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I’m Suffering from Gelato Withdrawal. . .

Finally, here is the much-awaited Italy Travel Blog. Due to high public demand, I’m putting out this one before the Chartres “1000th Anniversary of the Commissioning of the Cathedral” Medieval Festival that took place the week before I left for vacation, so stay posted for the Medieval Blog to come out probably next weekend. I really should write these blogs more often because I end up with so much to put in them they become very long - so here’s another long one, sorry!

I'm Suffering From Gelato Withdrawal

Lisa Damico
2007-03-08 19:53:32

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pulled out some homemade dessert liquors made by Dani for us to have with a delicious chocolate tart Monica #1 had brought. As I had never had the liquore di
noci (walnut-flavored liquor) they insisted I try some - homemade liquor is just as strong in Italy as it is in the US - and as everyone was watching to see if I liked it and I didn't want to be rude since Dani had made it (not that I didn't like it, it was just very strong), I said "oh yes this is very nice" - wrong thing to say because then I got a full cup of it -whoa. By this time it was getting late, so we all drew straws to see how would get which bedroom on the boat. As I had been expecting to be sleeping on benches or something hardcore like outside on the deck, I was very pleased to see there were actually 4 beds on the ship, granted the bed I ended up sleeping in was so close to the ceiling you couldn't sit up you just crawled in, it was still a very comfortable arrangement. As I was getting my things ready for bed Roberto says to me "I need to teach you to use the bathroom" . . . to which I replied . . "um I think I know already but ok." No, in fact I did not know how to use the bathroom on the ship and after I learned I decided "That's ok I think I just won't use the bathroom (three days really isn't that long . . .). Using the bathroom was quite the complicated process, entailing flipping the switch to "water flowing out," putting "organic matter only" into the toilet - toilet paper is of course not included as an organic material so that gets wrapped up in more toilet paper and placed in a bag under the sink, one then stands up and uses the pump (looks like the kind of handle you would see on a box of dynamite in the cartoons), pumping however many times is necessary so that nothing is left in the toilet bowl, then flipping the switch to "fresh water flowing in," pumping some more, then as a courtesy to the next person who is brave enough to endure this process, one flips the switch back to "water ...