Some random thoughts on differences

This is my first entry. Packaging in Italy is different than that in America. For example, the butter I bought came as a log and was wrapped in wax -lined paper that was fastened on each end by a small, doughnut-shaped rivet. The default carton of eggs is a six-pack, but you can easily buy individual eggs, as well. The largest container of milk one can purchase is a liter. There's full-fat and low-fat, but no fat-free. Lots of milk is shelf-stable. Produce at the corner Frutta e Verdura is actually ripe, has no stickers on it and isn't wrapped in cellophane. It's very hard to find unscented soaps and detergents. There are no dry ingredient measuring cups anywhere. I haven't yet found brown sugar or vanilla extract. If you buy meatballs at the deli, they will weigh the meatballs and price it, then they'll add the sauce for free. Decent wine is very inexpensive. Buying fitted sheets is a trial, since there are so many variations in mattress size. You can buy an enormous roll of paper towels that are dispensed through the center after you remove the cardboard tube (like a tube of refrigerated bake-in the-oven rolls). Most glasses are tiny, so you refill your drink multiple times. More later, as I think of them.