Gift Suggestions
So I am at a loss, and turning to y'all for help.
What do you get for two middle aged lovely Venetian women who have everything?
On Shannon's second to last night here, we made a lovely fagioli and zucca soup (beans and squash) out of the leftover chicken and sausage bits, then went out for the night. Our first stop was at the Trattoria alla Carampane, my favorite restaurant. I greeted the owner (I assume) and waitress, reminded them that I had eaten here several times with guests, and they remembered me. I told them that my girlfriend was in town, and while, being a student, I couldn't afford to eat here (the other times the guests had paid, which no doubt they had noticed, being professionals at this), I wanted my girlfriend to taste the best sgroppino in town.
I love sgroppino. Lee, Melissa, and I made it at home, mixing prosecco with various flavors of gelato with my little drink blender thing, and they were good. But alla Carampane's are just heavenly, and this time we got to watch the owner (the woman who isn't the cook, and isn't the waitress, Antonia, and isn't one of the men lounging about smoking or drinking) make them. She whips everything together by hand (everything is lemon sorbet, vodka, and prosecco, I believe) in a big bowl, then pours them into large champagne flutes.
It was a lovely night, and Shannon and I enjoyed our drinks out by the small canal in front of the restaurant, and then came back inside to pay. Antonia asked the owner, almost rhetorically, what to charge us, then announced, in three or four different Italian ways to make sure I understood (nulla, niente, ...) that we were to pay nothing, but that I should come back and see them when I could. I said I wouldn't be able to dine there for quite some time, since I was going away soon and had no more guests coming. She looked a bit (mock) affronted and said I should drop in for a spritz, or an 'ombra' (a small glass of wine), or something. I promised to do so.
I love this restaurant. I think the staff is fabulous, and the food perfect. I'm trying to ponder some little gift to express this, because they made my day. But what to get them? They need no flowers. All the pretty little Venetian trinkets I could by are, well, pointless to buy for Venetians. I could give them a copy of my CD, but it's hardly going to be their kind of music. Help!
What do you get for two middle aged lovely Venetian women who have everything?
On Shannon's second to last night here, we made a lovely fagioli and zucca soup (beans and squash) out of the leftover chicken and sausage bits, then went out for the night. Our first stop was at the Trattoria alla Carampane, my favorite restaurant. I greeted the owner (I assume) and waitress, reminded them that I had eaten here several times with guests, and they remembered me. I told them that my girlfriend was in town, and while, being a student, I couldn't afford to eat here (the other times the guests had paid, which no doubt they had noticed, being professionals at this), I wanted my girlfriend to taste the best sgroppino in town.
I love sgroppino. Lee, Melissa, and I made it at home, mixing prosecco with various flavors of gelato with my little drink blender thing, and they were good. But alla Carampane's are just heavenly, and this time we got to watch the owner (the woman who isn't the cook, and isn't the waitress, Antonia, and isn't one of the men lounging about smoking or drinking) make them. She whips everything together by hand (everything is lemon sorbet, vodka, and prosecco, I believe) in a big bowl, then pours them into large champagne flutes.
It was a lovely night, and Shannon and I enjoyed our drinks out by the small canal in front of the restaurant, and then came back inside to pay. Antonia asked the owner, almost rhetorically, what to charge us, then announced, in three or four different Italian ways to make sure I understood (nulla, niente, ...) that we were to pay nothing, but that I should come back and see them when I could. I said I wouldn't be able to dine there for quite some time, since I was going away soon and had no more guests coming. She looked a bit (mock) affronted and said I should drop in for a spritz, or an 'ombra' (a small glass of wine), or something. I promised to do so.
I love this restaurant. I think the staff is fabulous, and the food perfect. I'm trying to ponder some little gift to express this, because they made my day. But what to get them? They need no flowers. All the pretty little Venetian trinkets I could by are, well, pointless to buy for Venetians. I could give them a copy of my CD, but it's hardly going to be their kind of music. Help!