Okay here is the thing that we’re going to do tomorrow. Sorry to be so mysterious about it, but there was too much else to tell you, you know?
Auntie is an inveterate house-trader. I mean when she goes on vacation, she frequently trades houses rather than staying in a hotel or something. She’s stayed in some spectacular homes all over the world, and you can see by her house that her trading partners are getting a pretty good deal too.
So when she told me that we were going to do a trade up in Como on my last day here, I thought, Cool. I’ve never been to Como.
But then later it developed that there’s a TV show in Italy dedicated to showing house trades–sort of a reality show (though without all the drama and abuse), that portrays the experiences of both sides of a house trade. And they’re going to film this trade and make an episode about it.
Yes, that’s right: me, vastly experienced Background Actor that I am, am going to be an extra on this show. (An extra because, of course, I do not speak Italian!) Auntie and Cousin will have the speaking parts.
But we’ve had to tidy up the place like fierce, because not only are we trading, but it’s going to be filmed! There will be one crew here and one crew following us in Como. They’ve told us to phone when we’re almost there so they can capture our arrival. Then they’ll follow us around all day–when we explore the house, when we shop for the traditional gift, when we go out to dinner. (Hopefully they leave when we go to bed.)
I’ll try to take as many photos as I can without looking like a tourist and ruining the filming… 🙂
Meanwhile, speaking of photos, here are a few from today.
One of Auntie’s cacti is blooming:
We found a dead spider in Le Chat Noir’s litterbox. To give you a sense of scale, that’s the scoop-kind of litter–the sand. Yes, that’s one big-ass spider. Yes, Elizabeth, it’s dead.
Here is what a healthy curly willow looks like:
And here are some lovely morning glories (though I missed them at their morning peak, alas):
Auntie’s vegetable garden:
In the afternoon, we rewarded ourselves for all that cleaning (which isn’t done yet, but hey) by going to town for some gelato. Yum!
