Saturday, February 03, 2007

The Six Nations tournament


We didn't fancy Sommieres this morning for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I didn't want to be pissed this afternoon, (do the words 'self' or 'control' mean anything to you? - Ed) with the resultant headache, because, secondly, there was some interesting rugby on television and I didn't want to sleep through it and thirdly, because our friends who used to run the restaurant in the village came for dinner tonight.


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The rugby was good because England won their match, but poor because Italy lost theirs. If you note a hint of bias here, you'd be totally correct. My father was English and mum's Italian. She has lived in England for 60 of her 82 years, so in many ways she is more English than Italian but I have always appreciated the fact that I'm a half breed. It meant that as a youngster I spent many months vacationing in Italy, learnt to speak a bit of Italian and, this will come as a surprise, developed a love of food. Italian national teams don't usually let me down unless it comes to rugby, or wars. Still, I keep hoping.


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JM and JP came for dinner tonight. They're an interesting couple. They used to run the village restaurant, which was the best for miles around at the time, but have stopped because of her ill health and the small matter of their divorce. They are still divorced, as far as I know, but live together again now. What was interesting was that they have followed two of their sons to Zimbabwe and have developed a retired lifestyle out there. Listening to their stories of corruption and genteel living appealed to a) the Italian in me and b) the lazy oik in me, and they have very kindly offered us their house there if we ever fancy a trip. I'm not too sure. Bribing a border guard as you enter a country is hardly the best start to a safe or relaxed holiday. Still, you never know.

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