DOLCE FAR NIENTE

There's an Italian phrase dolce far niente, which roughly means "there is sweetness in doing nothing." I work with a lot of European physicians, and I've also spent some time in Europe. From my experiences, I can see that Americans and Europeans are so different when it comes to how we spend our time. Take, for example, "the day off." Today is my day off from work. I get three days off a week and very rarely do I get to spend it doing nothing. There's always something to do, someone to meet up with, or an area of Cleveland I've yet to explore. Today, I'm being European and doing -absolutely- nothing productive. OK, so we all do that from time to time. But today is a change in my thinking and behaving in that I am not going to feel guilty at all. Why is it so wrong to sit on my couch and watch TV and read a magazine and eat good food and play with my cats and look out the window and just be and experience the sweetness of doing nothing? America is somewhat unique in that we don't have breaks during the day, no siestas or teas. So, I'm taking all the breaks I missed in the 9,255 days of my life and making it one non-productive, non-guilty, lounging, carefree day.

In honor of my European break day, some of the best food ever. 

Turkish falafel doner I ate at an East Berlin imbiss with an American soldier at Checkpoint Charlie. This also reminds me of the falafel sandwich I ate last night on W 6th St. :) And also the falafel shop, Mamoun's, in Greenwich Village that is absolutely amazing post-drunken runnings in Times Square.

(Wow, I LOVE falafel sandwiches, huh?)