I just had a fantastic weekend... I know I seem to be starting a lot of posts this way lately, but I swear, Italy just keeps getting better.
So ages back, like at the start of April, Lauren, Elvira and I were talking to Andrea, an AFS volunteer. He told us about a bike race through the countryside near where he lives and asked us if we'd be interested in coming. We said yes please! but then naturally forgot all about it. Until last week, when he facebooked us with details and asking if we were still in. Therefore, we all remembered and said volentieri! and so this weekend, we went to his house in a tiny little town called Cavarzere about an hour away from Venice to have an awesome time.
We arrived Saturday afternoon, went to his house, kicked him out of his bedroom so we could get the double bed etc. He lives alone, which is really unusual for a guy of 25 in Italy, but it was excellent not to have 15zillion people underfoot. Plus, he lives in an actual HOUSE all for himself with a garden etc which NO ONE does in Italy. So nice house.
Then we went to the supermarket to get supplies for the weekend (marshmellows x2, chocolate x2, milk, chips, prosecco x2, beer x5... you get the idea, right?), went back to his house to stick everything in the fridge, had a drink, went to the bar and had another drink and also met a bunch of his friends and relatives (Cavarzere is like Reefton - EVERYONE is related), then travelled back in time to go to the most hilarious restaurant.
We were going to go to a sausage festival (hahahaha who DIDN'T gutter that?) but then Andrea mentioned this place he knew which would show us another side to Italy, as he put it. He phoned to check it was open, and ask for the night's menu.
Him: Are you open tonight?
Guy: Yeah, yeah, probably. Even if we aren't, show up and I'll fix you something if you want
Andrea: What kinda food?
Guy: Boh... a nice pasta, no?
Andrea: Second course?
Guy: Prosciutto
Andrea: With what?
Guy: Boh. Prosciutto...
Andrea: *hangs up* I think he was already drunk...
So we rocked up to the restaurant at about eight. It was a tiny place, literally in the arse end of nowhere - the directions given were to take a certain road and 'keep driving til you see the big tree', with a bunch of old men drinking red wine and speaking Venexiano sitting outside. Us girls hopped out of the car and they made a face like O.o girls! which was kinda cute.
We went in and sat down and seriously, I don't think that place has ever seen a vacuum cleaner. I think the dirt outside was probably cleaner, and let's not even TALK about the toilet... but anyway, the table looked clean and the plates did too, so I think we were in the clear. After about a quarter of an hour, the owner of the place wandered over to ask us what we wanted. Food, we replied, and red wine. We got the wine in about 10 seconds, and very good it was too. The food was served at 9.30, after the owner had finished watching the soccer match on TV and decided to cook us something. In the mean time, we talked to each other, talked to the old men (they were the only other people in the place, in case that's not clear, and they were all mates of the owner), drank wine and saw PEACOCKS sitting in TREES which was magical.
Anyway, we ate food and chatted and all got a little sloshed except for Andrea because he was driving. He's such an interesting person! He went to the States on AFS in like, '03, and plus he did a year in Japan through uni, where he met his exgirlfriend*. And he's travelled to a whole lot of other places as well. It was really cool talking to him - he passionately believes in the whole AFS message thing even though he hates the way the Venice chapter is run, and we had a good time hearing all the AFS gossip whch probably isn't interesting to you but it was to us. And plus, you have to think: this guy gave up his weekend to hang out with us. Surely he has better things to do. And yet he didn't act like it, he didn't try to boss us around because we were students and he was a volunteer, he didn't treat us like kids... he's just cool.
After the dinner was finished at about midnight (it was €7 a head, which included two litres of wine and grapa 'corretto' aka with grappa, which is the cheapest I have EVER paid for food in Italy), we headed back to Andrea's and had a BONFIRE with MARSHMELLOWS and music and I fell over the ONLY thing on the entire friggin lawn and cut my leg, but it's ok, still have all ten toes. So we ate junk food USA style, drank a bit more beer and prosecco, then went to bed at about three. I didn't sleep a wink, by the way, because us three girls decided to sleep together in the double bed and Elvira ended up sleeping literally on TOP of me. I mentioned this the next day and she was just like, 'Oh, sorry! I thought you were the duvet!' ...What can you say.
Then Sunday morning, we woke up at the bright and early time of 7.30 because we had a bike race to race - thirty kilometres through the countryside. SO PRETTY. Once I'd woken up a bit, it was fantastically awesome to see a new bit of Italy, all open fields and green and stuff, and 30k isn't actually that far - we started at 9.30 and were finshed at about 12.20, so not even three hours.
We had deep-fried sage for lunch, which is the ultimately best food ever invented in all time, and then spent the afternoon lying around in the sunshine, talking and hanging out. As a result of this and the bike race, I look like I have two red sleeves (I was wearing a T-shirt) and Elvira is stuck in permanent lobster mode. She is burnt EVERYWHERE because she was only in a singlet, and oh does that look painful.
We almost ended up staying another night to go to the sausage festival (giggle giggle), but Elvira had to go to school today, and while Lauren and I were still game, I think Andrea wanted his bed back :p
But all in all, it was insanely fantastic, and I wish I knew more awesome people like Andrea because è veramente forte... da paura :P And he says if he can manage it, he'll take us to Perugia for another weekend to stay at his flat there (where he studies) and see the city. Cool bananas, no?
* Ex gf is very recently so. Ie, Elvira: So where's Morisa? Him: We broke up on Thurs. Elf: Oh. Mi spiace... He didn't seem to cut up about it though; apparently it's been a long time coming.