Christmas

What a whirlwind of a season...
... a game every second day and a family darting in and out on their way to Rome, to Florence, to Venice... It was the best we've ever done to keep our promise of 'no presents' and the tree was still as full as ever... and the smallest one... a present a little delayed... was the best present of all... The days worked out to regular beat of coffee and gluwine... the nights to some form of cards and books... the only unfortunate thing might have been our card luck, that enabled two incredibly inferior opponents a few meagre morsels of victory... You don't want to say too much about it... but 4 hands in a row if both players are 1 or 2 cards away from a mis-deal... well... a monkey on a typewriter could win it... just saying...
... and now back to as close as a reality as I get in Italy... I would have to say the best times I had were on the patio of the cafe covered in blankets with drink in hand...