Not far from the Colosseum was a very nice restaurant. We went there on our own the second evening in Rome. A pretty young woman waited on us and we got to talking. She was happy to practice her English and told us about her college classes. It was a large place and we felt a little guilty keeping her from other patrons which were being covered by other wait staff. As in most of Europe, you do not have to tip in Italy. The usual habit is to round up. meaning if the bill is 23.17 you leave 24.00 in this case Euros. Instead, I paid the check by credit card and then put a 20 Euro note with a piece of paper on which I said, "Thank you and we wish you well in school."
The next night we went out with a group. It happened to be the same restaurant. We were running late and the rest of the group was there. The same young woman we had met the night before was waiting on the group. As I walked up to the table, she turned and ran up to me with a big hug. Needless to say the group was wondering what was up. A show of affection for a stranger in Rome by a pretty young woman?
I wanted to pretend that it happens to me everywhere I go in the world, but finally had to tell the truth. It still made a good memory to bring home.
No comments:
Post a Comment