Spaghetti Sentimentality

Two days ago, the boys went to Kandern (my "old" hometown and the site of Black Forest Academy, my high school) to play basketball, so Mom and I took the opportunity to eat ice cream at the Eis Cafe and walk around town. The Eis Cafe is a local ice cream parlor that I used to frequent VERY often during my days at BFA. It was a major social hangout and the scene of many high school dramas for me :). I haven't been able to go there in five years because they are only open in the summer and I usually visit in the winter. As I walked up to the shop, I tried to remember the owners--would they be there? Mom picked a table outside and I peeked my head inside. Sure enough, the wife of the owner was there and she hadn't changed a bit in five years! She smiled wide when I came in and I wondered if maybe she recognized me. When she came out to get our orders, she gave my shoulder a squeeze and said in German a very enthusiastic "How are you? It's been so long!" I was SO suprised (and flattered) to be recognized... I ate a lot of ice cream in high school :). The lady is Italian and German is her second language so you can imagine we did a big of gesturing to communicate. She pointed to her ring finger and exclaimed that I was married now. "Four years!" I told her. She asked me if I had any kids by showing an imaginary pregnancy bump on her tummy. I smiled and said no. Then we did a lot of smiling and nodding and Mom congratulated her on Italy winning the World Cup.
I finally gave her my order. What else? A "spaghetti eis". It's a glob of whip cream, on top of which is vanilla ice cream put through a little hand held machine and thus made to look like noodles. Then it's covered with a syrupy strawberry sauce and topped off with grated white chocolate made to look like parmesan cheese. It's FANTASTICALLY good--maybe you can tell from the picture. I've been craving one for five years! As soon as I bit into it, I almost choked up and cried. Call me sentimental but it was like eating a memory. As soon as I tasted it, it brought back a flood of high school memories I hadn't thought about in years. I feel so old.

Anyways, I wish you all could be here so that I could treat you to a spaghetti eis! There's nothing in the world quite like it ;). You won't be hearing from me for a few days as we are heading off to Eastern Europe for three days of adventure. We'll be staying at a beach town in Croatia, driving through Slovenia, and stopping for a short stay in Venice while the city is still afloat :).