This Independence Day finds me torn between two allegiances. I was born and raised an American and always will be. But I love living in Italy.
We celebrated the 4th of July by eating outdoors with a big group of people while watching the game on a large projection screen. Sounds like an American 4th you say? Hardly! Our outdoor dining spot was a café in Aqui Terme. Instead of hotdogs and hamburgers we had prosciutto with melon and a pesto lasagna. Instead of beer we drank really good Piemonte wine. The game was football. That’s soccer to you guys in The States, football to everybody else on the planet. But not just any match – it was Italy vs. Germany in the semi-finals of The World Cup.
What I know about football you could fit in large type on one of those yellow penalty cards, but WOW it was exciting! And I’m not just talking about how cute the Italian players are. With the whole world watching, Italy won in the last 2 minutes of double overtime. The entire country went berserk. We have a front row table reserved for the finals on Sunday. FORZA ITALIA!!
The World Cup is only played once every 4 years, giving it Olympic-like status. Even little Acqui went a little crazy after the game. Superbowl hype pales in comparison.
Miei amici italiani: Per tour fotografico di Chris