Jaba drove over with Ricardo and Danielle to take us to Giannella. Jaba had brought a beach brolly and a radio, and I was glad for the music. They played ball and crossword puzzles again, while I fell asleep for the longest time. Simone has turned a lovely shade of brown by now and as for me, I’m quite likely to be mistaken for a malay when I get back. Speaking of malay… how about some mee soto and Changi nasi lemak and beef rendang… Ha, I’m so gonna pig out when I get back.
The sun wasn’t very strong, but the breeze was. I ended up not staying in the shade of Jaba’s brolly most of the time. Simone played more ball with Ricardo and Danielle. A little black girl ran back to the beach for a towel and I smiled at her, cos it was a bit strange to see her amidst a group of Italians and it’s kinda like we had something in common – our skin colour set us apart as foreigners. Maybe, young as she was, she felt the same way for she smiled back at me and tried to make conversation. But she didn’t speak English, so I shook my head and turned back to watch the boys play ball.
I started feeling hungry at the usual time… Jaba, Simone and I then walked to the bar while Ricardo and Danielle stayed in the water. I got a bag of cipster and esta the, while Simone had (no prizes for correct guesses) a beer. Jaba bought a mini tub of bite size crunch ice-cream. We sat down for a bit to eat and drink, then walked back to the beach to pack up our stuff and started walking back to the car. When we reached the deserted house, someone realised that the ball had been forgotten and Danielle doubled back to get it. Poor Danielle, he seems to be bullied all the time, maybe cos he’s a good sport and never gets mad from all the teasing.
Jaba dropped Danielle and Ricardo off so Danielle could take his motorbike. The 3 of us went to the pub in Fortezza again, but it was very very difficult to find a parking space and we parked somewhere above the pub. We walked a little to find a way down, then found a staircase that looked pretty promising. Simone and I walked down about 2 flights, then Jaba went ahead of us to check it out cos Simone was sure that the staircase wouldn’t lead us to the right road. Jaba must have gone one round cos he ended up at the entrance of the staircase again without passing us.
We changed directions and passed by the car again. Along the way, we paused twice to take in the view and I wished I had the camera with me. It’s a very different angle from what we normally see of Santo Stefano. We found a flight of steps that led into what looked like a jungle to me. Funny, cos that was a residential area. The steps led to a winding path and then to more steps. Jaba walked ahead of us at a much faster pace while Simone waited for me as I negotiated the steps… I’ve a bit of a vertigo problem. I lost count of how many dogs barked at us along the way. Simone spotted Jaba darting into a small path off the main path to hide himself, and told me to call him an imbecile when he sprang out to scare us. I made a show of not being impressed by his little trick and called him an imbecile as Simone has suggested. Sometimes it’s a bit tough to believe he’s my age. But Simone can be way younger than his years too. Maybe I should be a child once in a while too and there’ll be more fun in my life.
After the mini jungle trek, we ended up at the pub and I got a glass of water… I was determined not to get high from aperitivi like the day before. Simone says aperitifs are supposed to work up your appetite for dinner and they do that for him. For me, they seem to function quite the opposite way. Oh well, maybe I’m just not an alcohol person. I made Danielle’s bag fall down around his legs, then Jaba grabbed one of my slippers and threatened to throw it into the balcony upstairs in revenge for Danielle. I’ve the feeling that Maurizia is just like these boys in joking and playing pranks, cos I remember how she filched Danielle’s wallet. All in all, they’re pretty fun to hang out with.
It started getting dark and I told Simone we’d better get going home. As we started following Danielle to his bike, Franco came by to take us home. Dinner that night was oh-so-yummy… Patrizia made a very delicious risotto with escargots… The escargots tasted just like ‘gong-gong’ and I could eat it though I’m not crazy about it, but the risotto was so good that I had another scoop when I’d finished my plate. After that we had a aragostini (mini lobsters) soup with potatoes, but it’s really more like a stew to me. I really should pick up more of Patrizia’s recipes while I’m here.
