Day 3

Monday was the start of the conference for Dan and his friends so we were all up bright and early at 7:30 to eat breakfast before they headed out. I went back to bed (hey, it's my vacation!) and then got up and went to the beach for the afternoon. While at the beach, I noticed 4 older ladies, probably in their late 50's, who had been there the day before. It was very obvious these women were on a girls trip of sorts and were probably old friends. They were laughing and having a great time. They all had their tops off (not uncommon in Europe but still takes some getting used to) and were enjoying their last day of vacation. As they were leaving, they were waving and giggling at the lifguards who were half their age. They asked me to take a picture later (tops on) while we were waiting for the hotel shuttle to pick us up. They told me they had been there for a little over a week and between the 4 of them, had bought 30 pairs of shoes!!! These were my kind of ladies. It was something I could see myself doing in 30 years with some of my great girlfriends.

Later that evening, I went into town to meet up with Dan for dinner. On the shuttle ride down, there were 2 women who were a little older than me and I noticed they were speaking Dutch to each other! I asked them if they were from the Netherlands and they said they were from Belgium, but spoke Dutch (Northern Belgium speaks Dutch, Southern Belgium speaks French). It was a nice connection to make.

When I got to the center, the conference wasn't out yet so I toured around town, seeing different sights. I went into this old basilica, built in 1130. It was beautiful (there are pics in the slideshow). Prior to going in, the man at the front asked that I put my jacket on my shoulders, apparently no bare shoulders allowed.  It was amazing to think that parts of that building had been there so long.

Afterwards, I met up with Dan and just the two of had dinner. It was nice. We ate at this restaurant overlooking the sea again (different restaurant than before but similar view). I tried clams, made in a garlic and parsley sauce. They were amazingly delicious!! and I don't like seafood. We shared that as an appetizer and then I got a pizza with fried eggplants on it and Dan got grilled swordfish. We shared a bottle of wine and lamented about how we do not want to go back to the Netherlands. We ended the night with some gelato. Of course.

Our friends luggage finally arrived last night. We have no idea where it was the whole time but were glad they found it. Hopefully things go smoother on the flight home for all the luggage!

We are loving Italy. I love the language, the food, the beauty of the ancient surroundings, everything!  Hmm, maybe I will have Dan look into doing a post doc here in Italy after we finish with the Netherlands.