I get emails once in a while from people who read my blog. I'm always flattered that people take the time to write me, so I happily respond. I received an email from a guy who wanted to know if I knew Simone at Il Canapone because he saw that I mentioned the restaurant on my blog. It turns out that his girlfriend was dong an internship at Simone's restaurant and was going to APICIUS where Simone teaches as well.
The boyfriend wrote me to ask me for any advice that I might have about surprising his girlfriend for Thanksgiving by coming from the States to visit her here. I responded that Simone is my friend and that if he needed any assistance for anything, I'd be happy to help out.
He asked me to ask Simone about getting the girlfriend into the restaurant on her day off, which was tonight. Then, he would arrive about the same time so he could surprise her.
At first Dave and I weren't going to be able to make it because we were supposed to sign our contract for our new apartment and pick up our keys, but that fell through.
In the end, I thought it'd be fun to surprise the boyfriend too, so we went to Simone's early for dinner. At about 8PM, which was our rendezvous time, neither one had arrived. Antonella went outside the front door to smoke a cigarette and said, "Penso che sia già arrivato perché lei sta abbracciando un'uomo per strada." (I think he already arrived because she's hugging some man in the street.)
We all ran outside to see the happy couple. She was so surprised and shocked that it took awhile for it all to sink in. She thought she was dreaming and couldn't quite gather how we all knew each other.
I was so happy to have been a part of the surprise even though in reality I didn't do much except organize with Simone the girlfriend's arrival. But, it was so wonderful to see two people so happy to be together again. And what a wonderful city to reunite in!
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