First Invitation

Man, it's such a warm yet exciting feeling to know people and they also know your name in a foreign city!

Syd and I had lunch at a little wine bar (La Botte Gaia) that our Italian Friend Filippo introduced us last November. This bar only has 3 little tables (2 ppl/ table) which are surrounded by 3 walls of wine bottles and a large window that you can see people busy walking by. I met my love, Muscat 2005, here last year. We are in heaven here with great wine at great price (many are less than 15 euros), wonderful home-cook food (ex. anchovies in green sauce), and not to mention the most friendly wine bar owners (not that I know any others). We walked in and timidly asked the lady owner, "Ci ricorda?" (Do you remember us?) She smiled and said, "Si!" We had their specials of the day, crepes with asparagus and risotto with saffron sauce. They were delicious! On our way out, the lady owner asked us how long we are staying in Torino this time. Syd answered, "Un anno.(One year.)" The lady looked confused and asked again, "Un giorno? (One day?)" Then we said again, "No, un anno!" She seemed surprised but then happily said, "A presto!" (See you soon!)

Our Italian friends, Simone and Giorgia, called in the afternoon inviting us to dinner at their apartment. Of course, there is no way we are refusing Italian hospitality! :) Simone and Giorgia both are graduate students majoring in Chinese/ Chinese literature at Torino University. Yes, Italians! In Torino!! Who speak fluent Mandarin!!! They prepared a Rome specialty cuisine, Carbonara (spaghetti with egg & cheese sauce). I had never had eggs with spaghetti before and it was yummy! We then had Speck (smoked ham) with Tomino cheese. The dish was a bit too rich (too much cheese) for me but Syd liked it. We also managed to get difficult topics out the way after dinner. We talked about politics (oops), war with Iraq (Italians call it 'George Bush's War', go figure), abortion, gays and lesbians' rights, and the recipe of Carbonara. Perhaps next time we can discuss the weather of Torino (It has been raining for the past 2 days).