Pappa

What a change a few hours can bring. The melancholy of yesterday afternoon, whether brought on by hormones, an after-lunch sugar crash, or some other causation, melted away by a happenstance turn of events.

On Sunday night, I received an email from my elementary school friend B who is on exchange in Vienna while I am in Italy. She said she and her boyfriend had just arrived in Florence--without having told me of her plans to come beforehand! Luckily our schedules aligned and I was able to take them on an evening walking tour of Florence last night (Monday) after my school-guided tour of San Miniato al Monte. The sights covered were the exteriors of:

• Santa Maria Novella
• il Duomo
• il Battistero
• Santa Croce
• Gelateria La Carraia 2 - B had a warm brioche with cookies gelato (only La Carraia 2 offers brioches and...FRAPPÉS...both of which I have yet to try)
• gli Uffizi
• Palazzo Vecchio/Piazza della Signoria
• Piazza della Repubblica
• Palazzo Pitti

I would have loved to show them the Piazzale Michelangelo and San Miniato al Monte but unfortunately it would have been dark by the time we arrived, and the best thing about the Piazzale is the view of Florence below.

After Palazzo Pitti, it was almost 9:30pm and we strategically had dinner at a restaurant near Gelateria La Carraia so that we could make it there before it closed. The restaurant was called Trattoria Angiolino. We shared carpaccio with rucola and grana (arugula and slices of parmesan cheese, respectively), a shrimp salad, and a half-litre of the house red wine. B ordered tagliatelle with fiori di zucca (zucchini flowers) and her boyfriend had bucatini all'amatriciana (spicy tomato and pancetta sauce). I had the pappa al pomodoro, a Tuscan tomato bread soup. To my surprise, B footed the bill. I could only thank her verbally and by buying her gelato at La Carraia after dinner. She ordered schiacciata fiorentina, torta di nonna, and opera italiana. So adventurous!

My evening with B and her boyfriend gave me a boost of energy as I was so happy to talk to people from back home. It was the perfect antidote to my doldrums and, as much as I am a stickler for planning, I was very grateful to have had this spontaneous visit. We talked about how our lives have changed from studying abroad, how we felt in our respective cities, and reminisced on the distant memories of childhood. It was just the emotional/psychological hug I needed to refuel me.

Today's word of the day is pappa. You think you know what it means, don't you? Well, I'm sorry to say you likely don't. Pappa [PAP-pa] means "mush" or "baby food". Papa [PA-pa] means "pope". And papà [pa-PA] means "dad". When I ordered my pappa al pomodoro last night, I think I accidentally ordered a dad with tomatoes. (Sorry, Giagi. Te veuri ben comunque!)