I just looked at the blog and the temperature here is 24 degrees.  It’s wonderful.  There is a slight breeze, unusually for Milan, which makes it very, very pleasant.

I’ve just had lunch with S and R, which was very enjoyable.  They are over from the UK for the Salone di Mobile (Furniture Fair). We chatted and gossiped about Hay, the Festival and people we knew.  And chatted about Italians, the Italian way of life, etc.

As we were talking, it reminded me, again, about how lucky I am in so many ways.  As a life and, at my age, I am so grateful for the many good things that seem to have come my way.  And, once again, I was reminded of what a fantastic place this is to live in.  We lunched at a café in the Brera, sitting outside.  A few glasses of wine, some nice prawn salad.  All in all, a very pleasant few hours.

Later, as V was on his trip to Pavia (actually it was about as far from Pavia as Milan), I went out with A & F for a very nice pizza.  A, being determined to show me the places that he considers are the best pizza places at very reasonable prices.  Then I was honoured to be invited to see his new flat.  He moves in in two weeks and the builders have nearly finished.  It looks good and a nice area on the edge of Citta Studi – the area round the university.

In the meantime, Rufus had a haircut which was well overdue.  He looks beautiful now.  I prefer him with short hair and I think it’s better for him as he seems more lively and puppyish after a haircut.  He really is the ‘best dog in the world’ (picture – yep, strange).

I will try to post the pictures from various recent trips later on today (Sunday), but we intend to go down the park in a bit to take Rufus for a long walk, which is such a nice idea.  We don’t seem to do this sort of thing often enough.  After nearly 19 years together, we still have many times when we just prefer to be together, the two of us.  In fact, over the last few years, the time we spend together seems more precious and the most relaxing time.