Anna and I have managed to begin the “Detachment from Italy” process, now that we are less than 45 days before returning home. Some days its easy when you start to day dream about seeing your friends and family again, taking in a ball game in So Cal, or laying in the backyard by the pool on a nice summer day.
Then, Florence does it to you again…”Not so Fast Damn it! You’re not falling out of love with me that easy”. “Here is yet another experience that will remind you of how unique and special this city is”, she says.
The special night began very modestly. It was a Friday and as usual I took Trey to tennis after school, while Anna and Olivia went to swimming. We showered the kids and then were faced with the always difficult decision of which of the dozens of great restaurants we wanted to have dinner at.
In last month’s blog, I mentioned that our good friend Paulo “The Gentile Giant” works in a parking garage in the center of the city. He lets us park there for free which comes in handy as it’s nearly impossible to find parking in Florence’s city center, especially at night. There have been times where we had to walk nearly a mile to dinner in the rain having settled for the closest parking spot we could find!
When we arrived at the garage, Paolo as usual was waiting for us and excited to see the kids. He insisted on washing our car while we were eating dinner, but then surprised Trey by asking him if he wanted to use the “power washer”. You’ve likely seen this devise before but probably have never held one. It’s like a blow torch that shoots out a massive amount of water under high pressure, perfect for a nine year old boy!
Trey of course jumped at the chance and gripped the handle with both hands tightly. When he pulled the trigger, water came blasting out and the shear force nearly knocked him on his rear end! As he staggered backwards, he couldn’t keep the nozzle pointed down. The gun veered upwards, and he managed to include three other vehicles in the car washing process, including one with its window down!
Man we had a great laugh and as usual, Paolo did it again, managing to make the kids smile. Its funny, it’s like he’s there uncle. They both run to him and hug him every time they see him.
After leaving the garage, we walked a few blocks to one of the center’s great restaurants, Trattoria Garga. We have dined many times at Garga, but usually without the kids, having only taken them there once. A night out in the center can be a late night and all the walking can be tough on the little ones and getting home before 11:00 can be a challenge.
Garga is a really hip Italian Trattoria, with paintings all over the walls (Some within frames and some directly on the walls themselves). The art work is beyond description because it’s so eclectic. Its as if you have entered someone’ garage, and they have just taken the contents of their mind (both good and bad thoughts) and guided them to the walls. An example would be of one such painting that depicts the devil with an erection! Not all of the works are this graphic, but you get the idea when it comes to creativity and expression!
When we arrived, we were welcomed as usual with open arms. We sat and placed our orders (I had my favorite dish, the veal with truffle cream and sliced avocados on top! Kirk will attest that this is a winner of a dish!) The kids as usual were great and brought along with them the felt markers and paper that their buddy Paolo had given them a week ago! They love to draw and can occupy an entire meal with their creativity.
What happened from this point resulted in a night that Anna and I will never forget as parents. One by one over the course of the next 90 minutes, the waiters kept coming, not to see Anna and I, but to watch the kids draw and to participate in the experience. First they brought new white cloth napkins and showed Livy how to hold five different colored markers at a time to make various multi colored patterns.
One waiter drew a bird, another the profile of a man and a third, a snowman. Livy and Trey were so into it as they added to the mural that was being created on their individual linens. Before we new it, they had bowls of water on the table and were creating “Tie Die”! They used the salt shakers to salt the colors and create dimension to their master pieces. The table had been turned into an art room! The best part was that no one cared that the ink was leaking through to the table cloth or that the water was spilling on the floor. The entire wait staff was into it, and kept telling the kids what great artists they were. The smiles on their faces were priceless. Like Anna said, it was as if the waiters all had little boys inside them that were just waiting to come out!
Imagine how the kids felt, being in a nice restaurant and being encouraged to be kids!
Just when we thought that the night would end, they asked us if we would like to see their private art studio! They took us to a back corner of the restaurant. Garga used to be someones home about five hundred years ago and like many restaurants in Florence it doesn’t have one large dining room, but rather numerous small rooms with tables. We exited through a curtain and down a long flight of stairs into the basement. When we arrived, we found two small rooms that were covered with original art, every bit as eclectic as the display upstairs. My favorite piece was an actual centuries old fireplace that was filled with empty wine bottles and had a wooden frame around the opening, giving the impression that it was a painting. The waiter then revealed that many of the pieces of art in the underground studio as well as the restaurant upstairs were in fact created by them.
What a wonderful experience for the kids. In America, artists are not revered like they are here. Artistic expression (Letting what is inside of you come out) is not only encouraged but cherished here in a way that we cherish athletic talent back home.
Additionally, it was yet another reminder of how differently children are looked at here versus at home. I would say that America is one of the more family friendly countries in the world, but still there is something about Italians and children that is quite special. On numerous occasions we have witnessed Italian woman and men (Perhaps men more than woman) show an affection for Trey and Olivia that you only see from family in the US.
Often times it’s a kiss on the top of the head that a friend will give to the kids after having just met them for the first time. There are other occasions where it’s simply giving their time to take interest in what the kids are up to.
This is solely theory on my part, but I think that the answer may lie (At least to some extent) within their difficulty in having children due to financial restrictions. If our society had a higher death rate than birth rate, would we view children differently? Would it make us cherish them even more than we already do? I do know that several of our friends would like to have kids, but simply can’t afford to at this point.
Whatever the reason, it’s been truly a pleasure as a parent to see our children treated with so much respect and given so much attention by Italian adults. I can’t think of a better country to host our family for these past ten months.
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