United Nations

---

Toby got up early as usual for his run and, as usual, he woke Fiona up. She took the opportunity to go to Umbertide to the supermarket before Harriet woke and Toby came back. She needed special ingredients as she had to cook a pavlova today. We had been invited to a barbecue at Aine and Fabio's. Any self respecting kiwi knows you can't have barbecue without pavlova. Even though it was going to have to be hand whipped we had to take pavlova. The rest of the day was spent whipping egg whites and cream or lounging the pool.

Aine and Fabio own the property that we are renting. Aine is from Limerick and Fabio from Sicily. They have renovated the old stable block into one villa and we are staying in the tobacco drying tower. They live in the lower storey of the farmhouse with their 2 children - James and Elisabetta. A Dutch family is staying in the stable block and they were invited to the barbecue too.It was a fun evening and something a little different?

It could have been really good for Harriet to have some company about her own age, but the other kids were all quite a bit younger than her, not to mention the fact that the Dutch kids spoke no English. They managed to work out how to play hide and seek together without a common language though. It's amazing how adaptable humans are.

Elisabetta is a bit of a minx. She managed to charm everyone into letting her up on their lap. When she was on Ona's lap, the Dutch girl, she proceeded to put mayonnaise in her hair. The response was very calm. We were glad it wasn't Harriet!

Fabio shared his and Aine's plans for the rest of the land and buildings and the photos of the transformation so far. They have done the renovation very well. Of course there are things that we would have done differently and I think some they would have too, but we have really liked the villa we are in and have enjoyed the stay here so far.It wasn't an early night, which is a shame as we have to be up early tomorrow for our mini road trip to Milan and Venice.

---