*PETA could go to work here. Lots of women bundle up in fur coats.

*Salad is served after the main course and coffee only after dessert is cleared.

*The bathroom sink at the press center comes on when you step on a floor pedal.

*Cardoon is a green vegetable similar to a globe artichoke.

*Locals apparently love their meat. Boiled stomach and tongue are delicacies. We ate a very nice restaurant where they pushed these boiled meats around on a cart, like hot dog carts in Chicago. For 25 Euros or $30 USD an Atkins dieter could fill up. Our friend and colleague, Erich, ate five courses in record speed. And he was one of the few to try lard sliced very thin on a tiny piece of bread.