Sha-na-na-na, Hey, Hey, Hey, Goodbye! Glad to be leaving Italy. As much as I loved Rome and Pompeii the rest of it was just shit. We got a good night sleep last night, but I had a feeling it was going to rain so I packed up a little. Cliff reassured me that it wouldn’t rain, so when I woke up to black skies and thunder and lightning (eclaire) I could just be sure that it wouldn’t. But holy shit! That was the biggest storm I’ve seen in years, and being a Doule, of course I’d have to be camping the day it happened.

After it was over we hung everything out to dry and went swimming. I love massages with lotion- even though it was my first one! Rachel and I danced without any music, lights, or people, but who needs anything but a partner to dance?! Sometimes you don’t even need that!

We walked around Brindisi and decided on a wonderful Italian restaurant to eat at! No service fees, no table fees. My ass! We had an extraordinarily (whew) large bill. We refused to pay so the police came and blah, blah, blah too much to write about…we paid an extra 6,000 lira and got the hell out of there.

Now I’m on a boat to Corfu for some drinkin’ and partying! But for now I get to sleep with Rachel in my arms and beer in my hand! It’s so romantic up here! I had 2 cigarettes today but that’s because I was so stressed with the diner ordeal. Oh well! Ciao!

{Once again, I am amazed at my lack of detail regarding this incident. On our way down to the port we walked through a park and met a kid who was handing out flyers for a restaurant offering a discount for students. It was a great deal so we headed down to take advantage of it, and after the meal we received the bill which, as mentioned, was much higher than advertised. We told the manager about the mistake and he said “No, no, you must ask for a special student menu for that discount.” Nothing was mentioned about this, and even the two women seated next to us had seen us with the flyer when we arrived and they were suggested we just leave without paying the full amount.  We took their advice and as we started to leave the manager came back out and grabbed me, practically dragging into the restaurant. I can still remember how threatening he wanted to be, and although I was a bit scared I was still also young and invincible. He told me to pay him the rest of the money and I said “No” which infuriated him. He kicked over a stool full of menus next to me and brought his face so close to mine that I thought he was going to give me an Eskimo kiss. “You fucking fucky American fuck!”  I’m not sure why I did this, but I recall saying “Fuck Italy” and then proceeded to make bomb noises (whistle….kaboom!). He was getting ready for another rant when two police officers showed up and suddenly his entire demeanor changed. I was brought back outside and asked what had happened, and as I mentioned his “American fucks” comment he denied the entire thing. “I said fox! FOX! You know, like the beautiful animal!”

The officers advised us to leave, and we didn’t need to be told twice. As we left the scene Cliff explained that the two women seated next to us had flagged down the police for us and I was so thankful for that.

We had to pass through the park on our way out, and lo and behold, there was that same kid handing out the flyers. Cliff was the first to pass him and as he did he grabbed the entire stack of pink flyers and threw them up in the air like confetti and we all laughed as he cursed us out in Italian. It was the perfect ending to our Italian nightmare.