Obsession with vests, socks, any kind of cool air, air conditioning

Colpo d'aria is a deadly serious medical condition that should be avoided at all costs. The fact that only Italian people suffer from it is immaterial.

See also "Les jambes lourdes" - a serious medical condition, supporting a multi-million euro market in medical treatment, that inexplicably only affects French people.

It's a culture-bound syndrome - the wikipedia article is good: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture-bound_syndrome

It really pisses me off too OP. Lived in Spain for 10 years and was sick of these comments. If I am cold I will put a coat on. If I am not, leave me be. Why do they feel the need to offer advice that is not asked for when it doesn't affect them? Likewise, I have naturally pink skin, especially when I get hot. The amount of 'ohhhh you are burned' really hacked me off. NO I AM NOT THAT IS MY COLOUR. Why comment on other peoples' bodies??? And as for kids, I stopped meeting one friend due to her non stop coddling of her baby, grabbing his hands and feet to check if he was cold (the kid was fine and it was freaking summer at 35 degrees).

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C9Wkw3js8l-/?hl=en

Hope that clears it up.

Similarly, drinking a cold drink is very bad for you as it will chill your stomach. Also, you cannot eat anything at least two hours before you go swimming because you will die. I used to be told stories about a waiter who had eaten one panino before he went swimming and then drowned.

I took baby DS to an Italian walk in clinic once. Tuscany in summer. He was about 9 months old with a temperature. I walked him down in the push chair just dressed in a vest and nappy with a sun shade and as I entered the building the nurse screamed and threw a blanket on him. He was rushed immediately into a side room with a paediatrician and wrapped up warmly whilst he was examined! (He was fine they were just really quiet that day so saw him quickly). We were discharged with an order to give him cold chamomile tea and given a right bolllocking from Matron about how we needed to keep him much warmer.

That's funny, because in neighbouring Switzerland most folks fling the windows open for at least 30 minutes everyday to let the fresh air in. Usually duvets go over the balcony for that time too if its dry. 😂

Aircon is not mainstream in houses across southern Europe unless new builds. It's does seem odd to feel cold at 30 degrees but it's what you are used to. They would be horrified that beyond preschool very few British kids wear vests in winter!

We had a holiday in Ischia some years ago in August (never again, way too hot!). Most of the other guests were Italian. Every time their kids got wet in the pool or sea, they would be immediately thoroughly dried and put in dry swimwear. They must have gone through at least 6 changes of swimwear in a day. Of course we just dried off in the sun in our wet swimmers with wet hair. I thought they were bonkers

It’s just a cultural thing. Different countries have really different ideas about this kind of thing. My friend lived in Ukraine for a few years when her kids were little and random grandmas used to zip her kids coats up and tell her to put a hat on them all the time, when they were running around in a playground in early September and there was barely a hint of a chill in the air.

And also, if someone is used to temps in the 30s all the time, 22 is going to feel chilly to them. I’ve been to Cyprus in November and watched the local people wearing jumpers and scarves when it was 24C.

Tell them that tea drinking insulates you and your offspring against the cold and / or remind them (this bit sadly not made up) that the Mediterranean heat kills Brits on a regular basis 😢

I wouldn't worry about getting pneumonia - it's easily treated by tying cabbage leaves to feet overnight, double pair of socks on top.

Also, eating the crusty ends of the bread, gives the gift of pointy tits. I'd focus my life on the last one 😁

I can't imagine setting air conditioning as low as 22 degrees - that's lower than I have my central heating set in winter!

I ended up making up my own stupid superstitions to annoy them with. Something like, never wear a scarf in summer or your neck won’t be able to breathe

Yep. I lived in similar country. Going barefoot makes you infertile. Going out with wet hair will kill you dead on the spot. And if you or kid ever do cough, it’s um-hum said very meaningfully with nods. The funny thing was, they were always having ‘little colds’ and having to nurse themselves while the kids and I never did. Drove me nuts over a long period.

With an enforced break during covid, we spend part of every year in WA and I am always surprised at how little our friends, neighbours and relatives, actually use their aircon. Unless it’s very warm we only ever turn it on at night.

We have rented several places down south with none fitted.

My X is from a hot country and they are all like this. I would expire if I wore the layers they wear. I worried about their babies at times they were so wrapped up in layers whereas they thought I was deliberately trying to murder mine with cold. I hate having hot feet and go barefoot as often as possible and I get chased around the house with slippers. It's annoying but comes from a good place. Just ignore.

We are just back from Greece. We set the bedroom temperature at 26-28 and didn’t bother using the air con in the car.

It's the fear of "cervicale" you're dealing with, it's a national obsession in Italy. It harks back to pre-antibiotic era, when nobody knew how infectious diseases were transmitted and, as colds (see? even we still have the linguistic misconception) go about more in winter, everybody got convinced they are due to the cold air. Now, as most of caring duties are carried out by nonnas, they are the main propagator of the misconception and God help anyone getting in the way of nonnas, they are a force of nature that probably had their own deity in roman times!

Yes, we regularly go to southern Spain in the winter months . 17/18 degrees and we are sitting outside sunning ourselves in T shirts whilst the locals are walking past in their puffer jackets .

I set air-con to 18 in any hotel room it's available. In the car we have it at "Lo" which is the only setting below 16.

A friend took me to someone she knows house on Monday. We were sat in their conservatory and they had the windows shut and the heating on! I thought I was going to pass out.

FIL (very much not Italian!) was convinced that setting foot outside, anywhere, with even a hint of damp hair would lead to instantaneous pneumonia.

On holiday in Greece years ago (30 degrees plus), he’d shower in the morning, then sit in his room for ages meticulously towel drying his hair before he’d come to the beach. Never wet a hair on his head whilst swimming either. Bonkers. He was otherwise a rational, intelligent man, but on this he would not be swayed as it had been drummed into him as a child.

I think it’s understandable that living in a different climate gives you a different hot/cold perception and tolerance though. I know several people who’ve settled here from very hot countries, and they’ve gradually gone from finding the UK weather unbearably cold and wet, to complaining when they visit their home countries that it’s just way too hot!

Annoying to be constantly hassled about your kids though. Maybe just have one stock phrase - “don’t worry, they’re fine” plus perfunctory smile - and immediately change the subject. Every time.