Well first let me just announce that I have bought an Olive tree.  I stopped at my new garden center on my way back from the school and loaded it up into my father-in-law's car that I am borrowing as GP is away for the day and here it is.  I'm just waiting for the sun to go down a little behind the building as too hot to plant it right now.  I'm living in Italy and I have an Olive tree.

As for our weekend at the sea...GP's parents go to the sea twice a year.  In May they go to the Adriatic to a town called Catolica and in September they go to Liguria which is the continuation of the Riviera once you cross the border from France into Italy.  They go with a group of 50 or more "older" people on a packaged vacation organized by their local Parish priest. ( He goes along and conducts mass every evening before they sit down to dinner.)  They stay for 8-10 days, have hotel, 3 meals and reserved spaces on the beach.  They play cards and talk and swim and sleep and eat a lot.  They enjoy it and it's stress free.  Well we drove down to visit them this past Saturday and to take advantage of a last weekend at the beach.  It was beautiful weather, the sea is warm and clear, the foods good but it is so damned crowded.  There are very few open and free beaches in the north of Italy.  They coast is too built up and too many urbanites go to the sea every weekend and all summer.  The beaches are miles and miles of beach chairs under umbrellas for as far as you can see.  The actually beaches are rented out to businesses (hotels.restaurants) and one has to pay to go on them.  The fee gets you a lounge chair, an umbrella, use of showers, bathrooms, changing stalls etc..  Each "Bagno" as these areas are called usually has a snack bar and some actual restaurants.  Depending on how much you pay, some being much more expensive than others, determines how much room there is between chairs.  Some are very exclusive and some are for the masses. They say Italy is in financial crisis but judging by what I saw this weekend I beg to differ.  The place was packed.  Every hotel booked, restaurants with waiting lists, the beaches and streets clogged.  These are not small seaside towns like Boothbay but cities on the sea.  But I'm not complaining.  The swimming was great and I'm holding on to my tan!  Will include photos when I can get Grace to show me how to down load them from her camera...

Oh by the way.  Update on the floating floosie.  She was killed by a spurned Brazilian lover.  I have to say if you are the jealous type, dating a prostitute is probably not a wise move....