No, I’m not pregnant! But today we got a huge surprise. I think the last time I had tears in my eyes when my son & his wife told me that I’ll be a grandmother soon. And before that, Ted surprised me with a ring… And today. Let me tell you, but one step after another:

Our neighbors Assunta & Giancarlo had invited us to come with them to Brescia this afternoon, they want to show us the oldtown and we’re going to have dinner together. Very lovely and I’m really looking forward to that! We have great conversations without speaking the same language (see post: we are the new kids on the block).

Yesterday they came over when we just had guests with whom we made fresh pasta and Gorgonzola sauce. They said we should come to their house today at 9am, but the rest of why and what disappeared in the black hole of language discrepancies…

So Ted and I went over at 9am. Then they showed us Giancarlos woodwork shop and a few things he had made of olive tree roots and that just blew our minds;

We were so impressed, it’s very hard to express your appreciation, especially in Italian. The opera house cabinet has a parket floor made of alternating wood chips, each measuring 2×2 mm. And there are hundreds, thousands, he even said the whole piece has 1.300000 pieces! It took him 2 years to finish.

And then he unwrapped another piece, a beautiful box with three open slots for papers, letters and envelopes. Made by him, another one-of-a- kind beauty. AND HE HANDED IT TO ME AND GESTURED THAT IT WAS A GIFT FOR US! I was speechless, I had tears in my eyes, I didn’t know what to say…