The Papapietros have landed! Late Sunday afternoon, I stood anxiously at the train station waiting for Joey and Robbie's smiling faces, my mom's tears, etc. Or not. I realized how much information I forgot to give to mom about traveling to Perugia, so I'm realizing as I stand there that there's a ninety percent chance that they won't get off the train. And they don't! I take the MiniMetro back up the hill, thinking I'll check their hotel. Sure enough, I see two taxis pull up right in front of me with five heads. Robbie's head. Mom's head. Oh, there's Joey's head! Thankfully, they only got off one stop too soon and were able to get a cab up. I think Jules thought the daughter emailing her for the last 3.5 months was a figment of her imagination, so needless to say she was over the moon to see her baby all in one piece. This is the longest I've ever gone without seeing her. I definitely had tears!
The Papas are now as officially as in love with Perugia as I am (well that's not quite possible, but three days here is enough for any visitor to be in love).
Exhibit A: Took the fam to Pizza Med. Here are some initial reactions:
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| Joey (and Auntie MB) sample the local wine selection. |
In fact, they loved the pizza so much, we brought it back to my apartment to eat with my roomies the second night. Let's just say, the Papas and the roommates totally hit it off...so much so that several Perugia roomie trips to Cape Cod are in the works this summer. They probably wouldn't even have to involve me, Joey is enough entertainment...
Speaking of Joey, kid was hilarious.
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| Contemplating life on the steps |
I took him to my internship at Alessi early Tuesday morning...he was a hit! The girls kept saying "Carino!" which means cute. Lucia was amazing enough to give Joey a tour of the high school after class! I had never even been down to the labs, but the school has equipment from the school's whole history, even vials that were damaged during Mussolini's regime. Pretty fascinating. The faculty is always so gracious to me, and they were even more excited to have a "fratellino" (baby brother) here from the United States!
After Joey's tour, I took him up to Umbra for a T-shirt and a look around. This quick trip ended up lasting over an hour, with Joey charming the female staff members with phrases like, "Yeah, they (the high school girls) were just lining up for me." Needless to say, everyone kept asking about him today, and they're all hoping he comes to Perugia for a stint abroad in eight or nine years!
Unfortunately, I had a busy week of presentations and activities (although they were AMAZING...more on that in the next post!) My family went to Assisi by themselves, and thankfully the weather was beautiful. They loved it! It brought back wonderful memories of my trip to the Basilica back in February.
Two gelato runs a day, practicing my Italian translation skills, hugs from mom, demonstrating my increased confidence and independence...these are just a few of the reasons the last few days with them were so wonderful. Today they are headed to Florence. Way more pictures when I meet up with them again in Rome this weekend!
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