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Gordon Brown and his wife Sarah. Sarah provided a behind-the-scenes look at the G8 on Wednesday as she blogged about the "good food and good company" at the so-called spouses' summit.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's wife Sarah provided a behind-the-scenes look at the G8 on Wednesday as she blogged about the "good food and good company" at the so-called spouses' summit.

"Landed in Italy, and Gordon is whisked off to the summit. I spend the first day in Rome and join the programme for the First Ladies and PMs' wives," one breezy entry began.

Updated every hour from Italy, the blog details the wives' audience with Pope Benedict XVI -- although it was a case of deja vu for Sarah.

The wives, including Brown's friend Michelle Obama whom she got to know at the G20 summit in London in April, are then treated to a "wonderful lunch" hosted by the mayor of Rome's wife featuring the chef's signature "ravioli carbonara".

"Thanks to the good food and good company, I have to skip the museum tour as I am now running a bit late for the next event," she admitted.

The prime minister's wife, a 45-year-old former public relations boss, also found time to update readers on "excitement" at the British embassy in Rome about the resident beehives and their "imminent² harvest of honey".

The G8 summit in L'Aquila brings together leaders from the United States, Canada, Japan, Russia, Britain, France, Germany and Italy.

英国首相戈登•布朗的夫人莎拉本周三披露了八国峰会的幕后花絮，她在博客中爆料称，被称为“八国首脑夫人峰会”上，“不仅美食可口，而且大家相处融洽”。

莎拉在博客中轻松开场：“抵达意大利后，布朗直奔峰会。我第一天就呆在了罗马，还参加了为首脑夫人举办的活动。”

布朗夫人抵达意大利后，每小时更新一次博客。尽管她曾经见过罗马教皇本尼迪克特16世，但莎拉还是详细记录了教皇接待各位夫人的情景。

之后，罗马市长夫人用“丰盛的午餐”款待了米歇尔•奥巴马等诸位首脑夫人，最具特色的是厨师特别奉上的“培根蛋酱意大利饺”。布朗和米歇尔•奥巴马今年4月份在伦敦举办的20国峰会上结识后成为朋友。

莎拉坦承道：“由于有美食和好友相伴，我都没有时间去参观博物馆，只好直奔下一场活动，这还有点儿晚了呢。”

首相夫人还抽出时间告诉读者，她在驻罗马的英国使馆见到养殖蜂箱时“兴奋不已”，而且“蜂蜜就要大丰收了”。现年45岁的首相夫人曾是一位公关经理。

来自美国、加拿大、日本、俄罗斯、英国、法国、德国、意大利等国的首脑参加了此次在（意大利）拉奎拉举行的八国峰会。

Vocabulary:

whisk：to move with a rapid, sweeping³ stroke（直奔）

breezy：fresh; sprightly⁴（活泼的，轻松愉快的）

audience：a formal interview with a sovereign, high officer of government, or other high-ranking person（接见，拜见）

deja vu：the illusion of having previously⁵ experienced something actually being encountered for the first time.（似曾相识的感觉）