Ok, so, last night the welcome dinner never happened because my professor, who is in his 70s, was not feeling well. It’s rescheduled for Wednesday, which I’m totally okay with. I was, however, all dressed up, so instead I walked the city in my DKNY dress and discovered that the city is much bigger than I thought! There are two other beaches in Portovenere and there seem to be many more attractive men sprawled on them. Ci sono molti begli uomini. I hope that’s right. It means, “There are many beautiful men.”

I’m trying to speak as much Italian as possible. It’s a little frustrating not being able to speak it fluently, but I feel good because I am the only one out of the American students that I’m traveling with who speaks it halfway decently. I speak more than I understand. It’s very strange.

For dinner last night, my roommates and I headed to a restaurant called “Lord Byron.” From what I understand,  the actual Lord Byron has some grottos nearby, and it was one of his favorite places. Grottos are natural seashore “caves” and are common in Italy. I don’t know if the food tasted so good because it was my first real meal or if it was actually good. First, let me tell you, I not only spoke to the waiter and restaurant owner in Italiano, but I translated everything for my roommates as well. I got lasagna sughi. SO GOOD. Then, because we’re students, we get some sort of discount at particular restaurants. At this particular one, we got water, our lasagna, and a delicious dessert for 8 euro! That’s a great deal for a semi-touristy town that hikes up prices for foreigners. For dessert, I had mixed fruit cocktail with a slice of gelato on top of it and, OH MY GOODNESS! Words cannot explain. The fruit tastes so much better here! What is wrong with the produce at home? Why doesn’t it taste this good and this healthy?

Today is a busy day. We’re touring La Spezia, the nearby port city. It’s a bigger city with more shops and people, so it should be interesting. Portovenere is growing on me. I feel so relaxed. This morning I sat with my roommates on the rocky shore and talked for hours as the sun grew warmer. Tonight we’re going out for drinks. We’re finally past the jet-lag and able to stay up late to enjoy the Italian cocktail hour that begins around 11 p.m…and ends…well, 5 a.m.? I don’t know yet. That’s how it was in Firenze. It’s too hot to do anything but sleep during the day, so people go out all night.

My lovely roommates keep commenting on how fashionable everyone is. I tried to explain how much more iconic Florence and Rome are to the world of fashion, but they can hardly imagine Italy getting any more fashionable. I assured them: it does. So, we’re trying to plan a trip to Florence for a few nights. I think they’re just happy I can translate most things for them. It does help, I suppose. A presto, tutti!