sister_luck: (Default)
[personal profile] sister_luck


Imagine a small family restaurant in a tourist town in Portugal hidden away from the main road but nestled between two big hotels and an apartment complex. Scratch it - you don't have to imagine it, here's a picture:



It's already dark when we arrive but we decide to sit outside on the patio anyway under the biggest Gummibaum I've ever seen. It's a quiet place with couples sharing a table and a meal and a bottle of wine. In the corner there are four young Italian guys and they're already onto their coffees and brandies. They seem charming, but in actual fact they're the vanguard of an invasion.

It starts harmlessly enough - two Italian girls appear, walk up to their fellow countrymen, kiss them hello and chatter away for a bit. Then one of them produces her telefonino and that should have been our first warning because it's a mighty weapon in the hand of an Italian girl. But no, all charm and summery dresses they float away again.

After a while, there are three Italian girls standing just outside the patio each with a bottle of beer and a cigarette in her hand. They talk excitedly and one of them is always on the phone. The first one to finish her drink and stub out the cigarette walks across the patio and into the restaurant where she animatedly confers with the owners. She smiles and waves to her friends who join her inside at a table in the corner.

Then a steady procession of girls walks by our table - they arrive in small groups of two or three and most of them are extraordinarily pretty and dressed in the summer's latest fashion. They greet their friends and soon one table is not enough - four are shoved together and the group now takes up the entire left side of the restaurant. The smiles of the owners become strained - it's already late and they'd hoped for an early night. These girls don't look like they'll eat a lot. Menues are produced and while the girls point and laugh and chatter their orders have to be taken. There is a lot to discuss: Sangria for everyone? And what about olives and bread? And a main course?
The girls are constantly in motion and there's not one moment all fourteen of them sit down at the same time. There is always one on the way to the bathroom and two others are having a cigarette break outside and a fourth girl has walked outside and found a corner to have a private crisis conversation with her far-away boyfriend on her mobile phone. Oh, and there are still the four guys that need to get attention, too.


They're a force of nature and a sight to behold like a swarm of beautiful birds.

Date: 2007-08-29 06:16 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] frenchani.livejournal.com
Quite the ballet!

Date: 2007-08-29 06:27 pm (UTC)
ext_11565: (Default)
From: [identity profile] sister-luck.livejournal.com

That's an apt word! It did seem like there was a secret choreography to it all.

Date: 2007-08-29 06:34 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] frenchani.livejournal.com
I don't knwo if they followed some secret choreography but in any case your writing called a ballet to my mind. :- )

Date: 2007-08-30 03:39 pm (UTC)
ext_11565: (Default)
From: [identity profile] sister-luck.livejournal.com

Aww, but in actual fact I think I should have fiddled with it some more. It's basically a second draft (the first one was done on paper during my students' exam yesterday).

Date: 2007-08-29 10:12 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] frances-lievens.livejournal.com
Ah teenage girls. They're all the same, but the Italian ones have something special. At one point in their lives they'll all turn into big mama's attending grown-up sons that won't leave the house though. ;-)

Very nice read btw

Date: 2007-08-30 03:40 pm (UTC)
ext_11565: (Default)
From: [identity profile] sister-luck.livejournal.com

*lol* You're right about that one!

Thanks - I'm slightly unhappy with a couple of sentences - they could have done with some tweaking and there's at least on grammar issue, but nevermind, it will stay as it is.

Profile

sister_luck: (Default)
sister_luck

November 2020

S M T W T F S
1234567
891011121314
151617 18192021
22232425262728
2930     

Most Popular Tags

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags