Afterwards, Josh dropped me off at the gym and went to see Dr. Ticca. The outcome of the visit was one stitch (without anesthesia), and the go-ahead to walk without the crutches. He will see the doctor again next week -- hopefully for the last time. Josh then met me at AquAniene and we sat down in the newly opened outdoor cafe for lunch. The food is top quality, and the salads there are really great. Josh was supposed to meet with Luca, Charlotte's swim coach, to discuss his interest in coming to the States to work with a U.S. coach. Unfortunately, for one reason or another, the meeting was rescheduled -- for the third time.
Life in Rome is very fluid. Nothing is set in stone. Invitations, meetings, appointments can all be made or rescheduled at the very last minute. And, no one takes it personally. Just this morning, during the concert, a parent of a girl in Avery's class invited us to a dinner party at her house for tomorrow. At the same time (still during the recital), I received a phone call from a mom of a girl in the other 3rd grade class, inviting Olivia to her daughter's birthday party tomorrow. The party is in the countryside to the south of Rome, and she is providing a bus to transport the kids to and from school. Ultimately, we accepted the first invitation, acknowledging that we will be "double-booked," and declined the latter (later in the day when Olivia expressed she was not interested in attending since she doesn't know the birthday girl well). This evening, I was double-booked as well due to last minute changes in plans.
In the afternoon, when Josh went to pick the kids up from school, I rode my bike into town to meet a friend, and one of my former business partners in Chicago. He is in Rome for two days for a global sales conference hosted by the parent company, and we were getting together for a drink during his break. We met in Piazza del Popolo, and I was able to show him the Caravaggio paintings in Santa Maria del Popolo before we walked down Via del Corso to Ciampini. We each ordered a spritz cocktail, and spent some time catching up. Then, I gave him a map and sent him off in the direction of the Pantheon, and the Roman Forum. I had to ride back home in order to take Olivia to her class's year-end pizza party.
The party was organized for both of the Grade 3 classes by one of the moms, for the kids and the mothers. In the end a few dads showed up as well. The restaurant that was chosen had a beautiful garden and had a small playground for the kids. The only problem was that it wasn't in the neighborhood, and especially during rush hour, it took a long time to get there -- that is, if you could find it. The address was unknown by Lola (our GPS gal), and the place was located, literally next to a bus depot, at the end of nowhere. Fortunately, Gretchen, the other American mom guided me in. But many of the Italian ladies were driving in circles for a while looking for it.
Meanwhile, my Chicago-friend, Ron, had cancelled his business dinner, so Josh and I were going to met him for dinner later. As such, my time at the class pizza-party was limited; such a shame since the moms are so nice and it was clearly going to be a really lovely evening. Olivia wanted to stay past the hour or so that I'd allotted, and Gretchen offered to bring her home.
So, after a class of wine and a bit of pizza bianca, I got back in the car to drive home, leaving Olivia at the party, and picking Charlotte up from swim practice along the way. As opposed to the drive out to the restaurant (almost 30 minutes), the drive home was quick, easy, and ten minutes. Once at home, I took two minutes to change, and then Josh and I were off to meet Ron for a late dinner. The truly strange part is that the restaurant we had chosen, was also the very same restaurant chosen by the parent-company for the business dinner that he was not attending. In all of Rome --what are the odds?!? When Ron saw that some of his colleagues were dining there, we changed course and drove to another place.
We had dinner at Grano -- a place where Josh and I had dined with friends before, and the food was very good. For the first time since we arrived in Italy, I ordered a tuna tartar and it was delicious. We opted out of dessert in favor of a stroll through Piazza Navona and a visit to a gelateria there. By now, it was midnight. We gave Ron a lift to his hotel and bid him farewell. It had been great to see him.
Once at home, Morris informed us that the kids had quite an evening too. Olivia arrived home at 10:30pm, and both Charlotte and Avery had wanted to wait up for her. Getting them up tomorrow morning will be interesting.
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