Bitch, bitch, bitch!

"The heat is terrifying, the wine too strong,
the villa too huge."

Dylan Thomas

***Dylan's quote connected so much better with this post that I took it from my last post, replacing it with a worthy one there.***


Well, you knew it was coming, so let's get on with it!


There are not enough contour sheets in this country; you have to look high and low, then simply ask for bread with salt, and we can't figure out where that odor in our bathroom is coming from.Why are the local stores hiding the pickles? And what were they thinking when they allowed Italian Rap music (and I use the word music loosely) to sully such a beautiful language?Tripping over cars can be hazardous to one's health. In addition, how do you explain the door handle imprints on your knees??So what's with the pizza? Except for two restaurants here in Spoleto they don't start serving it until evening - and then there are way too many toppings to choose from.And I can't begin to tell you about the plethora of olive oils to sort through.(This is so upsetting that I find myself ending sentences with prepositions. Again.)

Don't get me started on the battle of the bells. Competition for Mass attendance is fierce in this town; all the churches ring their call-to-mass bells at the same time. (The accompanying video is just one church's offering of regular bell ringing.) The call-to-mass cacophony sends the birds into a swirling frenzy and out of the campanili (bell towers) which....wait, on second thought, this is all really spectacular.

My big complaint, though, is the lack of Apple Pucker (for you teetotalers, this is an apple liqueur) making it impossible to mix an apple martini!!! Of course, this frees up my cocktail shaker for gravy making duty and encourages me to drink more wine. Did I mention that a bottle of Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio costs about $10? (By the way, we refer to the shopkeeper in the final photo as Placido Domingo because we think he looks like the famous singer. His shop is located just off the Piazza Mercato formerly known, about 2,000 years ago, as the Forum.)I'm feeling so much better now that I've gotten all this off my chest. Thanks for listening.

Salute, Susan

p.s. Rossella, my friend down in Rome, has presented us with a new challenge - grazie, Rosella. She sent me a partial list of coffees you can order at an Italian coffee shop. Cafe' expresso, cafe' lungo, cafe' corto, cafe' corretto, cafe' macchiato caldo, cafe' macchiato freddo, cafe' murocchino, cafe' al vetro, cafe' americano and, of course, cappuccino. I wonder if any of these can be had decaf?