Five things that are different here

Ipoallergenico, but lavender-scented

1. On the evidence so far, no one in Italy does laundry without perfuming it. In and around Berkeley CA wearing perfume is widely regarded as a violation of other people's civil rights, and unscented laundry detergent is sold pretty much everywhere. We've been to at least five stores here and so far no unscented detergent has turned up. The hypoallergenic, sensitive-skin, all-natural brands are perfumed just like all the rest--but they use "natural essential oils."


As I sniffed and rejected one bottle of detergent after another, I realized that I, too, have become one of those Berkeley cranks. But for now I am resigned to living in clothes that smell like flowers.

2. When you buy an electrical appliance in the good old US of A you just plug it in. Here in Italy you have to sort out whether the plug is Italian small, Italian large, or German, then figure out if the outlet you're trying to plug it into is big Italian or small Italian, and if things don't line up, you need to obtain an adapter. That's in addition to the American-to=Italian-small adapters we use to power all our U.S. electronic devices. 

Today we bought a bunch of adapters and extension cords of various sizes and find that we need to use most of them. The plugs in our hidey-hole look like the mare's nests of extension chords my late father was famous for creating. It doesn't take much to flip our apartment's circuit-breaker, though. Since everything still seems to be working, I assume these arrangements are safe, if rather unsightly.

3. They sell sage-flavored dishwashing detergent. I bought some but I only washed one dish, in icy water, and I couldn't smell anything.

4. I've looked in the freezer cases of several markets and no one seems to sell frozen raspberries. Blueberries, yes, and frozen strawberries (yech), and a "frutta di bosco" mix of blueberries, blackberries, and a pitiful few raspberries, but no bags of plain old raspberries. What am I going to have for breakfast every morning????

5. Wine is cheap in Italy, and they sell it in boxes. Like juice. 

Pam bought some but says it isn't really good enough for drinking. She uses it to make risotto.