By Weight

We’re having trouble getting used to the fact that here just about everything is sold by weight.  That combined with the fact that we’re still not used to the metric system has occasionally gotten us into trouble.  Henry had his first experience with this on one of our very first trips to Italy several years ago when he went to buy some biscotti (cookies) in a pasticceria (cake shop).  This was BEFORE we knew he was having trouble with his blood sugar.  He ended up with un mezzo kilo dei biscotti mista (about a pound of assorted cookies).   Even sharing them with our friends Vicki, Dana, Tina and Vic, with whom we were travelling, it took us days to get through them all.

We’re used to buying spinach by the bunch.  When we went to the vegetable stand to get some the other day they asked us how much we wanted and we said “one.”  Because the vendors typically select, weigh, and bag the produce for the customers, we ended up with their version of “one” – which was one kilo of spinach (about 2 pounds).  Rather more than we intended to eat!

Speaking of weight, Henry is probably the only person ever to have visited Italy and lost weight.  Really, he’s lost at least 5 pounds since we arrived.  We found a public scale on the street
(why these are scattered about we don't know) and we confirmed our suspicions.  Henry is under strict orders from Gabriella to EAT MORE!!