Christmas Visit

After a busy, fun-filled Christmas holiday, our houseguests, Beniamino and Anna, are returning to their home in Italy tonight.

As you can see from the photo, they came prepared for the weather. Besides down-filled coats, they had gloves, scarves, hats, ear muffs and boots. They ventured out almost every day. Only Boxing Day, with the heavy snowfall, deterred them. After a lot of frantic pacing, they gave up and accepted our offer to take them on the subway downtown to Sankofa Square. They held onto each other as we navigated the ice and slush, stopping at Little Canada, and enjoying the lights at the Eaton Centre and the 2 City Halls. Then we came home to relax with coffee and stories of Peter’s childhood village in Italy.

Beniamino soon got the hang of winter driving and the next day they were off again visiting relatives and friends. Their daughter and grandchildren, who were staying elsewhere with an aunt, joined them when their travels took them as far away as Canada’s Wonderland, and Niagara Falls. The grandkids got a huge kick out of Blue Mountain where they tried tubing, cross-country skiing and rope-climbing in the snow drifts.

During their stay, Beniamino and Anna made shopping trips for souvenirs to take home. They collected traditional things like snow globes of the CN tower, and maple leaf tee-shirts. Their favorite food souvenirs were maple syrup, peanut butter and Tim Horton’s coffee pods. They stocked up on paper plates and other stationary. They made a trip to Lee Valley for tube squeezers and other gadgets. Their bedroom got fuller and fuller.

We shared meals, mostly breakfasts, together. We learned that they prefer fruit and sweets like biscotti and cannoli, but one day they got brave and tried the breakfast that Peter and I eat every morning. That night they returned with strawberries and ladyfingers. Apparently our steel-cut oats were not a hit. Planning dinners was more complicated. Often they would call around 5 pm to say they wouldn’t be returning till late. Our fridge bulged with leftovers.

One day they found themselves here for lunch. They had anticipated this and bought a BBQ chicken and some asparagus which Anna planned to cook. It was a pasta recipe she had recently learned from her daughter who lives in Mexico. But she needed some tomatoes to make into a sauce. Peter gallantly offered his home-made “tomato sauce” which he neglected to mention also contains beef. While the chicken was warming up, Anna prepared her recipe of asparagus, garlic and olive oil. She stirred it lovingly as it simmering on the stove. Then Peter triumphantly dumped in his homemade concoction. Anna glared. It was the war of the sauces!

Peter and Beniamino had many spirited conversations, with Anna adding comments here and there. I could usually follow the topics but I rarely offered more than “si”, or “perfetto”, or “fredo” (which was a very useful word because it WAS cold every day!) But we did have one language default with greater consequences. On New Year’s Eve Beniamino and Anna were leaving for the entire day, beginning at 10 am. They were going to several events with various groups, and Peter got the definite impression that they were staying overnight at the last place.

As we got ready for bed aroud 11:00 pm, we turned off the lights and turned on the house alarm. Around 1:30 am our guests returned and unknowingly set off the alarm. Buzzers sounded and a commanding voice shouted “Identify yourself! The police are coming!” When I woke up and ran to the entrance, Anna and Beniamino were standing near the door, frozen in place, a look of terror on their faces.

Other than that incident, we liked having our holiday guests. We enjoyed their company. We shared lots of Italian baking and family stories. I re-learned a few lessons and some vocabulary from my Italian classes. Peter talked with long-lost cousins, and revisited a lot of childhood memories from his Italian village.

But, sadly, the Christmas season is over. Time to rest up, eat all those leftovers, and move on.

Sue