Ken needed to wait on Moonbeam for the mechanic to install a new shower drain pump, so I took the marina shuttle into town. When I told the (female) driver that I was going for a mani-pedi at Futura Moda, she showed me her nails and said no, I must go to her place in the City Center. They are better and cheaper. Hmmmm, I thought. They might be cheaper, but they couldn't possibly be better than my new BF Gino and company.

I walked in and...it was like I was a long lost relative. Hugs and kisses. Gino did run his hands through my hair to poof it up a bit. I guess he didn't like the way I had combed his creation. When we had been there on Saturday, there was a young girl hanging out who spoke enough English to translate, wanted her picture taken with Ken, and after several emails since then, it turned out she was Gino's niece, Laura. When I went back yesterday, a young man came over to chat. He was Laura's brother Michele (pronounced Me-kel). Laura had told him all about us, and it was just serendipitous that he was there getting a haircut when I came in for my mani-pedi. He was just delightful. He spoke perfect English (as well as French, Russian and Spanish) and is moving to Boston in September to get a Masters degree in international banking. So, if you know a young girl in the Boston area who is looking for a smart, high-integrity, intelligent, charming 21-year old, shoot me an email and I'd be delighted to make the connection. (And....he's planning on living in America once he gets his degree!!!!) I think excellent genes run strong in this family. How cute is he!!!!! See pic above. (Michele did apologize for wearing a t-shirt. He said he usually does not.)

In the meantime, Gino kept interrupting Michele to help translate. Then, Gino said to me: "parlez-vous Francais?" I said, "mais oui"....and then we managed to communicate quite well without a translator. It turns out, Gino had lived in Paris. This is one interesting family. He then said (en Francais) that his wife would like to meet us and he invited us to his home for champagne later in the evening. At first we said "oui, nous aimerions" (we would love to) but, the timing wasn't going to work out since the salon doesn't close until 9 PM, and we would have had to hang out for several hours. (Gino also offered to shampoo my hair, gratis. I think he just wanted a chance to style it the way he liked.)

We were chatting with Michele about our drive on the Amalfi coast on Sunday. He asked why we didn't go during the week when it is less hectic. We explained that Sunday was our day off from boat mechanics. And then, as if it couldn't get any better, he told us his dad is a boat engineer and has a company which sells boat parts and accessories, and if we need ANYTHING, they have distributors all over Italy, and can get us whatever we need pronto. He gave us the website and lots of contact info.

As we were leaving, Gino made us promise that the next time we are in Castellammare, we will make sure we have the time to come to his home. And, of course, they all gave us a warm and fond farewell with lots of hugs.

By the way, girls...Gino would like to relocate to America. I encouraged him to come to Florida. It wouldn't be a bad drive to Miami every 6 weeks. We'd have a blast.