Overcast day, may rain.
Stella and I have breakfast together as Luca is in Florence for meetings. We have the same conversation as we do every morning. When we cleared the table, we couldn’t quite close the lid of her exquisite silver butter dish in the shape of a clam. The butter was too tall and the lid did not meet the dish. So she flipped the lump of butter 90 degrees and closed the lid. She said so this is what a degree in mathematics will teach you. I think I laughed for 10 minutes straight. Before she took over the Fattoria in the early 90’s she had an illustrious career as a statician for the Italian government. She has a degree from the University of London, having turned down Berkeley in California and MIT to be closer to home.
Afterwards, with a credit card in hand, I tell her we need to settle my account. She tells me she doesn’t know how to do it or how much to charge, looking all innocent. I say, Stella, I’m not joking. Then she remembers, OK OK, we could look up the price on her website. We fumbled around on her computer for several minutes until we found what we needed. Then we fumbled around for several more minutes with her infernal credit card machine until it finally printed out a receipt “Paid” What a sorry pair, the Grace & Frankie of Italy, it took a half hour to make a 5 minute transaction.
I met Federico in a restaurant in Pescia for a farewell lunch of sorts. He is so entertaining, I really enjoy spending time with him and talking about everything under the sun. He greeted several customers in the restaurant including a distinguished gentleman who asked him what he was doing having lunch with a “Signora.” They joked around, and later, Federico tells me he is the owner of a local book store, very cultured, very smart. Handsome, too, sigh. I noticed that Federico was watching me. Nothing gets past him.
Changing the subject only drastically, Federico casually mentioned that his parents want to retire on Isola d’Elba, not a bad place to be, I am told. Hmmmm
Tomorrow, I will get up early and turn in the car at the Pisa airport. Anna will meet me there and take me back to Pietrabuona.
Watched a Ted Talk tonight, very close to the bone. https://www.ted.com/talks/jason_b_rosenthal_the_journey_through_loss_and_grief?subtitle=en&geo=it
