Lynch Visit Round Two

The second visit from the Poughkeepsie Lynches was great fun. They arrived midday on Sunday, after which we took them around the medieval section of Viterbo called San Pellegrino --- just a couple of blocks from our place.

:) 

Unusual to see a totally green garden, but it was in a shady nook. 

Brothers twinning.

Our Viterbo.
 

The first and ONLY bride we saw the entire visit! I'm so glad for Susan to have seen it. She seemed to be just getting pictures taken. It's always funny to see a bride dragging her gown around on the filthy cigarette-butt-strewn streets. 

The Lynch guys.
 

This little one's name is Agata. (Pronounced with the accent on the first syllable, just like Agatha.) She had a name tag.... was alone... very timid and shaky... I thought I heard someone calling calling her, but only once and never saw the person. She seemed to walk with a bit of a purpose so I'm hoping she's okay.

I've never seen a cat with a face quite like this one.

Balcony cocktails :)

That night, Fred and I took the boys to dinner and Sean and Susan had a date night.  The weirdest thing happened at dinner. First of all, several days prior while walking by the restaurant we thought they should go, I went in and reserved them a table outside. He know it was for my husbands borhter and his wife.  The boys and Fred and I ate somewhere entirely different, outside the walls. The waiter/owner at one point came over and said, do you have friends eating at Lo Scorfano tonight? We were alarmed at first, thinking something had gone wrong, but he just smiled and nodded and left! SO BIZARRE.  (Susan, if you're reading and want to send me pics of your dinner, I'd love to share them here!)  We had fun with the boys :)  Just like old times but with different but similar boys.

On our way to dinner, an old lady I always see and chat with from her balcony just around the corner from us was FINALLY out when I walked by. Fred had already seen her three times and she kept asking for me. It was so great. I told her these are my nephews and she was just adorable. As we walked away, she shared the interaction with her balcony neighbor across the street.

An aside: Our neighborhood can get noisy.... They don't use WD-40 on their metal garage doors, so there's that. There are dogs who BARK. ALL. DAY from their balconies at people, trucks, vespas, and other dogs below.  And then there are people who just yell normal conversations. I told Fred the other day, can you tell those two to SHUT THE HELL UP, and we looked out and they were standing next to each other on the same balcony! I thought it was a huge argument, but then they laughed. This place... 


Fred had to work all day Monday, so he missed out on the daytime stuff, but joined for drinks and dinner, which was probably the most memorable thing to ever happen to us over the last 12 Julys.

First, we went back to the lake where the boys have such a good time swimming and using the pedal boat—this time they got the bigger one with a really tall slide.

There they are far away. (Sean's with them.) Finn's at the top of the slide and Eamon has just gone down it. 

Here they are closer up.
 

And..... even closer up! Eamon is sitting on the water!!!



 

Next stop, Montesfiascone with it's wine bar and park at the very top. It never disappoints.

Ladies, and gentlemen, the Poughkeepie Lynches. 

Susan looking beautiful. 

Eamon looking cool. 

Finny with my glasses on. 

I never saw anyone laugh so hard and so long. Sean cracked her up :) 

Eamon swinging over Italy and the duomo at Montefiascone. 

Susan & Sean. 

At the park, and man and his best friend. 

Lake Bolsena from the top of Montefiascone. 

A patch of wild poppies. 

Once home, showered and dressed for our big night out --- dinner at Il Monastero, home of the two-plate pizza. Every year on this date, there is a parade that goes right down our street. We usually have people over for the great viewing opportunity, and planned to do so this night, but learned from the wine guy that it was, for the first time in 12 years, to be routed down a different street! So glad we asked. We kind of knew something was up when they weren't towing all the cars away from our street. No problem, though. All the more time to hang at Il Monestero, or so we thought.

Rain was in the forecast, but we thought we thought the few sprinkles we got in the late afternoon were going to be it. But right after we got the first of our six double-plate pizzas delivered to our outdoor table, the skies OPENED UP. We moved to the very end of our long table for more coverage under the umbrella. Then the men moved to the end of another table that was empty. Then people started going inside -- where they have lots of seating but which was not empty. Then leaks began to spring in the areas between the umbrellas and abandoned glasses that were too far from the center of that table's umbrella were filling with rainwater. It was hilarious.  And I've never seen so much lightning -- it was nearly constant that the skies were lit up. The umbrellas of the restaurant across the street where blowing like crazy. Everyone was screaming and laughing and making group decisions to attempt the mad dash inside. We were the last to give in...and give in, we did.

Before. 

Students (Chris & Adam)! Their second time there. 

Boys drawing on the placemats. Funny, our boys would do that, and the students always do that too, naturally.

Brothers. 

I took at least 75 pictures all in a row, trying to get lightning and got NONE. Maybe it's not possible? 

Eamon's margarita pizza. 

And then it began... 

 

Not a happy guy... 

Once inside, we just stood in a huddle with all the other stranded survivors, freezing and sort of dazed. By now both Sean and Finn had their pizzas, so they sat at someone's table that had some room. Suddenly, a tap on the shoulder, and it's the owner --- who never acknowledges us but knows who we are --- he's very cool, as is his wife -- he asks how many are you, six?  And takes us to a table!  WOO HOO!!!!   This guy is the one who, when we asked him many years ago if we could buy a plate (they're big and have the restaurant's logo on it) he gave us four. We cherish them!

I got pesto (I think) and half with arugula.