Who Can Say No To Brunch? — Rome, Italy
During Claudio's party last night, I asked him how his mom was doing and he subsequently invited me to go with him the next morning to say hello and surprise her. I agreed and although I was tired, hungover and jet-lagged I was up and ready in time to meet Claudio at his home in plenty of time to relax and psych myself up for speaking in Italian. To my joy and dismay however, Claudio explained that it would be awful if I didn’t stay for lunch and besides, his aunt, brother and family friend, Lori, would all love to see me as would I them so, I decided to give in and stay.
I knew that I would now have to speak Italian much more than I had planned on but I was ready and I knew I could impress his family today. I also knew, being in Italy, that the meal would be a ritualistic festival of food. And it was!
The conversation and the food were delightful as were the hostess, family and guests.
In the end, Claudio, his dad and I fell asleep on the couch for about an hour before Claudio dropped me off at Chrissie’s where I continued to recover from jet-lag.