Avé, Eva

Last night we had dinner at a Mediterranean seafood place in San Niccolo called Quattro Leoni. The food was fantastic (Joey had Asparagus Gnocchi with striped bream fish, I had pasta tossed with fresh crab in a pea soup sauce), but the highlight of the dinner was our waitress Eva. She was beautiful. We don't have a picture so I'll do my best to describe her in detail.

She was about 25 , 5' 6" with a thin frame: slightly narrow shoulders, small breasts, and delicate wrists & fingers, but she did not appear frail. She was fair skinned with a perfect complexion. Her hair was reddish brown and pulled tight into a small pony tail (it probably would have fallen slightly above her shoulders if it was down). Her eyes were very dark (almost black) but they had a sparkle and were framed nicely by her thin (but not plucked) eyebrows that were the same color as her hair. Her nose was perfect, small (but not too small) and slightly upturned at the end. Her lips were constantly parted in a sort of wry smile, even when she wasn't talking to anybody and her teeth were straight and white but not artificially so. She was wearing a fitted black three quarter length blouse and black pants that hugged her figure at the top and went straight down into a wide leg that covered her shoes... She was wearing some really cool black sneakers, I think they were Adidas but I'm not sure.

Eva's most attractive feature, however, wasn't related to her appearance. A couple of times during the meal - once when we horribly butchered the pronunciation of Caprese and she couldn't understand what we were saying, and again at the end of the meal when we thanked her for the free coffee and extra bottle of water (water isn't included with meals here) - she acknowledged us by smiling, casting her eyes downward, tilting her head down toward her shoulder and bending her knees slightly (kind of like a half curtsy)... the second time she did that Joey and I were both hooked.

Eva's English was very good and during the course of the meal she helped us with some Italian phrases. Most notable was her explanation of the various salutations, and when to use them. Here's the breakdown:

Buon Giorno - Good Morning. In Eva's words: "This one you use before 2:00 pm, eh... no before 1:00 pm... eh no, no before 12:00 pm. Yes Before 12:00 pm".

Buona Sera - Good Afternoon.

Buona Notte (not sure on the spelling here) - Good evening.

Benvenuto (again, iffy on the spelling) - Formal "welcome". I got the impression that it should be used when welcoming someone into a place that he/she normally couldn't enter without an invitation. As Eva Explained it, "I would not use Benvenuto to welcome you to this restaurant because of course you are welcome here, but I would say it if you were coming into my house."

Ciao - generic salutation can be used when coming or going.

Arrividerci - Goodbye.

We've encountered quite a few amazing sights up to this point in our trip, but Eva takes the cake.