Little Italy 26

[Rosa]

Siamo qui ... Ciao a tutti !

I hate packing too. Actually, i hate unpacking even more.

Please don't get me started on the absolute disgust I have for packing and unpacking... I've moved 11 times in 4 years and the next time my husband is going to utter the word 'move' I think I will throw up...

CJ, don't be envious of my Italian life... I wouldn't go back to Italy even though threatened with a gun.. it is nice when you're a tourist and you have money to spend... I've been both so I can tell you that my life is very different now, me and my husband go into shops and buy... my life spent in front of the shop windows where only tourist could go and buy is over....

Yet I don't forget that I was once paid 850 euros a month and that was enough to pay for car and clothes, and still living with parents... in many cases life is hell in Italy...
If you could speak a bit of Italian, you would hear that locals in the provinces of Grosseto and Siena really dislike German, American and British tourists... because they made the house market prices skyrocket and now houses are out of reach for locals... I spoke a few years ago with a young couple from Massa Marittima and they were cursing foreigners buying holiday homes there, because now they can't afford to buy a house... in comparison to Italian wages, prices are 3-4 times what you could earn in one life in two people...

So, no.. don't envy Italian lives but cherish your British one who allows you to have a holiday there ;)

Re: lavanderia

If you go on their Facebook page, they give you the name of their products!! You can also have a Xmas hamper if you would like one... Although not sure it could be feasible, given the delivery costs.....

I can't believe they have a Facebook page

Lake, do you like in the UK now? I think it's difficult for anyone who lives in a touristy area - we used to go to North Wales when I was a child, when the tourist cottages were being burned down! (We had friends there - we weren't deliberately putting ourselves in the firing line for the fun of it .) It's a very difficult balance between bringing money and industry into an area, and pricing things out of the market for the locals.

I have loved Italy ever since I went on a school trip to Lucca when I was doing my O' Level Italian. Unfortunately my Italian hasn't improved much since then ... but every time I go, I fall in love with it again. I love the people, the language, the climate ... I know it must be different living there, compared to a brief holiday, but it's still a dream that one day I might actually be there for longer than two weeks.

Yes, locals being priced out by second homes market is pretty common everywhere (think Cornwall!)

Also, at least Tuscany has attracted rich tourism, from the UK, Germany etc... Think of how some bits of coast in Spain have been devastated by mass tourism.

But yes, Italy has a problem of low salaries, depressingly so.

On the other hand, despite the crisis, the impotence of our politicians, the malaise, the rudeness etc, there are still sparks of enthusiasm and need to be together, which is not to be underestimated.

And today we have perfect weather, even here in Milan

So 7 years for our orange friend..... or not as the case may be. Poor Berlusca those commie judges are at him again , couldnt be happening to a nicer chap. So no doubt we will have to suffer the odious Santanche doing the rounds on the TV shows protesting his innocence (again) as that seems to be her full time job at the moment.
Agree re local houses but does seem to be an issue anywhere that is picturesque! So much of the South West now just seems to be London-at -the-weekends from what I can gather. Not an issue I will ever have to face however as unless my lottery comes in the chances of ever buying in Rome are below zero for us!

I was wondering who would be first .. Dh says heprobably won't go down because of his age.... But does that mean he will be confined to his villa? Poor chap. Love the fact he cannot toy in politics anymore. However I guess we now expect tears , woe is me and all the other crap. So Alfano how does it feel to have a best mate as a criminal...or is this not enough proof for you????

Yes, poor chap. He's been living in poverty and marginalization for so many years.... Boooooohoooo

As well as being the most persecuted man in history .

I wonder if it will be on Canale 5 domani mattina I might even watch just to see what they say.......

Oh lol, they said pretty much EVERYTHING!

Franca, some bits of Tuscany have been destroyed by mass tourism unfortunately... when I was very little we used to go in places that have now disappeared... so yes, Tuscany is down the same road... But it is not tourists' fault though, it is the locals'... they enjoyed exploiting the tourism until it became too much... And now whole generations from Siena and Grosseto have to settle even 50 miles far from where they work...

CJ, well I live in England now... used to live on the North Sea, in front of Orkney... didn't like it much there, for many reasons...
And I hope you can realise your dream, although I just went the other way around, my dream was to live very far from Tuscany... but alas, I have no time machine so it was useless to stay in a place I didn't like anymore. Trust me that Tuscany really changed in the last 40 years and Tuscans can't bring it back. So I guess better to live elsewhere. At least here I don't have to buy a new car every 2 years because of some insane environmental regulation or with the springs gone after one year because of 'buche'.

Mmm.. ladies, is anyone here believing that Mr. B. will go to jail? When is there the appeal?

Yes, but you haven't seen Benidorm!

I am trying to buy tickets for Matilda the musical with no success, and I am getting frustrated... grrrrrr

Hi everyone. I sometimes lurk on this thread because I have days where I wish we lived in Italy. Very interesting points made about mass tourism and the reality of living in Italy. We have a holiday home in Abruzzo, which is still unspoilt as a region and properties are cheap. Some of the locals are perfectly happy with a slow life with less money, but others are desperate for tourism to pick up. I can see both sides. Another point our Italian friends make is they don't mind people like us who spend and mix locally, but they clearly don't like one or two British families with big villas a few miles from ours, who have money, but are rude, patronising and condescending to locals.

Hello Abruzzen (love your name ), where do you have your home, seaside or mountains? Abruzzo is lovely, though I haven't been in years (and I mean around 25!).

I agree that developing a strong tourist sector has its pro and cons. Certainly, there are many areas in Italy where tourism could flourish if they were more organised, but I am not 100% that tourism is the only answer to recover our economic system.

At the end I had to ring the box office to book our tickets. We are going to see Matilda in London, I am so excited!

Hi Franca. It's in Chieti province in the mountains, just before you enter the village of Roccamontepiano. Certainly just our little village spends a fortune of fireworks for the Festa di Madonna so I can see where some money disappears! Abruzzo does have so much to offer, but people just want Tuscany sadly.

Oh, when little village stop spending money for the fireworks, it'll be a sad day! I love feste di paese!

I know, it is a beautiful region. Actually, I've been wanting to visit that part of Italy for yrs now.

villages

It was DS1's introduction to fireworks and they're so good that the local displays in England don't cut the mustard on Bonfire Night!

We absolutely adore Como, but after a year looking we couldn't afford a holiday home there and ended up in Abruzzo. However, the Abbruzese are such warm, generous people we feel very lucky and things happen for a reason.

I notice you live in Milan. I went in 2002 and loved it. We ate in some fabulous places, thankfully where locals eat so we didn't end up in touristy places. Our fav was called La Risacca. A lot of Milanese visit our part of Abruzzo in the Summer and rave about the ricotta! I don't blame them, I could almost eat a whole one!

Yes, the area around lake Come is stunning but very expensive. I like the lakes, my fav is Lago Maggiore, where I used to go when I was v. young.

La risacca is a famous restaurant, but I don't think I've ever been. It's quite expensive to eat out in Milan, but there are some hidden gems.

@Franca, LOL of all places in Spain I've been, Benidorm is one... I have a Spanish friend living nearby and I didn't find it so horrible, mind you..it was a few years ago so I don't know what's happened in the last 11-12 years...

Hello LittleAbruzzer, you're perfectly right!! I would love to visit Abruzzo, it is so underestimated... and in my opinion (from the pictures, at least), in some parts it is even better than Tuscany... unfortunately there are touristic trends everywhere (like people travelling half of the planet to get to the Highlands of Scotland... ) and the tourism flourishes in another areas.
One of my favorite regions in Italy is Umbria and also Emilia-Romagna near the Appennines... It is even laughable that foreigners kept buying houses at higher prices on the Tuscan side of the Appenines while it was cheaper on the other side and it is the same landscape :D

Franca, pardon my ignorance... but I've never heard of Matilda... glad you got the tickets though!

It's a book by R. Dahl, which has been made into a movie and then into a musical which is said to be fab.

I agree. I love the countryside in le Marche, though i think it's been discovered now by foreign tourists.

Hi LakeDistrict. Le Marche has been growing in popularity over the last few years. Italy has so much to offer. Many people only think of Sorrento, Siena and Lake Garda after the cities. They don't realise there are other towns and lakes. Has anyone been to Puglia or further South? The farthest south I have been is Vasto in Abruzzo.

Yes, I have Abruzzen. I love the South of Italy. I have been to Puglia twice, Campania, and Sicily, which I know quite well, and where we holiday regularly (in the Aeolian islands).

I know le marche well because my paternal grandmother was machigiana and I used to spend part of the long summer holidays at hers.

Love Puglia, lived there for a year many years ago pre dp and loved it so much. Also love le marche. There are so many magical places here.
Went to Benidorm for a day as part of a girls holiday many moons ago and never again. The volume of concrete highrises next to the beach was horrendous. And we were there out of season as well so didnt see it at its worse. Do love Spain though and there is so much beauty there, just seems to be so many places my fellow Brits have touched there that have been ruined. Dont think there is a Benidorm or Torremelinos (sp?) equivalent here in italy yet?
Jealous re Matilda Franca. Do love a bit of R Dahl.
England on friday for me and can already taste the chinese food am planning to get this weekend as takeaway.