Of course time races by when you would most like it to slow down. We will be back in Canada a week from today. We are planning our strategy to make the most of our remaining time, but this vacation thing is wearing us out. 

Garlic time of year

Yesterday after 2nd breakfast and a trip to the market, we returned to Fonteccio to do a painting of the fountain. It is a beautiful spot and very cool and shady. It was fun to paint again after being a tourist! Jim did a beautiful piece of the fresco above the fountain and I did the one below. 

Yes I know there is a drawing mistake and I will fix it!

Then we had to rest for the all night party! It honestly lasted till 5a.m. this morning. When we arrive about ten it was just getting cranked up. I understand that it was organized  by the young people of Castelvecchio. They advertised it all over the valley and there were a lot of people. All night for us was about 11p.m. but we could appreciate the party from our terrace. To sleep, we had on all the fans in the house. 

All night party at Castelvecchio. Why doesn't Karin have a drink? Because they had no ice at the bar. This made us realize that we have never seen ice for sale here. Our friends were horrified that you would go buy ice that might have bacteria in it. 

Since this was a day with not too much activity, I want to finally talk about going to bed in Italy.

After all these years it is time for an intimate discussion of the beds in our house. There are two kinds:  the singular and the matrimonial. The singular is a metal frame that fits into a head and foot board of metal that are made to look like wood. On top of that goes a five inch thick mattress. These beds are very comfortable. The mattresses have a summer side: cotton and a winter side: wool. If you are married you get to lash two of these metal beds, complete with their headboards, together with a rope. Then you put two mattresses on and behold: the marriage bed. 

There are some problems with this situation but there are also some benefits. Jim loves to tell the story of something he read. He says that it was reported that if you ask men how often they should change the sheets they said four times a year. Women on average said every two weeks. Some of us may feel that this is too long. Since each person basically has their own bed, they can change the sheets whenever they like. The only bedding that we own that is matrimonial size are the blankets. This works great for Americans, however I am sure Italian women are constantly washing all the sheets. 

Singulare:  double this for a Matrimonial.

The problem is the gap. Instead of “good night and sweet dreams” each night one must remind the other to, “mind the gap”. Even so you can find your self lying on the metal bed with your mattress pushed over the edge. If Angie was here with us, I am sure both mattresses would be pushed to the floor and she would be in the gap happily sleeping. And so, this is just another thing that Italy has given to the western world: an answer to the  problem of how often to change the sheets!