Trips to Italy

Monaco is only about a 15-minute drive from the border of Italy and if you know the French custom, you have two hours for lunch. Yes, it sounds excessive, but it actually works well. In France, the lunch meal is the major meal of the day. Basically, people go to school or work at 8AM, are off between 12PM and 2 PM, and work till 6PM.

All that to say, that on many occasions, we would go to lunch in Italy, in a little town called Ventimiglia... at the restaurant "La Caravella". The food was excellent, the view even better, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.

My father always impressed me as a man that could get along with anyone and speak any language. It might be a little exaggeration of a little boy, but even as an adult, I was impressed with my dad's abilities.

Back to "la Caravella"...

He knew the waiters by name, able to converse with them in fluent Italian. My father was fluent in French, Spanish, Italian, Portugese, English and could get along well in German. Of Course, he also claimed to speak Chinese and when someone asked him to say something in Chinese he would say "Atascocita" fast while modulating is voice in a high pitch song. By the way, Atascocita is a neighborhood North of Houston, close to Lake Houston.

My father also played the piano, the harmonica, the guitar, the accordion and many other instruments I'm sure, by ear. I think all that is related... picking up languages easily and being able to play instruments by just listening to a piece of music. My wife enjoyed it when she sat next to him on the piano bench and he harmonized with whatever she was playing.

Back to Italy...

The other thing I enjoyed about Italy was when my dad would go on trips there, he would always bring me back a F1 model car. Growing up in Monaco and witnessing many Grand Prix, the cars were extremely cool and I had a great collection, as a matter of fact, that collection was passed on to my great nephew, Ethan, and I know that he is enjoying them now.

It's easy to remember these times... All I have to do is sit in front of a plate of spaghetti.