Little Italy 25

[Rosa]

Greetings, Ciao , Welcome , Benvenuto

[Francagoestohollywood]

I am sure there are still some lovely trattorie in Rome where you can eat well without having to pay £££.

You need Gio, I am ashamed to say I know Rome very little

[MightyNice]

I bet I end up moving to the much maligned south at some point, when my youngest leaves home and my horse dies (argh) but not sure how I would support myself really, just live off the equity from my house here?

it's not as if England isn't racist, sexist and homophobic without even the benefit of sunshine and nice food!

[Francagoestohollywood]

Mighty, I'd love to move to Southern Italy too, preferably in Sicily.

[BananaGio]

avoid every bar on Via Veneto! Is totally geared towards international tourists and business people with expense accounts. If you want to sit and watch the world go by on piazzas like Navona, della Rotonda (where Pantheon is) etc then get a take out coffee in a bar and sit on the fountain steps. As a guide re food prices in restaurants look at the prices for the Primi on a restaurant. Pasta al pomodoro is usually the cheapest. In a typical trattoria where the locals go expect to pay ?6-7 for that, in the historical centre ?8-10, anything over that is either very posh or for tourists. Dont know the Veneto area too well am afraid as am over the other side near the Vatican so cant help with local recs.

[Rosa]

AM crap on Rome to be honest Gio and Sput are the ones you need.... Have a good time and do some window shopping in the fabbo shops down there for me !
Franca Disneyland is great if they are still into it all there are some good rides but after Islands / Universal I think that they win hands down. Have a look at Epcot DH might actually enjoy some of it its not all rides ( but there are some good ones) . I wouldn't bother with Seaworld as you are there for such a short time ! We did Islands and Universal on one day one time as Islands had just opened but again we were there in low season so would be interested to hear what the queues etc are like in June. Gotta go get the monster Ciaooo

[Francagoestohollywood]

Rosa, thanks. Yes, mine aren't into Cinderella and the likes anymore, but I am sure they would like Disney nevertheless.
Ummmm what to do, what to do... perhaps a 2 days pass for Islands of adventure? I think it might be a good option. I'll have a look at Epcot too!

Do you think I am turning into one of those adults who holiday in Orlando for 2 weeks every year?

Re queues. A friend of mine went to Disneyland in LA in July and told me they weren't huge. Boh!

[MightyNice]

thank you :) I had 8euros in mind as a sort of guide, I suppose whatever I budget should probably be doubled - holidays always cost more than you think don't they?

(might have a couple of days in Sicily in July/August, not sure, we are going to some festival in Sardinia anyway but unless I get over my seafood phobia those islands are not habitable for me )

[Francagoestohollywood]

Oh don't worry Mighty, Sicily is not just seafood! There are lots of fantastic dishes with vegetables (like caponata) and the splendid parmigiana or the amazing arancini di riso

[MightyNice]

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm parmigiana! didn't know either of those were sicilian, sometimes forget how highly regionalised the food is (but everything else is isn't it, so why not the food) when it comes to Italian cuisine - I get so depressed when I come home and things don't taste the same :(

[MightyNice]

(should probably hide thread before it fuels desire to move to Italy, went through this with France many years ago)

[Francagoestohollywood]

don't get depressed. My parmigiana is certainly not comparable to the parmigiana made by a local. They have it in their dna, imho

[Francagoestohollywood]

Nah, no need to hide thread:

Berlusconi, recession, the northern league, women with exposed decolletes everywhere, pollution, corruption, debts, debts, debts, unemployment, women exposing tattoos on their vagina, vaginas, short men with fake tan, debts, mafia, Berlusconi.

See?

[MightyNice]

that is an excellent list and let's add my inability to say anything much in Italian to it!

northern league = scary alpini people? think we had run in with some in Turino last year, they seemed very angry anyway

[Francagoestohollywood]

The northern league: scary racist party, convinced that the north of Italy should be independent. here

Right, I am going to pick up my children... ciao!

[Sputnik]

Wow in 20+ years of living here how have I managed to avoid women with tattooed vaginas?
Perhaps because I unplugged the TV 7 years ago.

Re Rome, really the centre of Rome may as well be another planet, I so rarely go there (when I do I always think I should do it more often) So I'm no help really.

The car in the fountain, it was a raised fountain in the middle of a suburban roundabout. I can't figure out how they managed it, it must've been fairly spectacular. Hope the occupants were ok.

[Francagoestohollywood]

Lol Sput, . I haven't seen the tattooed vagina too, as I don't have a tv as well, but it was Belen's in Sanremo...

[Rosa]

Lol Franca your list is excellent in a nutshell! Sput how the heck did the car get in has the local paper not written about it?
We have a Tv it is mainly on sky I cannot say the last time we watched any rai . Dh watches zelig and thats about it for mediaset as well!

[Sputnik]

I found this, it seems the driver wasn't seriously injured

www.romatoday.it/cronaca/incidente-stradale/macchina-dentro-fontana-piazza-fonte-degli-acilii-axa.html

[Francagoestohollywood]

I like the website btw. I was very tempted to sign to get news from Casal Palocco!

[Francagoestohollywood]

Ah Rosa, I managed to download the bbc iplayer for the ipad. It is for the foreign market, so not too many things, but still quite entertaining. Dd loves watching Junior masterchef, shame there is always one season and she now knows it by heart.

[Sputnik]

Ah Franca if only you knew, this is the leafy suburb of Rome where all the footballers live. And certain kind of women who drive fuoristrada with a sign that says "bitch on board". I could go on... (possibly they all have tattooed vaginas, certainly they might deem a rubber mini dress appropriate attire for the school run).
It's where my kid's school is.

[Francagoestohollywood]

Oh dear! Here:

[Rosa]

Thanks for that I will look out for it I saw the junior masterchef Australia on sky the 8 yr olds were amazing !!
Loved the article on the car and how the heck he managed to get in the fountain will be a talking point in the bars for ages! Its a bit cloudy here today so unlike all of my neighbours I have not washed the curtains... I have only been here a year so they can collect dust a bit longer thank you!

[Francagoestohollywood]

Ciao a tutte, I hope you all had a pleasant weekend.
Dd went to her first sleep over party, and yesterday she was knackered (but happy).
The temp has dropped down a bit, which is fair enough, I suppose...

[Sputnik]

Thanks Franca, you distracted me into watching Caro Diaro, I'd never seen it.
Just before the Casalpallocco bit he goes round Spinaceto, which I live on the edge of.