Thanks to the generous folks at SlowTalk, and in particular to Rita, Annamaria, Diva, and Cristina, a replacement bag arrived from Italy on Tuesday. It is virtually identical to the one that we lost, with the added bonus of having outside pockets that the original did not!

A friend of mine said that a mark of a good surprise gift is that the giver does not want to wait for the intended occasion to give the gift. That certainly fit the bill in this instance! I intended the gift as a Chanukkah present for Lynn, but when I received it earlier in the week I knew that I would not be able to wait until the first night of Chanukkah (Sunday the 25th).

So, after a series of self-deliberations, I settled on executing my plan on Friday the 23rd. I was home from work and arranged for Lynn and I to spend a quiet day at home, and to prepare a nice dinner together. This wasn't just any dinner though; I went to my journal from our Italy vacation and looked up the meal that we had eaten for dinner on the night of the day that we had spent in Siena (the day that Lynn had acquired her bag the first time around). Without explaining the why and the wherefore, I suggested (strongly) to Lynn that we try our hand at making a dinner of beef carpaccio, insalata caprese, and pizza margherita—exactly what we had eaten that night at Il Obelixo near Sant' Antonio.

Well, together we whipped up and then savored an excellent dinner together. Once we finished, I asked Lynn to close her eyes, and I went and got the bag from where I had hidden it. I asked Lynn if the meal we had just finished seemed at all familiar to her. After thinking a bit, she recalled that it was what we had eaten at "the place with the 'x' in its name." Impressed, I asked her if she remembered what we had done the day of the night that we ate at Il Obelixo. Unsure, Lynn responded, "Was that the day we went to Siena?" With that, I handed Lynn the bag as she opened her eyes.

Much happiness ensued.