Three cheers!  Italy won against England the other night.  I actually stayed up to watch it live on regular TV from 12 - 2 a.m..  As Italy won, we now have 20 euro discount at the supermarket.  Yup, they do that. Then the US won last night!  Who woulda thunk it?  Down to our last couple days before summer vacation.  GP went to the supermarket to spend our World Cup discount by buying us our favorites before we leave.  For me it's Tomino, a creamy spreadable cheese you drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with herbs.  For Grace it's salami and breads.  There are certain things you just can't get at home.  But at the same time I can't wait for my first lobster and peanut butter ice-cream!  The supermarket was a whirlwind of activity because everyone has to use their World Cup discounts.  They were buying stuff up like it's Armageddon.  People were fighting over the last pieces of bread.

Sunday, we had a BBQ at friends who live in the next town over.  I always find the house thing surprising.  Italians, maybe all Europeans, simply require so much less space than Americans.  The friends we went to are unimaginably wealthy.  I know no one even vaguely in the same ballpark in the US.  But they live in a two bedroom place most of the year.  ( Mind you it's one hell of a place but still.....)  I think this fixation with space is ours alone.  I can't wait to get home to my little house that seems so spacious right now.  xxoo me