At one o'clock the following afternoon, I managed to drag myself out of bed. No more Excedrin PM. Not ten minutes had gone by before the phone rang. It was our 'handler' from the convention wanting to know if he could arrange our lunch. We pulled ourselves together ... mostly ... and met him down in the lobby of our Hotel Universo.
It has been raining almost constantly since we arrived ... sometimes heavier than others. Our umbrellas have been invaluable. The gray skies, however, have not dimmed the experience in the least.
Nicola, our translator and guest services aid, had arranged lunch for us ON the great fortification wall surrounding the town. There is a restaurant there which was created inside what use to be the horse stables of the old Republic. Nicola left us there for lunch on our own. We struggled through ordering but the wonderful thing about Italy is that most of the people here manage to speak at least SOME English ... and their English is certainly better than my Italian. Between us we manage to get by. Not only do we NOT starve, but we are constantly being treated to incredible meals no matter how badly we try to mix up the menu. We have discovered, however, that the Italian idea of cooked beef is to make sure that it is no longer moving. ALL their beef is prepared extremely rare, which it turns out is fine because the Italian beef is incredible.
Laura and I explored the town after lunch. We decided that she needed some Italian boots to fend of the rain. (Well, if you need an excuse to purchase Italian-made leather boots, it's as good as any.) We wandered among the extremely tight streets, found an ATM, and then found a wonderful little corner shop with a group of snippy shop girls who were at least willing to allow us to purchase shoes from them. Laura found a pair of wonderful high black leather boots that fit her perfectly. She may have trouble finding shoes that fit in the States but here the European styles fit her as though they were made for her.
We arrived back at the hotel to find Nicola waiting for us. He wanted to know if we wanted to take a tour of the convention. With a quick change of ... shoes ... Laura was ready to go. We set off down across Piazza Napolione and turned south at a church then passed through one of the ancient gates through the city wall and into the great games tent. It was enormous and VERY exciting. We will be signing books right next to the main entrance. We also were shown where Killer Breakfast will be held and were introduced to our interpreter -- and it should be a lot of fun. While we were wandering about we were approached by a pair of Italian fans who were working a costume booth. They recognized me, came up and wanted us to sign their book and look at a costume they had made. It turned out to be the red robes of Raistlin -- a character from our Dragonlance books -- with hand-embroidered edges.
It was truly magnificent. They were so excited, even in their broken English, to get their books signed and get pictures of us standing next to their costume. Laura and I realized that they made us feel at home ... these fans are the same fans we've met everywhere else in the world. We can be at home here in Italy as well.Sylvia, the head of guest services, arranged our dinner for us at Bucca di Santantonio ... a restaurant that I had previously read about in a guidebook as being THE place to eat in Lucca. We had found it the day before but, oddly, I had forgotten just where ... we had to return to the hotel for directions. Up the street to the square by the great church and then left across the square and down a narrow street ... at last we were there. The staff there welcomed us warmly and everyone on the staff spoke perfect English ... something of a relief. It was the most romantic of restaurants with brass kettles and musical instruments hanging from the ceiling. Laura had a Tortellini followed by Pork Fillet al Pucini in a black truffle sauce. I had a Mushroom Risotto followed by a Cubed Swordfish in a Marjoram sauce. It was all made there from scratch and was completely beyond description fabulous. We were completely overcome by desert: a pear tort with warm vanilla cream sauce.
We are back in our rooms. The rain is falling gently outside our open windows looking out over the Piazza Napolione and we are looking forward to a wonderful convention.
Pictures tomorrow with any luck. Our connection to the internet is not always reliable.
Musings: Laura noted this evening during dinner that our memories of Italy from our last trip were filled with bright colors and contrasts. We were here in June when the sun was bright and shining and everything was vivid. Now, in the rainy season, everything is muted. The sky is leaden and rainy, the cobblestone streets are shiny under the dull sky and the lighting in the hotel is also subdued. It is a different Italy that we are experiencing this time ... and still a warm and delightful experience. More real, perhaps, in some ways than the fantasy trip aboard the cruise ship and yet also magical in its own way.
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