Eighteen!

My wonderful birthday began bright and early on Saturday morning with hugs, kisses and wishes of "Tanti Auguri" from the Massetti family before Chiara, Alice and I went for a walk with Louise along the Tuscan seaside. This was my very first time on a non-Australian beach and I was fascinated by how different it was, both in the small details like the colour of the water, the texture of the sand, and in the large fact that there were snow-covered mountains in full view!

Viareggio seaside

After stopping and starting our walk numerous times for Louise to greet and play with other dogs we continued onto the seaside...I suppose you could say "boardwalk"?...where we met up with Massimo and Filippo and continued walking, looking into many different stores, stopping only briefly for a coffee.

One o'clock rolled around and it was time for lunch! We were joined by Lydia and Lydia's neighbours/family friends of the Massettis at a popular pizzeria on the seaside. Here I tried for the first time a Viareggio specialty called "Cecina" which is made of chickpeas and cooked in the shape of a pizza.

The pizzeria was just to the right of this photo, so this is the view we had during lunch!

Pizza!

Cecina!
The one on the right is also Cecina, with vegetables added

Afterwards, of course, it was time for Gelato! Although for this occasion we tried something a little different; Alice had been telling me about a frozen yoghurt store that is in Viareggio where the options of what to put on the frozen yoghurt are almost endless. The sizes range from €1.50 - €4.50, going up in 50c increments - that's 7 different sizes! Quite honestly I think the €1.50 or €2 is more than enough for any regular human being, however, being my birthday, Alice encouraged me to "just go crazy!". So we settled on a very celebratory €3.50 with way, way too many mismatched toppings. And after taking about half an hour to finish it, I don't even want to think of what it would have been like to order a €4.50!

So many toppings!

The monster itself, complete with caramel topping, apple and strawberry pieces, miniature marshmallows,  merengue balls and mini waffle donuts coated in chocolate. Happy birthday to me!

Diabetes in a cup

Enough for Massimo too!

And, somehow, I finished it!

After the yoghurt extravaganza, I did something I am very proud of and used my "it's my birthday and you'll do what I say" powers to coax the family into having a photo taken together!

Left to right: Lydia, Louise, Chiara, Me, Massimo, Alice and Filippo

The afternoon continued in the same relaxed and lazy fashion and we returned to the beach, where we even found some other italians enjoying the long weekend in a more adrenalin-filled way!

For dinner Alice and I dressed up in eighteenth-appropriate high heels and we all went to very beautiful small restaurant about a half hour drive from Viareggio. The restaurant specialised in seafood and served us four courses! For the main course I had a type of pasta I had never tried before called "orecchiette" which literally means "little ears" as they are shaped like little ears! And it was without a doubt the best pasta dish I have enjoyed in Italy yet.

Alice and I, dressed to the nines

The menu of the main course of the evening

Orecchiette with zucchini  and carbonara

Also over dinner, of course, Chiara and Massimo insisted that I enjoy my first ever glass of wine.

Although following my first mouthful my face turned more like this, and I think it is safe to say that not even fine Tuscan white wine or finally being eighteen years old has convinced me that the taste of alcohol isn't absolutely terrible!

Then, just before dessert was served, I was surprised to find the lovely chef who had been looking after me incredibly well all night, appear with a cake! This was also the first time that I had heard "Happy Birthday" sung in Italian and you can imagine just how beautiful it sounded!

The cake was actually a wonderful kind of crumble-biscuit creation that I had never tasted before, but was "molto buono" and "molto goloso" as Chiara would say. After the dessert had come and gone, I thanked the lovely chef and told him how great the cake was and he smiled and walked away. And returned 5 minutes late with another one, in a different flavour!

Dessert!

Cake number 2

On the way out I thanked the man for all he had done that night and asked for a photo with him, after which he went away and reappeared with a small gift for me, which was so special and, in my opinion, the shiny red cherry on top of a beautiful day.

The wonderful chef himself

Although the man's gift was not the only gift I was given on this day; I was also given the most beautiful gifts from my host family. From Lydia, a beautiful old book on Tuscany. From Chiara, a dress that we had seen together in a shop in Viareggio. And from the Massetti family a jacket that has my name and the Italian flag embroidered on it (which I have barely taken off since) and a return ticket to Berlin!

All in all, I had a wonderful day and I thank everyone all over the world who made it special! I cannot possibly think of a better place or way to have spent my 18th birthday; I'm certain that I will remember for a long, long time.