You may or may not be aware that Italy will have elections April 13 and 14th. There's a lot of news about candidates and lots of adverting. I haven't seen any TV ads yet, but tons of print, and especially posters and billboards. Here is a sample of three of them This first is for Walter Veltroni, of the Partito Democratico party. The ad says, "Don't change governments. Change Italy."

It's worth noting that the cost of everything seems to be rising here. Gasoline in Italy now sells for about $7.30 per gallon.

Pier Ferdinando Casini is the UDC candidate - Unione di Democratici Cristiani. He's from Bologna. This poster says, "It's time to help families."

Speaking of families, here's an interesting news story: pollution is evidently causing male fertility to decline in Italy.






I heard someone joke on TV that Silvio Berlusconi's posters don't have his picture because it might scare the pigeons. It confused me because it looked as if he was being crossed out, but it's supposed to be someone marking a ballot in favor. The poster says, "The left has brought the nation to its knees. Rise up, Italy." Berlusconi is part of "Forza Italia."

If you're really interested in the Italian elections, here's a detailed explanation.

BUT, that's not what interests me most. Let's talk about TV: The Top 10 rated shows for the week of February 26 were:

1. Sanremo Music Festival: more than 9 million viewers and a 35 percent share
2. Stricia la Notizia (mentioned before - news satire)
3. I cesaroni (mentioned before - extended family comedy)
4. Don Matteo 6 - a drama/comedy about a priest and his friend a policeman
5. Usual suspects (mentioned before - game show "identity")
6. Amici - a kind of Big Brother meets Idol - groups live together ad compete against one another
7. I migliori anni (The Best Years) - variety show where decades compete to be voted "the best years" - music, dance, fashion, movies, etc
8. Heredity (game show mentioned earlier)
9. Big Brother
10. The highest rated US program, "House" (here called Dr. House)

We lived in Slovenia in 1995, Macerata in 2002, Rome/Florence 2005 and this weekend was the first time I ever had any Italian relatives visit me. My cousin Cetta and her husband drove down from Bologna with my brother on Saturday and left today (Sunday). We went out to dinner Saturday night but came back to the apartment for dessert Kim had made. Sunday after church, Kim had an extravagant meal, complete with Profiterol for dessert. Mmmmmm.