When we first arrived in Florence it was hot. I was having a difficult time with my hair in the heat and humidity. On one particular day I really thought it was not behaving, sticking out strangely and generally being unruly, and voiced this to Vic who said my hair looked wonderful. As most women will understand I thought he was just being a good husband saying what he thought I wanted to hear.
Later in the day we went to Perche No! gelateria. There I met Sergio. He is one of three servers that work there. It seems as soon as he saw me he couldn’t stop looking at me. Okay, he works there and he was taking my order, but it was more. As he gave me my gelato and with a big smile he said, “I like-a your hair” and made a flipping motion with his hands as though he was tossing back hair from his shoulders. A little embarrassed I thanked him and sat on the bench just outside. Vic witnessed this exchanged and said, “See I told you your hair looked nice”. As I ate my gelato on the bench facing the front of the store, Sergio caught my eye and he made the little flipping motion again. I have to admit it did make me feel good.
One evening we stopped by Perche No! just to see if there were any new flavors. We were full from dinner and already had dessert so didn’t order anything. They had rum raisin which is one of Vic’s favorites. The following evening we went by for gelato but to Vic’s disappointment there was no rum raisin, so he ordered something else. After we finished our gelato Vic suggested that since Sergio seemed to like me maybe I could get him to make some rum raisin. So I went in to the store and asked Sergio when rum raisin would be made again. Rushing to the back he found they had none left from the night before but he said he would make some tomorrow.
The next day we went by and Sergio was thrilled to see us (me). The place was crowded but he made sure he was the one to fill our orders and, of course, there was rum raisin. He again gave me a flip of his hands like before with a sheepish little boy grin. In broken English, he asked where we were from and how long we were staying. Again, I would see him stealing glances as I ate my gelato outside, although the gelateria is filled with customers.
While Perche No! has very good gelato, we like other gelaterias more, so we haven’t gone as much as Sergio would like, I’m sure. After visiting many other gelaterias over the course of about a week and a half we went back to Perche No! and Sergio asked, “Dove si va?” (Where did you go?). Vic jokingly, but honestly, said we had gone to Neri, Carraia, and some other gelaterias. Sergio looked very disappointed. Again he would do his “hair flip” each time I saw him and give me a shy little smile. We stopped in another time after I cut my hair (myself – after finally getting tired of fighting with it every day) he mentioned my hair was different, but still he seemed quite smitten.
On Saturday we went back to Perche No! after not having gone for about 10 days. Sergio lit up when I walked in. Vic took a few pictures of Sergio since we wanted to remember all the characters we’ve met while we’ve been here. Eating my gelato on the bench outside Sergio caught my eye and blew me a kiss from behind the counter. When we began to leave I gave him a little wave and he jumped up and down waving wildly and blowing more kisses with both hands.
As I watch him interact with other customers he seems perfectly normal, but with me he seems to be a goofy enamored school boy. I don’t know quite how to take all of it. Vic is just amused with the whole situation. I don’t want to sound vain but I have captivated this man. If it gets us bigger gelato scoops, is it so bad???
One evening we stopped by Perche No! just to see if there were any new flavors. We were full from dinner and already had dessert so didn’t order anything. They had rum raisin which is one of Vic’s favorites. The following evening we went by for gelato but to Vic’s disappointment there was no rum raisin, so he ordered something else. After we finished our gelato Vic suggested that since Sergio seemed to like me maybe I could get him to make some rum raisin. So I went in to the store and asked Sergio when rum raisin would be made again. Rushing to the back he found they had none left from the night before but he said he would make some tomorrow.
The next day we went by and Sergio was thrilled to see us (me). The place was crowded but he made sure he was the one to fill our orders and, of course, there was rum raisin. He again gave me a flip of his hands like before with a sheepish little boy grin. In broken English, he asked where we were from and how long we were staying. Again, I would see him stealing glances as I ate my gelato outside, although the gelateria is filled with customers.
While Perche No! has very good gelato, we like other gelaterias more, so we haven’t gone as much as Sergio would like, I’m sure. After visiting many other gelaterias over the course of about a week and a half we went back to Perche No! and Sergio asked, “Dove si va?” (Where did you go?). Vic jokingly, but honestly, said we had gone to Neri, Carraia, and some other gelaterias. Sergio looked very disappointed. Again he would do his “hair flip” each time I saw him and give me a shy little smile. We stopped in another time after I cut my hair (myself – after finally getting tired of fighting with it every day) he mentioned my hair was different, but still he seemed quite smitten.
On Saturday we went back to Perche No! after not having gone for about 10 days. Sergio lit up when I walked in. Vic took a few pictures of Sergio since we wanted to remember all the characters we’ve met while we’ve been here. Eating my gelato on the bench outside Sergio caught my eye and blew me a kiss from behind the counter. When we began to leave I gave him a little wave and he jumped up and down waving wildly and blowing more kisses with both hands.
As I watch him interact with other customers he seems perfectly normal, but with me he seems to be a goofy enamored school boy. I don’t know quite how to take all of it. Vic is just amused with the whole situation. I don’t want to sound vain but I have captivated this man. If it gets us bigger gelato scoops, is it so bad???