One Last Sunrise in Italy

I know what you're thinking...we don't leave until Saturday so that means two more sunrises. I'm not talking about that kind of sunrise though. I'm talking about this kind of Sunrise....Sunrise Bar.This place has become our second home away from home -- if that makes any sense -- here in Italy. Jackson and I come here twice a day, six days a week for coffee served with a large side of friendship. Francesca makes "my usual" which is a big Americano exactly the way I order it from Starbucks in America! (And for those of you who haven't been to Italy, it's not something you'll find on the menu here.)And often we meet Dan here for lunch. Here's a photo of Jackson eating meatballs (which he refers to as "buttballs") earlier this week.While the food and coffee are delicious, it's the people who own and run Sunrise that keep us coming so frequently. Francesca, Antonella, Gabriele, Mimmo, Victoria...they're our Italian family. Jackson loves them as much as they adore him and he calls them all by name...loudly and repeatedly!

Our hours at Sunrise have been action-packed with Jackson running (literally!) around making friends with the patrons when he's not in the kitchen or behind the counter in the arms of Francesca, Mimmo, or one of the others. They've taught Jackson some Italian and he's taught Mimmo a little bit of English (light, foot, truck, car...you get the idea!) so the relationship has been advantageous on both sides. The other day Jackson was showing off his new dance move that Dan had taught him. Pretty soon he had everyone in there spinning in circles just like him!

Here are some photos of Jackson with our Sunrise family.Here's some video of Jackson doing the whistle noise that Gabriele taught him.

And so tomorrow is our last day of going to Sunrise for coffee, cornetti, lunch, and the complimentary gelato that Jackson is given nearly each day (because he's so much fun to watch as he eats it!). It's going to be incredibly difficult to say goodbye not only to this daily routine and tradition but especially to the family that we've grown to love. And judging by the way Jackson brings up their names throughout the day when we're not with them and by the way he waves at them in the videos we've taken...I'm thinking we'll definitely have to Skype from overseas!

When we got to Italy, I thought to myself that three months wasn't enough time to really build many friendships and I certainly never expected to build friendships with any Italians in that amount of time because of the language barrier. But I was wrong. And happily so.