La Mia Amica Italiana

A few weeks ago I found out Manuela-a friend from our summers spent on the Tremiti Islands-was going to be in NYC on holiday for a whole month.  Thanks to Facebook, the two of us reconnected this year and also thanks to facebook, I found out about her holiday.  I messaged her, we agreed to meet up and so last Friday, Jeff and I got in the car per usual and drove up north.  We broke up the trip in Philly at mom and dad's, drove to Jersey to meet Ash and Claire on Saturday and the four of us drove to the city to meet Manuela.  

This trip was exciting for two reasons-I was going to see an old friend who I loved hanging out with on San Domino and who I hadn't seen in 10 years AND Claire was visiting NYC for the very first time.  I took a bunch of pics of all of this but on Ashley's camera so they will be uploaded later.

Manuela and I had made plans to meet at the corner of two streets near Times Square.  Ash, Jeff, Claire and I waited in the whipping, freezing wind for her  for a half hour and she never came.  When it was too cold and we were afraid she wasn't going to show, we began walking to a restaurant for lunch.  I basically walked backwards with my eyes on the corner where we were supposed to meet.  Still no Manuela.  

We got to a restaurant, Ash and Jeff ordered food for us and I ran back up to the corner in hopes she would be there.  I just couldn't let it go.  AND THEN THERE SHE WAS apologizing profusely for being 45! minutes late.  I didn't care.  It was sooo good to see her.  We spent the next 3 hours speaking in a combination of English and Italian and catching up on the last 10 years.  Really it was a lot of simple questions, but still so good to see her.

Facebook is a weird yet powerful tool that seems to be so invasive and scary yet I am so thankful for it for reasons like this.  I never would have found Manuela or met up with her in person without it.

We left the city after a Magnolia cupcake and drove back to New Jersey so Ash could pack.  Jason had to retake the bar last week since he is now practicing in NYC so we were trying to leave him alone for some cram time.  Then we drove back to Philly for the night.

I love seeing Manuela, loved some unexpected sis time and especially loved some unexpected Claire time.  At the end of Saturday night, we decided we may trek back to the Tremiti for Ferragosto in 2012.