The weather out here has been quite strange; was cold for a few weeks, then started getting warm again......go figure.
So, I am fighting what appears to be a losing battle with the dry cleaners. I will spare you all of the gory details, but suffice to say, my argumentative Italian has gotten a lot better.
At this stage, I have received four of the five shirts they owe me (from two weeks ago), but am still missing one shirt and two "golf" (sweaters).
I'm not sure if pulling rank is protocol, but figured it did not hurt to mention that a good friend of mine here in Bologna is a lawyer...which is sort of true (i.e., Michela's dad Paolo, though non practicing).
In any case, they have until tomorrow to find the goods (evidently, the machine broke and they can't find anything; tried to give me someone else's shirt the other day), then I place a call to the owner.
Other than that, laundry is going pretty well. I am now washing with both detergent and softener, though I have learned that color guard is not standard, and have socks that are both clean and soft.....but alas, charcoal grey. Next step - bleach.
On the having fun front, last night we did appetizers at Alessandro's house.
My simple task was to bring three critical p's - prosciutto, parmesano and pecorino. That was easy, compared to some of the things prepared by Alessandro and Francesco, including a savory tart filled with prosciutto, spinach and mozzarella, three spreads -1) red pepper, 2) Sicilian pesto with tuna and 3) baked eggplant and scamorza (smoked mozzarella; not pictured below, because it was still in the oven).
This was all supplemented with some pizzette and other baked goods, and of course, copious wine.
If that wasn't enough, Franceso felt compelled to re-visit rum shots, because hey, after all, it was Tuesday.
Step 1) take sliced orange, dip one side in sugar, other in coffee, Step 2) eat sugar and coffee covered orange, Step 3) shoot rum, Step 4) try to look more like Monica and Alessandra (nostre amiche polache) in the "before"" picture, than Francesco in the aftermath (his eyes actually stayed like that).
Studying is going well....have had private classes two out of three days this week (Sebastian, the Colombian guy) decided to show up one day. We are making really good progress one-on-one, and tomorrow we will delve into the ominous subjunctive. Truthfully though, the grammar is very similar to Spanish, but just different enough to throw a few monkey wrenches into the mix.
On Sunday, my parents, brother and Robina come to Bologna, and, shortly thereafter, we will head to Piemonte for the week. Really looking forward to that! Hopefully my sweaters and shirts will also make the trip.
That's about all for now...about to head to the gym to squeeze in a workout.....hope your Wednesdays are going well and we'll talk soon....ciao ciao.
1 comment:
Grip and be easy on the Italian drycleaners. All of our pressing equipment comes from Italy...the brand is Trevil and they are outside of Milan...I've been to their factory. Our drycleaning machines are Italian as well, from a company called Ilsa which is also in the North.
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