How Do You Say Penne????

Ok friends.....you've not written because you've been in the car taking pictures,,,,road trips,,,,eating....shopping, and yes, tell your coworkers you're having a really good time..... The rain stopped and Son is off work for a bit of time (he's the brave driver to haul us all around - several stories to share on that topic....later)...for now, we took cookies and a plate of deviled eggs over to the neighbors' house to thank them for the rescue from being locked out in the rain (remind me to tell you about Italians and eggs)  while we circled the property to come up with a plan (locked outside the house and at the same time, locked inside the property lines). Joseph (Beebo as his family calls him) invited us in and soon his entire family was there to meet Leah & I...soon Man In Black joined us along with baby Z (she was the main attraction) and they were very interested in where we live (Joseph wasted no time on Google Earth) to see pictures of our house and street and started the translator.....questions flew from both us and their family that included questions as to what Son was doing here in Italy ("that is good, that is good") were spoken by the Italian neighbors so I took that as they are pleased with why he and his family are living next door. They were extremely nice and provided their cell phone number in the event anything was ever needed and pool party plans were made for over the summer months. Come to find out - both families have several birthdays in the month of July and when I asked if they liked barbeque... wow, no translation problem there - they all answered in unison...."we like barbeque". Anyway, they seem to be super nice neighbors and that's always a plus where ever you live. Along with liking to eat off the grill the boyfriend said he really liked Mexican food.....

We took a drive to a beautiful town about an hour or so away the next morning and did a bit of shopping and a lot more photography. When in Italy what would most women buy???? Easy answer, shoes...shoes, and more shoes. I haven't done that....I know I should but instead I've bought myself something I've never purchased because I'm just too cheap to spend the money....a really great purse...REALLY GREAT. Good thing we were on a limited time schedule in that mountain town due to the bus required to get there because I'm sure given an other hour I would have had several purses in colors too fun to pass up. We ate at a great restaurant (yes, I scored and actually liked what I ordered, you'll hear more about how seldom that happens later) and did a bit more shopping which brings me to this short story...

I found a condiment that is used when serving pasta....at least that's what I'm guessing you do with it and on the package it says "penne".....well folks, my Italian has expanded to "thanks a million, hello, goodbye, good afternoon, today, tomorrow, yesterday and ice cream cone" and a few more general words.  I can shop because I've figured out their cash system (side note: they don't like you to use paper money, large bills are used mostly for restaurants and buying gasoline, another side note, it's not called gas here, it's benzena", If you ask for gas you'll likely end up with diesel in your tank....they prefer you use the coin currency and when they give you change back....they don't put it in your hand. Just a few things I've noticed...also, their houses are locked up like Fort Knox....we'll talk all about that stuff later. For now let's continue with the shopping. I walked into a little shop with pasta and olive oils and wines. Two older women were working inside chatting to each other and I had in my hand a small package of dried spices with Italian writing that included "condiment....penne". So I asked the women "do you sell penne and does this go on penne pasta?". I can't describe other than to say they both stopped talking to each other and said "what???????" in Italian. Then one of them said something to her coworker and walked away (probably something not so nice,....Son came over and said "what did you ask her...you need to be careful how you pronounce the words here".....In a nut shell my blogging buddies....I asked these two shopkeepers if I could use this condiment over Penis Pasta.....Oh well, I'll never see these two again and I get a really good laugh about it later when I think about it. I did get a cone later in the day with the flavor marked 'pinto or pinta' but since the person waiting on me was a man I didn't dare try my hand again at speaking Italian - who knows what that may mean if I pronounce it differently than my favorite breed of horse Little Joe Cartwright used to ride. The sales girls at the handbag shop would have enjoyed that story, they were very cool,  lots of style and would  probably enjoy a story to share about an American tourist. I came away with a couple of scarfs, a purse and some laughs - it continued to dinner. They eat late here, about 10:00 p.m. and I have a story about that meal, but let's save that for later. For now, here's some pics....hope you're having a good week. Time to check if baby Z is having a bath and take some more pics...maybe a glass of wine. See you soon friends....the adventure continues....to say penne in Italian...I guess you need to add a dozen more "n's" to correctly pronounce it....