I know you like to hear about differences between the U.S. (or Canada) and Italy. Well here is one. They don’t understand the concept of plumbing traps. You know, those U shaped pipes that block any odors coming up the pipes? They don’t have them here.

So, sitting upstairs I started noticing a strong odor of sewage. Ugh. I deducted it was from the shower drain in the bath upstairs. Since it has no trap, the stink can come right up. I tried opening the window. Closing the door. Putting a wet cloth on the drain. None are good solutions.

I was ruminating about this and decided to look on Amazon.it which is our Amazon site here in italy. Sure enough I searched on anti-odor drain cover. Bingo! I got anti-odor silicon floor drain cover. I thought to myself it might be an Italian thing, so I checked the German, French and UK Amazon sites. All had them. Then, in the interest of research, I checked the US site. Yep, they have them too! Who knew. I know I never had issues with odors emanating from the drain in the U.S.. But ok.
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I got an email from Ely at Calagrana. She had made more of her chicken leek pies. These are individual sized pies with the most ethereal pastry crusts. Chock full of chicken and vegetables with gravy. Delicious. I ordered twelve. I keep them in my freezer for a quick light meal with a salad.

I was supposed to go up on Sunday at eleven to retrieve them but I didn’t look at my calendar so…duh…I totally forgot. I went on Monday and picked them up so all was not lost. On my way I took a some photos. I had time so I did a couple of side roads.

These first two are the tobacco, a highly prized crop in our valley. The first one is ready for them to harvest the yellowed leaves which are pretty. The next is a less mature field.

This is a small side road onto which I detoured because I knew it had great views.

We are readying for another trip. This time to Hamburg Germany and the northern coast. My Germanophile husband needs his German fix. The weather could be a bit dicey! There will be a trip report, ciao for now.