I want to be elected

Italy has European elections at the beginning of June. Every town we have visited has had posters for each candidate on walls, dustbins, fences etc; they appear to be fly-posted. There are always eight or more candidates and each poster has the same format; the party logo, a large photograph of the candidate looking serious or congenial and a strap line. Often we see vehicles with a loud hailer encouraging people to attend a public meeting and filling the air with pop music.

In the photograph Anthony is consulting the useful and fun calendar from his colleagues at Uclan, to ensure he doesn’t forget when our wedding anniversary is this year.

We have other useful gifts with us: The folding dishes from Sandra and family are intriguing because they actually work and the red one is particularly attractive filled with strawberries: On all our days out cycling or walking we take various practical gifts from the wonderful Ross-Coffee household in America. The wrap’n’mat and the wooden utensils are part of our essential picnic gear.