Pino e il panino

The Arno was quite green yesterday. The river is flanked by verdant, grassy banks. Yesterday's sunlight reflected onto the water a celedon tinge when the day before yesterday ("avantieri" in Italian) it had been more of a blue-gray-green. I walked along the river (Lungarno) on my way to and from Salameria Verdi, a deli/sandwich shop highly recommended by my friend Mary/Maria who studied abroad last year. I invited a classmate, Hannah, to come along, and we found the shop without too much trouble. We walked in and observed the customs until Pino, the owner directed his attention towards me. I ordered in Italian and he nodded as he grabbed a large piece of foccacia. From my order he quickly determined my nationality and said, "tomorrow is a big day!" When I told him I was a friend of Mary's he smiled and told me he would make me the best sandwich I had ever had, and he held true to this promise. On the sliced foccacia he spread a layer of ricotta on one side, and with my approval a spicy red pepper spread on the other. Then he layered on a few slices of turkey and a pile of spinach sauteed in olive oil and some unidentified but delicious spices. He popped the sandwich in a small oven for a few minutes while I paid (only 3 €, a bargin!). As I started to walk towards the small tables in the adjacent wine cellar he called out to me that I had to try the sandwich and make sure I liked it. Needless to say, my bite was one of approval and promised to return. Once we were finished, the word "gelato" was mentioned--a suggestion I am still completely vulnerable to. Hannah had read about a place nearby, Gelateria di Neri, and inside we found probably my favorite gelato I have had thus far--mango. On our walk back to school we devised a plan to start a 'Vino e Gelato' blog to record and share our consumption, so beware of that potential publication. It was a wonderful afternoon. We concluded it is impossible to be sad while eating gelato. And the river was still green on the walk back.