What???

---

Hugo's reaction when the Travelex agent explained he would get only 312 Euro for his $500 pocket money was priceless. (He has been working for well over a year to earn it, so he felt as though he was being scammed). He argued the toss with the agent and the upshot was that we negotiated a rate that got him 350 euro. Until now it never would have occurred to me to bargain a rate with a currency exchange! We ran into the Chapman family buying pounds for their trip to the UK, and the children were really pleased to catch up with Robyn and Tom.
Otherwise, today has been a whirlwind of organising International driving permits for Italy (Apparently we'll need them but who knows!), organising cash cards, making sure we have a spare camera battery and SD card, making an appointment by phone with the people in Italy to pick up our lease car, and doing a zillion other jobs that must be done before we can leave. I made a fool of myself when the Peugot agent told me his name was "Maksa". I think I called him "Maksa" about 3 times before I realised it was "Max", but pronounced with an accent. Needless to say, the rest of the household have dropped "Maksa" about 6 times today before cracking up.........
I hope they never meet him in the flesh, it will be on for young and old.

---