An unforgettable night in Gubbio

The day started really early when i got up at 7 am to eat breakfast, get dressed, and gather the last of my things to go to Rome/Gubbio to meet Nick and then for my momma to come to Italy!  Francisco called adn said that his dad would be there to get me soon.  I meet him downstairs and we were off to the train station.  I had to talk to him in Italian, which I think I did a pretty good job of today!  SO, I was at the station a little early, but better early than not at all!

Beautiful water in Paola

It seemed to take forever to get to Rome today.  There was a man that sat next to me until Naples, and I had a hard time handling him breathing in my direction, so I had to keep turning my head!  There was also a cutie cute dog on the train who was soo well-behaved, but a few times wanted to get in his owner's lap, and it was so cute to hear the guy say, "giuuuuuuuu!" Which means, "doooooown!"  The puppy was so well-behaved and did not bark or anything.  There were people that had a lot of luggage drama, which cause a big ruckus for a bit, but they finally got it together and sat down.  I mainly worked on blogs and stuff on my computer.  A guy got on the train in Naples asking for money, but at first it was really intense and I did not realize that this is what he was doing; he was talking in this weird tone of voice.  Anyway, he thankfully left the train and we eventually got going.  At this point I was getting SO antsy to get to Rome to see Nick that it was ridiculous!!  I talked to Nick briefly and to my momma.  There was a cute baby on the train after Naples; she was precious...and her mom was singing her cute songs in Italian.  She was beautiful and her giggle was amazing; she even had the universal fake cry going for her!!!  She was trying to share her cookies with all of us watching her, and then they started making animal sounds (and yes, they are different in Italian).  It helped pass the last part of the trip, and for that I was grateful!

So, when I arrived in Rome, I got off the train as quickly as possible and ran to meet Nick at the end of the platform!  I was so excited to see him!!  It had been really great to be able to skype with him while he was in Seattle, but it was so much better to actually see his face and hug him!  I was starving at this point, so we stopped to get me some gelato before we got on the train to Gubbio!  We had to walk to a track at Termini that I had never been to, and it was a bit of a walk, but I was so excited to be with Nick.  He had his guitar from home with him, and I was excited that he would play it for me later!  While we sat on the train, waiting for it to leave, he got out the book his parents gave him for Christmas about how to speak "Southern"!  They gave this to him because he is moving to Virginia for Law School.  It was hilarious to sit there and look at some of the words.  We also talked to my momma a little bit and tried to get some other phrases from her, and/or confirmation about some of the ones in the book.  There were some that I am guilty of, and others that I had heard, but never use!  We had the best time laughing and catching up; it seemed like a million years since I'd seen him, and yet like no time had passed at all!  It was a little over two hours to the train station in Fossato, which is the closest station to Gubbio.

We passed a few cities like Terni, Narni (which reminded me of Narnia, and I later found out was the true inspiration for that name), and some others.  When we arrived in Fossato, I had to use the somewhat sketchy bathroom, and then we waited on Anna Paola to arrive. Anna Paola is Nick's teacher (like Nick's Virginia).  I knew that I met her in Rome, but did not remember her.  However, Nick LOVES her, and I could tell just from pictures that I would too!  I have talked to her a few times through email because she owns a Montessori school and has agreed to take me to one to show me around and let me talk to some of the teachers.  I am so excited about this opportunity, and will be combining it with my Reggio week; SO MUCH CHILD DEVELOPMENT IN THOSE TWO WEEKS = LOVE!!  

Anna Paola arrived, and from the minute she pulled up to the station, she had this big beautiful smile on her face; I loved her already!  So, she greeted us with big hugs and kisses, and she just has the radiant air about her, and I loved her immediately.  Nick let me sit in the front with her, and I just enjoyed listening to her talk, talking to her, and watching her interact with Nick.  So, it was about a 20 minute drive from the station to the city walls of Gubbio, and it may have been longer, but I was thoroughly enjoying myself, so I did not notice.  She said that she wanted to take us for an apperativo with Marina, who is Nick's other lead teacher.  Then, as we approached Gubbio, we could see their famous "tree" up on the mountain side...I'll talk more about it later, but just know that it was BEAUTIFUL and so unique!  Anna Paola dropped us off near the front gate of the town and we walked to Nick's apartment.  She told us where to meet her, and we told her we would be there in about 15.

When we walked into the apartment, it was SOOO incredibly cold because the heat had been shut off for over a week!  Holy cow!  So, we dropped all of our stuff, turned on the heat, and ran out the door to go meet AP and Marina.  So, they were waiting just outside when we arrived, and were so excited to see us!  The place they took us was so incredibly cute!  THere were bookshelves full of old books, new books, Italian books, English books, American books, etc. etc.  It had like an upscale coffee house type feel, but Italian; not to mention that Gubbio is this gorgeous medieval town, and so everything had a cool vibe anyway!  They ordered us some prosecco, and then got some of the little appetizers from the bar.  They were really good, and the company was even better.  I instantly loved these two women!  They were so sweet, and AP and I got a chance to talk a little bit about child development!  We talked about how we think it is best to learn about all of the theorists, but to formulate your own approach and theory based on these.  I was so excited to meet someone in Italy who shares my same ideas...and they are the ideas that I formulated based on what I learned from my teachers at UA.  This conversation made me that much more excited to go and visit the Montessori schools with AP.  So, AP had to leave a bit early because she had a dinner with a friend who was leaving town, but she promised to take us to the train station tomorrow afternoon, and then she left.  We stayed and talked to Marina for a bit, and she is so sweet.  Eventually, we all left, and they were so sweet to have paid for our food and drinks.  All Italians are hospitable...at least the ones I have met! 

As we walked back to the apartment, Nick informed me that he had a surprise for me later, but I would have to wait until after dinner for it, and I needed to dress warmly.  He also let it slip that we would be going further up into the town, which is seriously nestled on a hillside!  So, with his prospect in mind, I changed into something warmer, and we decided on a place to eat.  Before we left, we exchanged our remaining Christmas gifts.  I gave him the additional books I found about "The Blues", written in Italian, and he gave me my favorite tea from Starbucks (he IS from Seattle after all), a University of Washington t-shirt, a University of Washington scarf (which I wore to dinner, and loved it!!!), and held on to another small bag that he said I could open later.  He also held on to another bag and said it was for my birthday...I accidentally taught him my momma's trick of showing me all the gifts, and then saving one for later!  So, with our gifts exchanged, we headed out into the cold to get dinner. 

Nick chose a perfect place to eat.  We ordered some red wine, and I got a vegetable risotto, while he ordered a type of ravioli, but mine was AH-MAZING!! 

The bread in Gubbio is really weird because it does not typically have salt in it; this is due to something that happened many, many years ago when someone put a salt tax on the area, and then later they just kept protesting it, and still do not use a lot of salt in their bread (sorry Nick, I butchered your history lesson here...).  However, the risotto rocked my world!  Dinner was great, and it was wonderful to just sit, talk, and relax.  It was getting a little late, so we decided to head out, and he was going to take me to my surprise. 

We walked around the town a little bit first, and went to the bottom of the town/hillside so I could get a really great view of the tree on the hill.  AP explained to me earlier that it is just lights hung in trees to make the shape of a Christmas tree, and that they stay up all year long, but are of course only lit up during Christmas time. The tree was beautiful, and definitely one of the more beautiful Christmas things I have seen here in Italy!

I do not think that my pictures do it justice, but know that it was beautiful in person!  We then walked through their big nativity that was set up in some of the streets.  It was done with manikins, and was a little creepy, but it was still fun to walk through the tiny streets of Gubbio.

Then, after I paid 50 cents to use their public restrooms (what is with Italy and charging you to use the bathroom...), we started heading up.

We went up to this piazza that overlooks some of the city, and was where a bell tower was that I had been asking about.  I was looking around at how beautiful the museum was, the view from the piazza, and just trying to take it all in.  I saw Nick sticking his hand through into his coat (like he was trying to keep his hand warm or something), and I asked him what he was doing.  He said, "my hand is cold!"  I thought, "ummm put on your gloves genius!"  ;)  Haha...then I turned around and started taking pictures with my big camera.
When I turned back around, he had set up little bluetooth speakers, his mp3 player, and set the gift bag (Christmas bag) up on the wall.  I just looked at him and asked what he was doing.  He then asked me if I wanted to dance first, or get my present first.  I said, "I want to dance first, then open the present, and then dance some more!!!"  He agreed to this and pressed play for the music to begin.  He had made a playlist specifically for this, and had been planning this while he was in Seattle.  Can I just say how special it was that he had been planning this surprise, thought it out, and carried it through, all without my knowledge of it, much less my input!  

The playlist was as follows:
1. Unforgettable by
2. Love You for Sentimental Reasons by Nat King Cole
3. At Last by Etta James
4. Over the Rainbow by Eric Clapton
5. Over the Rainbow by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole
6. Georgia by Ray Charles

So, we danced for maybe 2 songs, and then I let him give me the present.  When he pulled out a little blue bag (Tiffany bag), I could not do anything but stand there in shock.  Before I even opened it, I knew he had done too much, and I kept telling him so!  He finally got me to open it, and it was the bracelet that matches my earrings and necklace (Elsa Peretti).  I should note here that the only conversation he and I have ever had about Tiffany was based on something that was on facebook; I looked at the website for a few minutes while I was on the phone with him, and was in search of a charm.  We talked about it long enough for me to tell him that I had a charm bracelet from there, and that I only wear it on special occasions because a charm once fell off, and so I keep it for special occasions.  Then, we dropped the conversation and moved on.  I never once expressed any desire to buy something from there, nor did I mention this bracelet...or any of them for that matter.  This came from him.  He even said, "I noticed you did not have it!"  He was observant...and said that he thought I might want the bracelet that matched my earrings and necklace.  How incredibly sweet!  He was right, I am glad that I have it, but I never ever thought about wanting it; he just did it to be sweet and because he thought I might want it!  I barely even had words.  I was in shock!  He put it on my wrist, and it was beautiful and so special.  So then we danced some more and took some pictures! 

 

It was such a sweet surprise, and my favorite thing is that it was TRULY a surprise; something planned by him, unprompted by me.  He just thought I would enjoy the dancing (umm DUH), piazza, and bracelet.  Really, all I would have needed was the dancing in the piazza under the stars.  By the way, the piazza was practically empty (though he did take one photo for a group that asked), the sky was soooo clear, the stars were out, and the air was crisp and cool, but I was dressed warmly, so we ended up staying for like half an hour or more!  It was so beautiful and amazing.  We had so much fun, and it was definitely a new and unique thing for me!  I remember being so happy that I cried a little bit; I never knew someone could be that way, and do something so incredible for me just because he thought I would enjoy it! 

We eventually grabbed all of our stuff and made our way back to the apartment.  We saw a little more of the city, and then went back into the warmth of the apartment. 

It was such an incredible day, and the song "Unforgettable" was the perfect choice because it really was such an unforgettable evening.  I felt so special.  I cannot say enough how amazing it was to just have someone plan something so sweet and thoughtful, and to show such genuine excitement about being with me and surprising me!  I'm not even sure that my words here can do it justice, but those who know me well, will know how special these things are to me! 

On the way home, we walked through a tunnel that Nick does not fit in...his head touches the top! 

All of my incredible gifts from my pinna (yes, this means fin...like a fish fin...).