I left my heart in Monterosso...

I'm never leaving Monterosso. I canceled Venice, for a multitude of reasons, the biggest being a strike of the water taxi drivers, leaving the only transportation option as private gondolas, which can be insanely expensive. This means I have an 8 hour, 4 train trip to Udine on Friday morning, and then fly to Malta Sunday night. However, my friends here said to just leave my obscenely heavy collection of Italian specialty foods with them and then come back after Malta to get them and spend a few more days here. Kind of their way of guaranteeing I come back - like I need any forcing.
The game was fantastic the other night, even if Italy tied. I was sitting at a table surrounded in a torrent of Italian, cheering, singing - blissfully playing along in my Italia shirt. They broke open a huge bottle of prosecco, and we all signed it to display on the restaurant shelves. The street party went on well itno the night. Last night, a group of us went to dinner, and Cristina and I attempted to communicate better - she said after she drank more prosecco, her English would be fine. It didn't improve dramatically, but she was certainly funnier. We ordered a huge bronzino, crusted in sea salt and baked - the flesh was moist and drizzled with olive oil. At Manuels urging, I ate the flesh by the head - it was so delicious, and he insisted it was the best part of the fish.
Fish is pretty much it here. A cafe by my restaurant has my lifelong loyalty for serving the only mixed seafood antipasto plate I have ever been able to eat. Smoked salmon, tuna and swordfish carpaccio, lemon anchovies, salted anchovies, anchovies and capers stuffed in sundried tomatoes, and tuna stuffed in small cherry tomatoes. Lemon, olive oil and cinque terre white wine. Perfection.
Also the bruschette here is out of this world. Fresh tomatoes, pesto, lardo - all on bread rubbed lightly with garlic, charred and drizzled generously with green oil until they practically shimmer. Not much more is needed for an ideal lunch.
After dinner last night we went to Fast Bar for a drink, and Manuel bought Cristina and I (the due Cristina's, or "Cree's", which is the adorable nickname for Cristina) roses from a man who came in selling them. Cristina and I then attempted to resell them to American tourists for a 100% profit, and started concocting ridiculous life stories when they asked. I'm now a painter from Soho with two dogs who has been living here for 6 years. It was really priceless.
There is not so much to write here. My days literally consist of waking up, coming to Pasticceria Laura to have a cafe and torta, checking email, strolling around, eating lunch, sitting on the beach, swimming, reading, napping, calling friends and family, showering, eating dinner, sitting at the Cantina and watching football and laughing with my new friends, then going over to Damien's after the Cantina closes and watching football recaps as everyone tries to teach me Italian so I'm not as lost in the rapid torrent of language surrounding me. Google imaging New York City, and showing everyone the streets I love. Cristina offered to switch lives for a month. I have no problem with that.
Today I did something different, though - I watched Love Boat dubbed in Italian. I'm hoping I learn it through osmosis.
I have really fallen in love with this town. Though I've been here before, seeing it like a local is a whole new world. I would move here in a second, imagining my life, waking up and smiling, spending my days working and swimming. Even the rain isn't bothering me - it's like saying that you won the lottery, but it wasn't enough money. Ridiculous. I'm in one of the most beautiful places in the world. Complaining about rain is just being ungrateful for what I'm experiencing here. As much as I can logically say that Italy isn't a fantasy, and that there are problems and a history that lie underneath the beautiful exterior, as I wake up and inhale the sea water and squint at the sun over the rooftops, it's hard to keep that thought in mind. Here, everything seems absolutely perfect.