A Trip to Italy...Part 2

Il Latini, is quite an experience.  On no less than 20 occasions and by no fewer than 10 people were we told to "Eat dinner at Il Latini....and make sure to get a reservation!"  Well true to form, we ate at Il Latini and had no reservation.  The short story goes something like this....

We arrive at the doors to the restaurant at 6:30.  So do 250 of our closest friends.  Il Latini opens for their first seating at 7:00.  All of those with reservations for the 7 pm seating are called, enter the restaurant and are seated.  I finally push my way to the door, where the host asks me if I have a reservation, and I don't, at which point he wants to know how many in my party.  I'm not quite sure how to answer, do I count a baby as a full person?

"6 and 1/2."

I get a strange look, and the host continues to call out names on the list.  He is about to close the door, looks back at me and says "6 and 1/2, right?"  I say "yes", he says "follow me".  Overall, pretty easy.

It is hard to remember all of the detail of the next 5 hours.  As is evident in the pictures, wine flowed freely that night.  One liter per person (obviously the "1/2" didn't consume any).  We weren't sure what to eat, so we asked the waiter to bring us what he thought was good.  Sure enough, we ate EVERYTHING on the menu!!

So after 5 hours of indulging ourselves with every item on the menu (might I offer that you compare the size of the meat plate to the surrounding dishes) 6 liters of wine, 2 rounds of lemon-cello, a bottle of vin santo with biscotti, a bottle of asti, a round of grappa, two bottles of table wine to take home as gifts, and multiple apologies for seating us by the door, we ask for our check.  We are prepared for trouble.  6 adults eating all that we ate and drinking all that we drank could easily break the bank (that was  not meant to rhyme, but apparently it does).  The waiter leaves our table and walks over the owner and whispers something in his ear.  The owner open his notebook, takes a long look at our table, scratches his head for a moment, and then proceeds to write us our bill.  I am sweating bullets, expecting that we have accumulated a thousand dollar debt.  With palms sweating, I cordially accept the check from our waiter and prepare to choke....and I did!  There must be a mistake.  How did all of this food only cost 250 Euro?

Needless to say, the remainder of our trip was just as random, just as exciting, and just as welcoming as we experienced at Il Latini. It was most uniquely Italian.  From crazy taxi rides, to trains not showing up, to conversations with Italian grandmothers where you understand each other by "talking more and using your hands" (that is what I think she was saying), to appreciate travel, you need to let it consume you.  Don't try to control your experience, let the form by exploring where you are at.   Having been to Italy a couple of times now, there really is something to be said to relax and allow Italy to force you into living La Dolce Vita.