Reason #4,567 why I love Italy:

At the market today I was shopping for our arugula, insalata, pinoli, etc, as well as all the FRESH (Oh Happy Days!) ingredients to make guacamole for the poor Italians who, while they do so very many things well, fail miserably when they serve some vaguely green goop that they call “guacamole”.

So I had the most lovely exchange in Italian with the lady choosing all my greens for me:

“Tell me, Amore, what can I get for you?”

I listed the goods.

She DELICATELY puts the lettuce in a bag for me and instructs:

“Be VERY careful with this lettuce – it is extremely delicato!”

I smiled just realizing that in many other cities one rarely finds this kind of pride and attention dedicated to a head of lettuce, and it shows so much of why I love Italy! She wanted to be SURE that my lettuce arrived unbruised in my salad bowl, as truly, it really IS the only way to enjoy your salad!

Then she followed up with,

“Amore – let me give you a melone (i.e. cantelope). It is perfect and you will die of ecstasy when you eat it. Eat it tonight, or tomorrow – you can eat it a few days from now, but if you eat it tonight, you will never be the same.”

Time for me to sign off and crack open that melon!

UPDATE: It was heavenly!!!!