Europe By Payne (Day 11)
2nd September 1991.
11:15 amGot up at 9am, had a shower and breakfast. Last time I was in Italy, Mavi cooked eggs for a friend and I. They were raw, cold in fact. They were so bad that we threw them off the balcony while her back was turned and pretended we had ate them all, shell as well. This time I took no chances and asked for hard-boiled. As I predicted they arrived perfectly soft. In town I went to the bank, fantastic. Changed £20 and then decided to change £50 more, then it was time to do some serious shopping, which turned out to be a waste of time. How was I to know that Italians have two Sundays, one called Monday. Everything was closed but after a long search, I managed to get some much-needed deodorant. “Malizia, uomo”. It cost me a small fortune and makes me smell like a gigolo. Louisa kindly made me a packed lunch for the train, and Mavi more or less forced me to take a photo of her so I wont forget her. As if. I decided I could do without a reoccurring nightmare in the form of a photo, so I pressed the flash test button and told her I’d taken one. Besides, her image is forever tattooed onto my brain. Just before dinner I popped out to buy a melon and some farewell flowers for afterwards. I hope she doesn’t eat them both. I’ll see if I can put up with any more crap Italian T.V before we eat.
