Jullion and I had a beautiful breakfast of ham and mushroom frittata. I mapped out a few walking routes for him and told him I'd meet him back at the house in the afternoon. He would set out for the Rialto area and cross over the Grand Canal to see the Ghetto and Cannaregio, then onward to Piazza San Marco before coming back by way of the Accademia bridge. I was going to spend the day with Mamma and meet him back to prepare dinner.
I brought the computer with me, since she was so interested before in being able to watch my regular television programs from so far away. Went to Mass first of course. We came back to the house and she asked what we were going to see today. Feeling “cattiva” (naughty) I queued up an episode of “RuPaul's Drag Race” to see how she'd take it. That's what I'm here for – expanding horizons.
She was a hoot to watch it with. The challenge for the “ladies” was to have a mock up of a morning show with news, a weathergirl, gossip report and a roving reporter. To be honest, the Queens didn't look much different than most presenters on Italian television – over the top outfits and makeup an inch thick. Mamma took it in stride and kept remarking on how glamoroso they all were, even though she was seeing edits of them putting all makeup on and padding themselves up to female form, she wasn't repulsed by the obvious gayness of it all. She's way ahead of that neanderthal Massimo on couchsurfing... Who would have ever thought I would be exposing an octogenarian to such things? I was sure that I'd hear from Marco about this later, but we had a great time in the mean time.
I made a pot of minestrone soup for us and we had panini with pears and fontina cheese to go with it. Marco came home from work as I was getting ready to leave. He grumbled hello (apparently had a hectic day at work) and went to his room to lay down for a nap before heading to a second shift at a sister hotel in the place of some person not able to work that night. Poor guy. There was plenty of soup for him for when he woke up and it's guaranteed that Mamma would fuss over him with a protein-filled entree of some kind before he went off again for the night. She said he's been pretty quiet since his final blow-out with Donatella. I had decided to keep my distance in case he was feeling residual anger toward me pointing out the obvious that she was controlling and in the wrong where his mother's friendships are concerned.
Back at the house that night Jullion and I had a huge meal of pesto penne and chicken with plenty of wine and conversation. He insisted on taking me out somewhere for dessert. Since he hadn't had any gelato yet during his trip to Italy we struck out for Campo Santa Margherita to see if Gelateria del Doge (my favorite place) was open. It wasn't so we opted to go to the Dona Onesta for tiramisu instead. We were greeted by Safwat the owner and given generous helpings of tiramisu for him and pannacotta with berries for me. Too delicious.
There was a large crowd adjoined tables - 18 diners in total - who were part of a college program of some sort. We eavesdropped on their conversations and someone leaned over and asked me if I could translate and explain some of the menu items for them, since my familiarity with the staff made it seem I was a regular. I helped out, but of course.
During my conversations with Ali and Mussa, the servers and Safwat, we kept coming back to the idea of me cooking for them sometime. I have had meals there so many times and they have heard me say how much I like to cook, it's the main reason I always rent apartments in Venice. I offered halfheartedly that I would cook for them whenever they found a convenient time – but one of them is always working at the restaurant. We set a date, for the next night, when Safwat's brother would be able to watch the dining area for a little while. Wow – turnabout – I would cook for the people who serve me dinner. No pressure.
Jullion left with the crowd of college kids to hang out for a while in Campo Santa Margherita and I went back to the house. He rang the bell just before midnight, but it wasn't a big deal, I was still fully awake. He had a lot of fun with them and had even sparked up a little love connection. Good for him!
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