Today we flew from Porto to Rome, picking up the Fiat Pandina from long term parking at the airport. The Pandina is super cute – black and white exterior and interior like a mini panda. 

I always like the ride leaving Rome’s Fiumicino airport: the familiar vegetation and sites along the highway make it feel like home. During the drive we calculated that this is Paul’s 12th trip to Italy, my 10th and the fifth for Miss M. We’re all very fortunate. And while there is so much that feels familiar, we always encounter something new. Today there was a brief thunderstorm (less than 2 mins) on the drive and cars quickly pulled over to be shielded from the rain by an underpass. The rain was strong, but we’ve definitely driven in worse. It was funny to see the trucks and tiny cars huddled together under a bridge. 

We stopped at a supermarket to stock up for the next two weeks and by 5:30p we were in Pico. 

Paul had already been at the house for three weeks prior to the Portugal trip and accomplished a lot: he had a queen bed and frame delivered for the second bedroom, bought and installed a new kitchen light, painted the columns and wall on the balcony, picked up a few more things at IKEA, went to a dozen furniture stores to find us a couch and terrace dining set, tried to arrange for a bulk waste pick up, tried to place an Amazon.it delivery liaising with Amazon Italia and Poste Italiana, bought and installed a mailbox to try and get aforementioned Amazon package delivered, bought and installed a new toilet seat, installed a new clothes line, made about 2 dozen trips to the local hardware store, and more. A list of household tasks all made more interesting when navigating the metric system, communicating in a different language and accounting for store hours with siesta time. 

After Miss M explored the house for the first time, we started walking into town to grab dinner. But you can’t walk anywhere in Pico without being stopped for conversation. Our neighbor Biagio was pleased to see us and made sure we heard the news of two neighbors who passed away in July. We know a dog across the street who passed away over the past year as well. Already so much change and I’m just trying to remember everyone’s names. 

Finally, we made it to dinner at Senza Nome, my favorite place to eat in town. Domenico (the head waiter) was happy to see us and we briefly popped our head inside the pizzeria to say hello to Simone Marsella the maestro pizzaiolo. Throughout the week in Portugal, we were looking forward to the pizza in Italy. There’s nothing like it, and Senza Nome did not disappoint.