In 2006 Donald and I made two friends in Naples; Lucia and Alfonso. They are the parents of a good friend of ours, and they were conveniently just our age. When we needed a place to stay in Naples, they found a friend who rents an apartment. When our bags came up missing from the airport, it was Alfonso who went to the airport with us to try and solve the problem. They took it upon themselves to be our host and hostess, and they would have had us over for dinner every single night if we’d let them. Lucia, who is Pugliese, is an amazing cook. Every single thing we ate at her house was memorable and delicious. Donald hovered in her kitchen, sneaking peeks into her simmering pots, while the aromas fed our hunger. Alfonso and Lucia took us out to our first Napolitano pizzeria, where the pizza was amazing. We had a lot of fun with them, and they asked us to come back many times over the following years. I only made it back once. But we made friends forever. This picture is of the day we went to the flower vendor. He was selling flowers out of his Ape (pronounced AH-PAY) all dressed up in a peach colored suit. Alfonso bought each of us ladies flowers, and then a bunch of basil for dinner. I painted this today in memory of Alfonso who died at the beginning of this year, and of Donald who took such a wonderful reference photo for me.

This painting is not for sale.