Bedtime Customs

OK, so if you are an American parent with babies and young children, you look forward to 8 pm, when hopefully your children have had a bath, a story and are safely tucked into bed. Ideally dishes have been done and you can look forward to some alone time. Not so here....in fact the evening is just getting started. Young children and families are out strolling and visiting with friends. Young adults are enjoying an appertive at the local cafe. Grandparents are pushing strollers and calling out to friends.

Here in Olbia, we have been trying a different restaurant every night. Keep in mind that you can enjoy a full meal..for two....including antipasti and either a primi or secondi, ( pasta or meat dish), a bottle of wine,a bottle of water and a desert for under 40€. We have discovered a wonderful restaurant; superb, local seafood and a friendly waitstaff. All this....and great people watching opportunities too!

Last night was fairly typical. We headed out to our favorite restaurant. It is family owned, small and cozy, serving local seafood prepared in a most delicious way. We are guessing that the waiters are the sons or grandsons...anyway, definitely family. The "guys" are attentive, friendly and patient. The restaurant starts filling up at 8:30 when most Italians eat dinner. Yup! , that's 8:30 pm. The restaurant was full of families with babies and young children. The kids were walking around, playing and talking with each other. The "guys" were waiting tables, carrying plates of food and bottles of wine.....all the while being extremely careful of the kids who were all around and underfoot. A little group of kids came our way, smiling shyly but with a certain twinkle in their eyes. We asked how old they were....so cute.. A 6 year old boy with pink glasses and dark hair sticking straight up. A 3 year old girl who put 3 fingers up to show her age and did a little dance for us. And then an 18 month old fireball.....just like our grandson, Griffin.. Wanting to be just like his older siblings... and into everything! Of course there were other kids as well but these were the children closest to us. It was all very delightful to watch.....until the little boy with pink glasses rolled up his napkin and stuck it into the candle on the nearest table. Poof, a little fire but he quickly blew it out. Meanwhile his parents were busy discussing what to order for their secondi and hadn't noticed what the boy was doing. He had that mad scientist look on his face....took a sniff of the burned end and looked for another burning candle. Luckily another parent had quickly and quietly sent her daughter around the tables blowing out the candles, .. so no more lit candles to experiment with. Life in the restaurant went on, people enjoyed their dinners and their friends, mothers admonished children to eat, the "guys" cleared and set up tables for more families arriving. It was a beautiful and very entertaining night......and one wonders what his next experiment might be.

I must apologize for not taking many photos these past few days. John and I have been very busy in our class and also studying. The weather has been very rainy and there was a lot of flood damage in and around Olbia yesterday. My friend, Paolo, tells me that an entire campground washed into the sea near Palua.....no people that I know of, but the infrastructure and several campers. We are hoping to return to beautiful weather soon. Meanwhile, please let me know your news. We miss hearing from our friends and family.

Here are photos taken looking out our bedroom window in between showers. You can see Isola Tavolara, as well as the rugged interior of Sardenia.

 

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