I am finally back stateside from my travels to Rome and want to recount the tale of the last month to you all! I will do short little blogs in (mostly) chronological order but maybe (mostly) themed order. LOL. I don't know. I want to share about my album, the music, the songs; I want to share about my misadventures with travels and family and food and language.... so I am going to start back almost a month ago..... wait..... three weeks ago, which seems like a lifetime!
Let's go!
Picture it. December 18th, 2013. C & O Trattoria, Venice, California.
There I was, waiting with my boyfriend of 1.18 years, ( Age Caveat! That's how long our relationship had lasted at that point.... NOT how old he was! Yikes.) outside a lovely Italian-esque Trattoria a few steps from the ocean. We were about to have a dinner with my mom, pop, sis, and brother in law.
Now, just over a year previous, approximately 1.28 years in fact, most of us had dined at this lovely restaurant for my sister and brother in law's wedding rehearsal dinner. I was not yet dating my handsome partner (and therefore was shamelessly flirting with lotsa OTHER handsome fellahs, not knowing any better, clueless to the sweetness that was soon to arrive in my life) and much to my GREAT JOY, at 8 pm that night in late August, the wait staff came around with laminated copies of the lyrics to the Dean Martin hit, "That's Amore."
It's best if you watch/ listen to the tune while reading this:
]See, this is a nightly occurrence at C&O Trattoria. That's why my sister chose it for the Rehearsal Dinner! Once the lyrics have been passed around THE ENTIRE RESTAURANT, then all the diners and all the staff sing along, clinking glasses and cheersing one another.
I loved it. I love interactive games and singing, of course. Yup, I'm THAT girl.
Anyway, come back to December 18th. Carlo, my boyfriend, is a proper Italian. As in born and raised in Naples, Italy. And so, I was excitedly telling him all about this fun little trick of the restaurant. Just then, my parents, sister and brother in law arrived.
We ordered, we began to eat... and the clock ticked quickly to 8 pm.
And... clockwork... the staff handed out those little laminated sheets and the music struck!
Carlo looked at me with wide eyes. He laughed. And we sang! And we clinked glasses! And we sang!
And after, he leaned over and whispered conspiratorially, "I thought you were kidding when you told me they would do this."
Aw. Would I kid about a thing like THAT!?!?!
I think not!
Now, once more, all together now:
In Napoli where love is king
When boy meets girl here's what they say
When the moon hits you eye like a big pizza pie
That's amore
When the world seems to shine like you've had too much wine
That's amore
Bells will ring ting-a-ling-a-ling, ting-a-ling-a-ling
And you'll sing "Vita bella"
Hearts will play tippy-tippy-tay, tippy-tippy-tay
Like a gay tarantella
When the stars make you drool just like a pasta fazool
That's amore
When you dance down the street with a cloud at your feet
You're in love
When you walk down in a dream but you know you're not
Dreaming signore
Scuzza me, but you see, back in old Napoli
That's amore
