I woke up this morning to a bright sun and singing birds. I opened up all my windows and decided to take a stroll to the middle of Budoia. It's only about a block away from my house, so it took all of five minutes to walk there. I live on Via Capitan Maso, which runs into Via Agostino Stefani (possible relation to Gwen?). All the streets are pretty narrow and the Italians drive like maniacs, so it's a little daunting to walk anywhere. Luckily, there wasn't much traffic.
In the middle of nearly every town in Italy, there's a church. From my house, I can hear the bells ring several times each day. Many of the churches date back several hundred years. The door was open, but I didn't go inside.
In the center of town, where Via Agostino Stefani, Via Roma, and Via Umberto meet is the piazza (public square). There's not much to it--only a few small shops and a cafe, called Bar Ristorante Da Rene', where I stopped for a cappuccino. It was only 1.20 Euro (about $1.80), but it sure was tasty.
There were about ten older men also there, chatting in small groups. I think I was the only one who didn't have some kind of alcohol. It was only 10 AM, but they were all drinking wine or had a shot of booze in their coffee. Damn, I love this country.
After I left the cafe, I walked around a little more, smiling and saying "Buon Giorno" to anyone who made eye contact. They all returned my greeting with a smile or a nod. I hope to spend many mornings here, getting to know these people personally. This is why I came here.
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