A Hawaiian Pizza in 'Tossa De Mar'

“Could you stand seeing me again so soon?” There was that little half smile again and the look in the eyes that would have melted a stone.
-Nial Kent
“The Divided Path”

On July 12, 1990 I visited Tossa De Mar, Spain for the first time. I was on a European escape with Alan Freiman about nineteen years ago. We never forgot this stretch of beautiful beach only an hour or so away from Barcelona in the Costa Brava region. There was a place called ‘Café Italiana Pizzeria’ that overlooked the sea where I introduced Alan to his first slice of “Hawaiian Pizza” (pineapple and Canadian bacon as toppings on top of a typical Margherita Pizza) in 1990. He was used to the New York-style regular slices.

I recently chuckled at the sight of the 'two of us' at a different restaurant in 'Tossa De Mar' from a photograph that was taken on July 11, 1990 (that's a little over nineteen years ago). Now imagine yourself transported in a time tunnel. Here we are during those 'fun in the sun' days:

Recently, we retraced our steps and returned to Tossa De Mar only nineteen years later. The pizza place was still there but there were more tourists than there used to be. We even noticed a busy and regular bus station that transported Barcelona residents to this area now. It didn’t stop us from enjoying our pitcher of sangria and having that “Hawaiian Pizza” once again. The proprietor, Zika (aka Chico), was chatting away with us. He loved knowing that we’d traveled from California to his Pizza joint. He was thrilled that Alan wrote with his left-hand.
“Bill Clinton and Barak Obama write with their left-hands, so you’re in good company,” Zika said.

I think we’ll try the “Hawaiian Pizza” in HAWAII the next time around. I wonder if it tastes better? There is no doubt that I still love the feeling of Tossa De Mar. It’s a very special beach in Spain. I want to go there again. I hope I do not have to wait another nineteen years to get there. It will be harder to walk up that hill that leads to the Pizza joint if I wait that long.
PHOTO: At the right: Zika and Alan;
PHOTO: At the left: Alan & Michael at the 'Cafe Italiana Pizzeria' in Tossa De Mar, Spain, June 1, 2009.

Twenty-five years ago today:

June 14, 1984
Saturday

Ugh! Traffic School! What a drag! I drove to Laney College and ‘as it turned out’, Janice Van Gundy was in the same class. We smiled at one another. Flashbacks flooded back to sixth-grade when I had a mad crush on her. I felt like a mere acquaintance with her on this day because I did not want to intrude. She was with her current boyfriend (I believe).

There was also a big, muscular black guy that sat next to me named ‘George Peacock’ who was kind of strange. A preppy dude in the class seemed rather ‘questionable’ about his sexual preference. And then there was ‘no doubt about it’ Bruce. Through my eyes, Bruce was some blond juvenile delinquent twenty-year old. He worked at a retail store called ‘Topps & Trowsers’ in The City. He was nice enough. I was surprised when he said he grew up in Alameda, California. He seemed born and bred in some place like Oklahoma (without the accent).
“Yeah, I just moved back here from Las Vegas. I don’t know many people,” Bruce said in a way that led me to believe he wanted me to be his friend.
“Well, here’s my phone number,” I said out of the kindness of my heart.
I was shocked when he went on to say that he was training to be a model. His complexion is 'red neck' and his teeth are "grody"!

PHOTO: Laney College, Oakland, CA

The Traffic School class ended at 4:30PM and I went to mom’s for a bite to eat. This was followed by a nap at my place. I did manage a short bike ride along South Shore beach until I felt a need to nap at home again.

Michael Miller called me and invited me over for pizza. I decided to go. Suzy was there, too. Their Aunt was visiting from Belgium. She seemed quite nice but my French was more than lackluster—to say the least. I still had fun playing ‘French talk’. “Enchante”, “Oui Oui”…

I left the Miller house at 11PM and went straight to bed. I made tentative plans to attend church with Suzy (in the morning). I ended up sleeping in…