Romping Part 3: San Benedetto, Italy

Part 3

San Benedetto, Italy:

Sometimes theory can be put into practice. After unpacking and re-packing and organizing and eating and re-organizing and giving the kids a bath and getting them to bed, and doing 100 other things I can't remember right now, I crashed. The problem was, I crashed at 11:30 at night. I couldn't imagine that I could wake up at 2 am and drive to Italy. But I did. We met Tina and Maria downstairs and packed the car and piled in, all 5 of us, and drove. The kids slept and Tina and I talked and drank cappuccinos and talked about what had gone on in our lives over the past month of being separated. We talked and drove and drank and before we knew it the sun was coming up as we were driving out of the mountains in Bozen. We arrived at Susan's at 8:30 am happy, refreshed and HOT. The first thing I did was take off my Uggs and put on flip flops. It was stunning. The resort was even more beautiful than I had remembered, the sun was shining, the blue water of the olympic size pool was sparkling and the air was ripe with the scent of morning dew and fresh Cornettos (Croissants). The early birds were arriving at the pool and as we were checking everything out, I heard a familiar voice from somewhere up above greeting us. It was Susan. Anticipating our arrival, she was setting up breakfast on the terrace. It was soooo great to see her! She always looks great, but after 6 weeks in Italy, she looks even better. We spent most of our days in the same fashion. We would have breakfast on the terrace, already in our bikinis and swim trunks. Then Tina and I and the kids would go to the pool while Susan did her laps and yoga and all the other relaxing fabulous stuff that keeps her happy and looking 10 years younger than she is. One or the other of us would go back to the apartment at around 2 pm and prepare a big fresh, yummy lunch that usually consisted of healthy salads, local cheeses, fish, and something undeniably whole grain. We would then linger by the pool-side again or play water games with the kids until dinner time, which for the Italians isn't before 9 pm in the evening. After which, the kids would fall asleep and we would continue our drinking and eating festivities well into the night. We would, at some point go skinny dipping and then fall into a happy slumber, full and knowing that we could do it all over again tomorrow! Needless to say that after just 10 days of this routine, I firmly believe that Tina and I also looked at least 10 years younger than upon arrival. Well, even if we didn't look 10 years younger, we certainly felt it... We've already made plans to do it again.