Little Italy 23

[BananaGio]

Siamo qua!

Yes, I agree.
I'd choose the UK too, if I were in your shoes!

Yes UK xmas every time for me.
I think I would risk the car, what are the chances of 2 white xmases in a row after all? EasyJet fly to Bristol from Rome, it's the one we always get. Could you maybe get to Rome and fly from here? We might share a flight!

Sorry about your bad back btw Franca, you had torcicollo as well didn't you?

Yes, I agree with Sputnik. I've never had a white Christmas in the 8 yrs we lived in the south west!

Yes, I had a torcicollo last week, which I managed to suppress with good old Aulin. Today's backache seems stronger though. I'm booked in to see the chiropractor next tuesday.
I should start doing yoga again.

(I'm getting all nostalgic thinking of Bristol airport)

Sounds like a good idea to see someone.
My memories of Bristol airport mostly involve being hit by icy wind at the exit!
Mind you, there was the time DS was having such hysterics on arrival they ushered us past the cue at passport control. And come to think of it the time DD was having such hysterics on departure they asked us if we were really her parents .
Both of which I am trying to forget. I hope our days of airport hysterics are behind us.

. Bristol is awfully windy, isn't it? I spent one yr commuting to Bristol, and the train station was the coldest place I've ever been

Ah you have obviously not experienced the Siberian winds of Cambridgeshire.
And it was the queue at passport control. The trauma obviously affected my spelling.

No! Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Actually, I spent 1 month in July in Cambridge in 1987 I think, and it was really warm.

I would've been there that summer, maybe we crossed paths.

snap with memories of Liverpool airport and icy winds hitting us straight off the Irish Sea. Every time I go back! Even in July! Issue at Manchester airport is more the fact that the plane touches down about 5 seconds after you finally get through all the cloud!
Rosa made your apple cake-twas lovely thank you!! Anyone got a nice chocolate mousse /tarte recipe which doesnt involves a food processor (as dont have one). Something easy as have FIL round this evening so want something even he will have to admit isnt bad for la straniera but that involves minimum effort from me (as he doesnt deserve it)
Rosa think I would do the car thing as well. Or as Sput says get Ryan Air to Rome and then fly to Bristol? Go with your heart I say- you can listen to your head for the rest of the year but Christmas is different!
How's the back Franca?

Windy? Windy? For windy you want to try my balcony kind of now-ish. It's raining, the wind has fwopped my stendino over, the neighbours have been out collecting towels off the floor since 5.45 (loons) and I've had to rummage in the ripostiglio (is that right sp?) for our winter jackets.

Hello Cellini, I'm in Puglia but am British.

Definitely UK Christmas here, am already counting days. Already shopping like maniac and enjoying myself on the "poncey" Christmas threads.

Have to now gird my loins for the joys of the post office. Have awful feeling it might be pension day as well. I may be gone some time.

PS I got the go-ahead to rewrite the course materials this winter for the school in the UK, so if you see me on MN too much, remind me I have money to earn.

BananaGio,

try Nigella's guinness chocolate cake - I find it always goes down well with men and it's a talking point at dinner parties (use yoghurt if sour cream not available). It's easy and delicious too!

www.bordersmedia.com/recipefile/recipes/chocolateguinesscake.asp

Anyway, DH dropped a bit of a bomb last night (OK, not too serious - a bombette, shall we say). He is not sure that he wants to live in Italy long term, and he was wondering whether on balance the UK offers better opportunities for Madam after all. He says that there's nothing "wrong" with living here per se (both have got good jobs, have own flat and housing is still affordable, lots of family close by etc) - it's just he does not see himself living here long term.

I am not sure how I feel - my first year in Italy was hard, but I was getting used to it thanks to work etc. I agree with him re: opportunities for us and DD, but what would we do about schools etc. Numb, I suppose, that's how I feel...

Minerva the link doesn't work but I found it on Nigella and I have saved that to favourites I think DH will love that . NOt sure about the dds but I might do that for him at Christmas.
It looks as if we will be staying here simply as dh says it is money that we need to save . I have looked at car rental prices and we could probably get down and back for about £160 each way - that is including petrol 2 car seats and a medium sized car we will have 2 bags and a buggy and experience says they will not fit in a golf or similar.
So we are still looking at £320. Bristol still means car hire as I can't ask mum to drive 2.5 hrs and then even if I drive back its a long way . SO I am now determined to make it as traditional as poss ( and I will be doing so much online and importing from those english food stores I will probably spend the flight money anyway!) am looking for a not too heavy Xmas cake. I don't like Delias or good housekeeping. SO I might have a look on MN.
Minerva what a bit of a bombshell. I know if I was given the opportunity to go back to the UK I would in a shot however DH for work reasons cannot and I would never earn as much as he does unless I went back to study ( AM not sure I could esp as Nipotina has been told that her 5A* Gcse's are not enough for her even to be considered for some Universities..even though she is doing IB and was top in her school!)
Well something for you to muster over in the next few weeks......

Opps Franca how is your back ?

Rosa, oh no ... won't dh change his mind about Christmas? Or yes, you could get even ordering all your food stuff from Fortnum and Mason ...

My back is a bit better today, thanks to the 2 aulin I took yesterday. I feel crappola nevertheless as (TMI) now my period arrived. I'm so fed up with periods, are you not?

Minerva, wow that is a bombshell. yes, the job market seems to be more exciting in the UK.
As for the quality of life... well it really depends on what you consider it to be...

oh dear Minerva, what a shame now you just seem to be settled. Do you think he will change his mind? Where would you prefer to be?
Thanks for the recipe. I have saved it for another day as found a recipe that took 5 mins to make and was v easy which is about the level of effort I feel FIL deserves
Anyone seen any kids Halloween costumes anywhere? been invited to a Halloween party and dont think M&S will deliver in time.
Buch you still in the post office?.....

Rosa thanks - I am still unsure about what to think/do. I am going to mull it over in the next few days and then decide on the course of action... Perhaps all of you could give me some pointers re: advantages of living in Italy vs UK?

In the meantime, I am going to worry about other things - like your English Xmas in Venice! I did try to do the English thing last year for Xmas in Italy - and I can recommend this as a fruitcake (not too heavy or "black" - I gave it to lots of Italians as a present and it was a success):

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2988/hot-toddy-fruitcake

Also made Xmas pudding and mince pies with locally sourced ingredients with no problems. Cranberries are the thing I struggle with...

Surely British Corner Shop co uk do bottled cranberries, or dried???

Post Office not too bad, but there was an aquazzone (sp???) and the terrace above leaked and water poured down the communal stairs in the building (mine, not the PO!) and then just as I was pondering who to go and tell (am virtually alone in the building all day apart from loon woman upstairs) there was a huge scary bang and th lights all went- I went to the kitchen and there was that smell of acrid smoke- I thought the TV had been hit by lightening- unplugged everything and waited for my handsome swain to come home, made him put rubber boots on and stood with a sweeping brush (vaguely remembering something about not touching electrocuted people but poking them with wooden sticks ) Turns out to be the lightswitch for the balcony light that must have got full of water and burned out. Eek.

Minerva- gosh what a bombette. Dp does that to me every so often, but usually changes his mind. The last time he did it, this summer, when he lost his job (before he luckily found another) it made me realise that whilst I do definitely want to go back to the UK one day, I'm someone who doesn't do change quickly. I need to be sort of "in 4 yrs time we'll......" I also pointed out to him that if/when we go, it has to be at a suitable time for dd (ie at the change of school age) I think it's something that definitely needs to be on a slow burn.

Hello everyone, thank you for the warm welcome to Little Italy.

needless to say i shall be watching the Italy vs Uk advantages debate as it unfolds with interest..

i think having lived abroad before i am relatively rose-tinted glasses free, plus i get a lot of oh-you-must-be-living-the-dream type comments living in Cornwall (without any recognition of the limited job opps/housing issues/cultural tundra-tendencies etc!!) but i simply don't know what to expect from our next adventure...preoccupied trying to sort a foster carer for our 2 dogs ahead of our move at the moment - not easy as they are 2 greyhounds (quite big but oh so docile!) - the plan is to try and find somewhere we can rent with the dogs once we arrive (first few months DP's work offers accommodation)...any thoughts/words of advice welcome! anyone moved with dogs to Italy?!

sorry not to offer any recipes - am not the most capable in the kitchen I'm afraid...although i do intend to make some sloe gin for xmas before i leave cornwall in the next few weeks!! (would also be my recommendation for back pain relief (or any other pain relief for that matter!)).

Thanks for all the support - Buch I agree with you re: the slow burn. DD is still 2 though, so if we want to move it should be just in time for her starting Reception e.g. 2012.

Cellini I would say the pluses of living in Italy are:

• Better housing for less money
• Less stress at work than in London. Just (I work same hrs as I used to do in London)
• Overall more friendly culture for families (although services not necessarily better)
• Schools still OK. Just.
• Better weather and loads of holidays

The minuses:

• Racism/homophobia/sexism/low level cheating (small scale tax avoidance, driving offences...) still seem to be acceptable in society, and there is no sign of that changing quickly. TBH this is possibly the thing that worries me the most about bringing up DD here.
• Job opportunities limited for young people, particularly graduates. Hardly any flexibility in the workplace if you want to raise a family.

I am overall rather adaptable and I do not mind change so much; in the long term I am sure I could find "a balance" in either country. And I am sure that I could convince DH to stay in Italy if I really wanted to stay. I think it will come down to what is best for DD in the long term...

Hello mie care,
Bucharest ! What a freight! I hate when this kind of things happen, as I tend to loose any appearance of rationality, well done for keeping your cool . I hope you manage to fix the switch etc.

Gio, I have been wrecking my brains since reading your post, as I did see some Halloween costumes somewhere, only no matter how hard I try, I can't remember where!
Mind you, I'm pretty sure H&M do some Spiderman travestimenti, but those aren't halloweeny, I suppose.

Cellini, I don't think you'll have much trouble finding the right house where you and the dogs can move, I'm pretty sure that in Asolo there are lots of accomodations with an outside space/garden etc.

Italy vs UK: I will have to echo what Minerva said.

Like Minerva said, my main concern with bringing up the dc up here is: "Racism/homophobia/sexism/low level cheating (small scale (or even big scale!) tax avoidance, driving offences...), grim job opportunities for young people/women etc, berlusconismo, crap tv, aggressiveness etc etc.
These are all the things that often make me question why oh why we left the good old UK.

BUT (and bear in mind that I say so because I'm Italian) here we have:

• close friends and family. As a family unit we feel much less alone and more part of our chosen community.
• It's easier (but again, iI might feel this way because I'm Italian) to make acquaintances and chat etc
• State scuola materna is a great institution that is missing in the UK (imho)
• Better weather (unfortunately I never managed to adapt to the English weather - to the cold wind, really) and proximity to the mountains, sea etc

I get really apprehensive about schools here, as they need reforming and the current reform is only really just cutting financial resources, but then I used to get apprehensive in the UK too, as where we lived state secondary schools weren't really that exciting and I am not keen on choosing the private route.

oh that was long, sorry!

OH this is so funny as that is what really gets me about living here the ' Al Italiana' attitude - si fa cosi - abbiamo sempre fatto . Its not what you know but who you know. The sheer snobbery factor what we own and what 'they' don't have.
Also living where I do I hate not being able to offer the dd what I could in the UK. From Gym clubs to jazz and tap dancing.
What I did like was the antenatal care for me that was better than the UK but now they are cutting our consultori and also our continuita pediatrica on a sat and sunday so we either have to go to pronto soccorso or call the guardia medica. Having had one experience of the latter with minirosa I am not confident in doing that again - he kept saying I am not specialised in children and I need to check the medicine levels ....SO reassuring.
I miss open spaces, countryside, my family , having the chance to buy a spacious house ( again I am in a mega expensive area).
DDs future I am worried about the universities and the lack of jobs . Also I don't think we will be able to use the UK unis the way things are going . I think that the political situation is terrible and the OAPs- should step backand let the younger ones come forward . Mind you all the taxes will go to paying their pensions as they have 'organized ' themselves so well and sod the rest of the population.
Mind you in Cornwall the job spec is hard and people are fighting for college places let alone uni .
MInerva thanks for the link I might give that a go but the guiness cake is also high on the list . I have earmarked a few things in the Corner shop and will ask a friend if she wants anything so we can split the postage.