 |
| One of the fun guys we met this season |
From what I've observed here in Italy, Italian men are completely different from men back home. For several reasons. Number one, they're not embarrassed to hug/kiss another man (on the cheek that is). When they have heated discussions they get very close to one another's faces with numerous hand gestures. There's no homophobia like at home where you can't do this or that, for fear of others thinking you might be gay. It's completely different here and I kind of like. Secondly, the men are extremely flirtatious and have a tendency to make you feel like a goddess instead of a slob in jeans and a t-shirt. I have to say, I kinda like that too as long as they're not old and creepy. That's a different story....
 |
| All the Italian guys we had to pass |
The night of Jess, Mattia and I's exploration, Jess and I headed to the land of wine and truffles. The Lunghe Hills. We had taken a small road trip before to Alba and the surrounding areas, and wanted to go again as we had access to a car. We were on a bit of a time restraint so we just went to Dogliani which is closest to Mondovi. On our way there we stopped at this place called
Cantina del Dolcetto di Dogliani where we saw many cars, so we stopped in. When we got in the parking lot there were a bunch of Italian men just standing around looking at us like we were aliens. We hurriedly made our way to the building where we looked in the windows only to be beckoned inside by a nice Italian man named Matteo. Matteo was super nice and let us try the wines of our choice. He also took pics with us. He then asked for my number and facebook and Jess was no help at all. She just walked away as Matteo and I had a "conversation." He didn't really know English. We exchanged phone numbers, but I seriously don't know what we were going to talk about. I can talk to
 |
| Matteo our new friend |
Italians way better in person because you can use hand gestures and body language. On the phone you don't have any of that, so conversations are pointless. Twice I tried to have a conversation on the phone with an Italian dude and it didn't work out so well. I got frustrated and just gave the phone to Mattia. Anyway, Matteo was super nice and like I said before, he made Jess and I feel like we were the most beautiful women on earth. You know, being exotic Americans that spoke English. Haha...the story continues with nice Italian men encounters.
We weren't sure of our plans for the week as money is always an issue. We wanted to go to a nice Michelin rated restaurant in Genova but like I said we didn't know what was in store for the week. So we ended up getting pizza at this place called Ristorante Il Coccodrillo in Sestri Levante. We got all gussied up and
went out. Everyone eats dinner here late, so we got there
around 09:45/10ish. If you've ever been to Europe you know that there
are these obnoxious people that come up to you and try to sell flowers.
Sometimes they WON'T go away! Well, we were eating on the outside patio and this guy came by with a bunch of roses. Side note...I asked Simona about the flower sellers and she told me that they don't even buy the roses. They steal them from
the graveyards. Nice. I mean they were pretty roses, but they're
stolen goods! Anyway,so he tries to sell Jess and I a rose. Did he think we were on a date? WEIRD! We both said No and then totally averted are eyes from his and went back to eating our pizza. Whew. He finally left
and bothered some other people. After awhile though, he came back and laid two red roses on our table. Jess and I just kept a tractor beam stare on our food and just tried to ignore him, but then he left with the roses still on the table. We hadn't paid for those! We didn't know what to do. We just looked at each other and laughed. Then this table behind me pipes up and is like "Prego". It was these two older Italian guys. We finally realized what had happened. They bought the roses from the guy so he'd leave them alone and gave them to us. NICE! Free roses. Jess and I both turned red like two little idiots. Haha...even though they were stolen goods, it was still nice to be given roses. On our walk home, we carried those puppies like they were the most beautiful roses ever. We held them in front of us like swords as we weaved in and out of tourists by the beach. What girl doesn't like getting roses, or even just one rose. :)
On to story number three of our Saturday filled with flattering Italian men. After our dinner, we saw Rigel, Valeria and Bibi and showed off our roses. Went home and put them in water and then went back out on the town. Jess and I chilled at the Port and around 1:20 am we decided to go dancing at this little place called Pappa Gaya meaning "The Parrot". Once we got to the door we found out that it was 10 Euros to get in after 1:00. Yikes! 10 Euros is 10% of our salary for the week, so it was not going to happen. So, we walked out and started back to the car. That's when we got the idea to try and finagle our way in. And that's exactly what we did. We made friends with the DJ who was at the door along with the little door guard. We told him how we were poor little Nannies and that it was one of our last weeks in Italy. After our conversation went on for awhile and the flirting finished, he then pointed to me and said you with him, the DJ, and Jess with the door guard. Gave us a hug and let us in! SWEET!! It was a successful night and we ended up dancing the night away! Sometimes the language barrier is good in these situations too, because you can just look like the damsel in distress and act as if you have no clue what they're saying. It was a good Saturday night for sure! Free roses, and free admission! Nothing better!!!
and bothered some other people. After awhile though, he came back and laid two red roses on our table. Jess and I just kept a tractor beam stare on our food and just tried to ignore him, but then he left with the roses still on the table. We hadn't paid for those! We didn't know what to do. We just looked at each other and laughed. Then this table behind me pipes up and is like "Prego". It was these two older Italian guys. We finally realized what had happened. They bought the roses from the guy so he'd leave them alone and gave them to us. NICE! Free roses. Jess and I both turned red like two little idiots. Haha...even though they were stolen goods, it was still nice to be given roses. On our walk home, we carried those puppies like they were the most beautiful roses ever. We held them in front of us like swords as we weaved in and out of tourists by the beach. What girl doesn't like getting roses, or even just one rose. :)
On to story number three of our Saturday filled with flattering Italian men. After our dinner, we saw Rigel, Valeria and Bibi and showed off our roses. Went home and put them in water and then went back out on the town. Jess and I chilled at the Port and around 1:20 am we decided to go dancing at this little place called Pappa Gaya meaning "The Parrot". Once we got to the door we found out that it was 10 Euros to get in after 1:00. Yikes! 10 Euros is 10% of our salary for the week, so it was not going to happen. So, we walked out and started back to the car. That's when we got the idea to try and finagle our way in. And that's exactly what we did. We made friends with the DJ who was at the door along with the little door guard. We told him how we were poor little Nannies and that it was one of our last weeks in Italy. After our conversation went on for awhile and the flirting finished, he then pointed to me and said you with him, the DJ, and Jess with the door guard. Gave us a hug and let us in! SWEET!! It was a successful night and we ended up dancing the night away! Sometimes the language barrier is good in these situations too, because you can just look like the damsel in distress and act as if you have no clue what they're saying. It was a good Saturday night for sure! Free roses, and free admission! Nothing better!!! 
May 8, 2012 at 1:37 PM
OOOOOOh gill. Italian men sound great :) -Bek