Little Italy 25

[Rosa]

Greetings, Ciao , Welcome , Benvenuto

Sput it sounds great, I know some areas of Croatia and had been to Krk once, and agree with eating out its so much cheaper. We went to a snack kind of place in Venice 2 night s ago. 1 large toast so the dds divided it, 1 patatine. I had a burrito ( have cravings for spicy food...must be building up for UK!!) dh and MIL had a version of fajitas ( ok they were ?15 each) but with 1 bibita each it was ?75 FGS. We had a fish meal for 4 in a restaurant in vacanza for less......
Oh Magicland , dd1 knows the song and so wants to go!!!! Thanks to Cartonito and there was an advert on a cereal packet or something as well.
Weather in Uk due to break on friday..typical with 13deg temps!!! Also border control strikes on thurs but so far nobody is sayimg how bad things are expected to be. Today I amtaking dd1 to choose her cartella...... She is finding it hard to choose things at the mo so it might take a while!

Ooooh choosing the cartella, that is soooo sweet !

I am so proud she chose a multicoloured 'Seven' one pink, purple etc over Barbie, Winx,Cinderella etc and thak god Hello Kitty!,,,, no persuasion needed either all her choice .... It swamps her but she is happy it cost me a Macdonalds as well!!!!I am still recovering as hate the place!

Yay! You are seeing the light at the end of the pink tunnel. I think they grow out of these things sooner than we think.

Well done dd1 ... What about the astuccio? Have you got it?
Start saving for Friction erasable pens !

Oh yes we got a matching one !!! And 5 sticks of glue and extra 3 rubbers, 5 pencils and I saw those pens but diddn't think she needed them ...Wrong !!! However we did get 2 Hello Kitty quaderni but I can cope with that !
Grr hate packing as can't seem to get the kick to get going properly normally I lay it out and then do it in about 20 mins.....Oh well prima o poi devo !

Aha well done! The erasable pens you will need them at the end of prima elementare, but depends on the maestra. Start saving! Also keep vast amounts of glue sticks.

I have unpacked (just got back from inlaws) and will pack tomorrow, we are going sat morning, very early.

Here and have been on the beach once and the girls have been playing in the garden in pants .... MIL would not be amused.....weather is due to change however .......

Hello from steamy Puglia! Just wanted to check in after however many months.. hope you are all having a good summer.

We've been down in Taranto since late June staying with ILs, and likely to stay here until end of September.
I am still sane (just), alternating beach and work, being spoilt and cooked for with free childcare, which is all good although same old ishoos keep rearing their heads, including the increasing pressure to move down here for DP to take over family business. Anyone know of any expats in Martina Franca? Am worried about making like-minded friends down here (or any friends at all), among other things... but for financial reasons it appears I have little choice but to seriously consider moving down here in the next year or so.

Re. the Bimby, it seems to be one of the favourite topics of conversation among DPs female relatives, but I hear it's ridiculously expensive, as are spare parts! Can't see it would be that useful as I get along fine with a normal food mixer when I need it..

Looking forward to a cool break from the heat in the UK next week, at last - haven't been back since Easter! Rosa, how's the weather? LOL at MIL disapproving of playing in the garden in pants! I'm getting used to politely ignoring lovely FIL's concerns about DD getting a colpo d'aria in 40 degrees heat on the beach ;)

Hello everyone, hope you've all had/are still having a lovely time.
We came back from the Eolie on Monday and I am already missing the sea and the gorgeous views. We had a great time.

Hi Spaghettina, you really have a big choice to make. I have no idea what Martina Franca is like, other than that it is a beautiful town... I suppose that like any other small town it will be a bit difficult to break the ice at first, but i really hope you will find like minded people!
I wish you the best of luck!

Thanks Franca, I need it! I am coming round to the idea a bit more... di necessità virtù :)

I bet you're missing the Eolie, it must be beautiful there.

We had a pretty hot week in the UK, got there just in time for the long-awaited summer which was good, although we'd packed rather pessimistically, expecting autumnal temperatures. There was a real post-Olympic buzz in London too, everyone in a good mood for once!
It was also a well-timed trip because DD is picking up more English now, repeating things that I say - up until only 3 weeks ago she never did that and seemed only to be speaking new words in Italian, so I'm very happy she's finally ready to "embrace" my language too.

Good to hear that Spag :)
OK guys, it's September, can we officially reopen the thread now? :o
We were here all of august, bloody hell it was hot. I'm enjoying a bit of cool and rain, finally.
DCs back at school Thursday, not before time!

hi everyone! Yes let's reopen . Sput I cant begin to imagine how hot it must have been with that bastard Lucifer heatwave in Rome. For a week even by the sea we were dripping with sweat in the evening and the sea breeze was non existent. Was lovely though, had such a nice time. Met up with friends and DS had the time of his life. How was everyone elses summer?

Oh and Spag glad DD is speaking more English. DS's English is now definitely inferior to his Italian and it does upset me a bit. Just need to keep persevering I guess. Good to hear that you are coming round to the idea of moving a bit more

Hurrah!!!

Glad to hear you are all well... Lucifer has been a bloody nightmare here in northern Italy too. But it is now cold, windy and very wet, so, tbh... I kind of preferred it

Spaghettina, how old is your little one?

How long were you in the Eoile for Franca. Saw your pics - sea looks amazing!

For roughly 20 days, then stayed in the country, as our dear friends from the uk visited us . We got to the mainland/northern italy just in time to embrace Lucifer!

Yes, the sea is amazing, I am so in love with those islands.

Did you have a good time in tuscany? That is another area I love. Is mastergio excited about starting school?

Sounds lovely France, would love to go there sometime.
We stayed outside Rome the whole summer, normally we'd have gone back and forth a bit but it was just too hot. It was boiling there too but we have the swimming pool up, it's a godsend. Anyway, back to Rome today, the house seems tiny and dirty having not been cleaned properly for 2 months, we cleaned after the works in the bathroom but some escaped. Plus we're overhauling the DC's room, putting a bunk bed and desk for DD, everything is upside down.
The DCs have been driving me crazy the last couple of weeks, can't wait to get them back in school!
Gio how is your ankle?

Aargh sorry, Franca. This stupid tablet keeps auto-correcting. Please don't get offended if I call you France and Go.

No worries, I like France, makes me sound all sophisticated .

oh yes , flats tend to feel small and claustrophobic after a long holiday!

I also can't wait for the school to start, ds has been a bit overwhelming this summer , to be honest I am a bit at loss at how to handle him, one minute he is charming, the other a right pain.

Sounds like DD!
Tbh it can't be easy sometimes being DS's sister, he's fine most of the time but has his little fixations, upsets and can be controlling. But then she is continuously moaning at him, nagging or winding him up, then sometimes being really sweet, helping him make stuff etc. Oh well, overall we've had a good holiday, it just went on a bit too long and I regret now not going to the UK to break it up a bit.

I agree that visiting the UK in the summer is a good break from the heat and makes a nice change, I'd like to do that too.

How old is dd now, is she 7? We have a case of bad siblings rivalry here, in that ds is quite jealous of dd, and she seems to have lost the patience that she's shown for yrs . Plus some pre teen behaviour: answers back and he'd like to be independent, but is scared of becoming so. Lots of frustration and energy.

DD turned 8 in July, yes I'm already wondering how she'll be as a teen!
Absolute dilluvio here, DS had his meet the teacher morning, we got extremely wet. I only have sandals, supidly.

Teenage yrs are looming here, and I am not ready

8 then! Don't know why I thought she was 1 year younger than dd.

Where are you Rosa????

Kids returned to school yesterday, bliss! They both have really nice teachers this year, DS's teacher has a plan for getting him to eat at school, I wish her luck!
I just had a bath in our beautiful new bathroom, and heading off soon for some shopping :)