Last Full Day in Italy

Monday, 2 July, 2018

My 168th day living in northern Italy would be somewhat hectic, as one might expect, being that we fly home to California on tomorrow.

We had a lot of loose ends to tie up today.

Among my morning chores was sending a post card to a friend in California who shall remain nameless, Cyndy Murphy, who recently complained that in all of my EuroBall years I had never sent her a postcard.

So I would remedy that today, simple task, no?

NO!

Walkway dome on my way

 to the stamp selling tobacco store

Of course he was out of the 2.20 Euro stamps needed to mail a .30 Euro postcard.

He suggested that I go down the street to the . . . 

  

. . . DREADED Post Office

What the Hell, a trip here is always good for a story.

So here goes . . .

When my turn came, I used damn near perfect Italian to request my one 2.20 Euro stamp for the postcard that I had handed her.

After trying to read the card but being stymied by it being written in English, she proceeded to weigh the postcard, not once but twice, to determine if it was overweight.

It wasn't.

Once that hurdle was cleared, we dealt with the next problem. She did not have the right stamp and God forbid any attempt to use a combination of smaller priced stamps to equal the one that I needed.

Her solution to the problem was to just have her computer have a 2.20 Euro stamp printed.

And it did.

Only this makeshift stamp was so big that when she first tried to apply it she realized that it would effectively cover up the top 1/3 of the card thus eliminating much of my message and half of the address.

Her answer this time was to place the mega-stamp at a rakish tilt where the stamp should be thus covering up much of the picture side of the card.

As I said, every trip to the Italian Post Office is good for a story!

Packing our bags took up the rest of our afternoon.

In the evening I had to head to . . .         

. . . the gym to test a few more

Skorpions before embarking on our

off-season strength training routine

On the way to the gym, I passed a ristorante that I have never entered but whose two statues always catch my eye when driving by it.

Cool Hat . . .

. . . worthy of Carmen Miranda's suitor

After the positive weight room tests, I picked up Laurie for one last truly authentic Italian dining experience.

La Trattoria di Torba was our choice

A great little hidden away spot in nearby Torba run by two sisters who are veterans of the business. 

A great, homey feeling at the

Trattoria di Torba

The antipasto was amazing, the gnocchi and ravioli were perfect and the dessert was spot on.

What a wonderful meal to end our stay in Italy!

Tomorrow the journey will start at Milano's Malpensa Airport with a 95 minute Vueling Air flight to Barcelona, a four hour layover and then a 12 hour and 15 minute Norwegian Air flight to Los Angeles.

We love it here but it is indeed time to go home!

GRAZIE SKORPION FAMILY!