Buongiorno a mia amica Kathryn! It was so nice to see her and get to practice our Italian. We both had numerous awful experiences in 2024, but onward and upward! It was nice to be able to eat al fresco at Lucca’s in downtown Benicia on First Street. I’m glad I remembered to take at least one picture since I neglected to do it with another friend I lunched with earlier this week.
Had an amazing time at the Sister Cities International Dinner and Auction, which took place at the Filipino Community Center here in Vallejo. I helped Shea pick out this beautiful barong at Vallejo’s own Barong & Formal. The event was in recognition of Sister City La Spezia, Italy, where my cousin lives with his family. I got to speak a little Italian with the Italian dancers who performed, which I think they appreciated. There was a buffet from at least nine different cultures, as well as representatives from many parts of the world.
Had a great weekend when my daughter visited from where she currently lives in Florida. It’s much nicer to hang out in person than just on Zoom. She knows I’ll always lobby for her to move back to the Bay Area though.
Here we are jointly saying hello to our family members in Italy:
Video below. Pictures with us there (Gallery 1 of 2):
Scenery (Gallery 2 of 2)
We got to meet my dear friend Sharan’s sister from Italy who happened to be interning for her advanced degree in Reykyavik. We brought her a framed picture from Sharan to save a bunch on shipping charges. Valentina’s English is very good, but it was nice to be able to speak Italian in Reykavik too, which strangely I have done regularly both times I visited Iceland.
We got a cute Airbnb rental which was pretty convenient, although quite a walk to downtown if truth be told. The cabs were pretty plentiful, although expensive at this point with the current exchange rate.
