and truthfully, Claudio would probably be scared of me. And plus Claudio is not a playboy, in Mr. Uomos words, 'Im crazy, but not stupid to place you with a playboy.' At this point, I already trust Mr. Uomo and his judgement so okay. I meet Claudio and you guys, hes one big teddy bear. He can barely look me in the eye. Hes very shy and all the guys at the restaurant teaste and joke around with him and he just laugh along or smiles. He pulls out a picture from his wallet and Im thinking okay, I get to see a picture of his 26 year old daughter, but no, its a picture of his cat! HIS CAT! Anthony was sitting next to me and wanted to laugh so hard, Poor Claudio. So Claudio and I go outside to smoke a cigarette and we try to have our first conversation and the cool thing is that we understand each other! I sit there thinking while Mr. Uomo goes into the restaurant to grab me a glass of cognac and while Claudio is showing me his lighter that when you push a button, it shows a reflection of a naked donna on the surface, I think how amazing is this? Im sitting here with my future roomie that doesnt speak any english and hes perfect and I have an amazing friend that has helped me transition beautifully to my new home. To actually have my home away from home and people who are dear to me is wonderful!

I want to clarify I was planning to move to Italy before I met Mr. Uomo. I decided while on the motorboat in Venice that I was moving to Italy. I just didn't know which city because we still had Florence and Roma to still see. Alot of people assume that I dropped everything for a man. No. I left because I fell in love with the country of Italy. Mr. Uomo is a gift from God.

On my last night in Florence last month, Mr. Uomo and I were walking and I told him, 'I dont know how I can thank you enough for everything you've done for me and my friends.' And in Mr. Uomos words, 'Dont thank me, thank the gods that our paths crossed.'

And thats precisely what I do every night.