Little Italy 26

[Rosa]

Siamo qui ... Ciao a tutti !

Alex that is superb !!!
If your uva thingy works it is obligatory on LI to share recipes.....

!

Indeed, actually it's been quite a while since a good old ricetta swap!

hi all back from weekend in Naples and loved loved it. Been so long since I went and (20 plus years eek) didnt see much that time as was onlythere for few hours.We stayed in the centro storico, first night wasnt sure what I felt about it apart from Roma seems like Oxford in comparison but by the next morning it had totally got under my skin and just fallen totally in love with the place. Was in Florence weekend before and though I love it there it didnt get to me like Napoli.
How are you all? Will stop gushing now.

, Gio, happy to hear you had a wonderful time. Such a special place. I feel the same for Palermo, have you ever been? Nowhere else have I seen the sublime and the utterly depressing. Both beautiful with a capital B and tragic.
I love southern Italy.

Was the weather nice/warmer than here= Here it's raining and cold. I am so not ready!

never been to Palermo Franca but would love to go. On the list. Weather was awful on Saturday, chucked it down all day but Sunday was nice. We spent half the day on Saturday doing the Naples underground tour and half eating so rain wasnt too much of an issue

Oh an underground tour must be great fun (and food even more so. What did you have?)

I most def want to go here, if I ever get to visit Naples soon:

www.monasterodisantachiara.com/galleria-fotografica/

Ah, e grande Roma!

so much food Franca and soooo cheap compared to Rome (and its not like we eat at tourist haunts if we go out to eat here).antipasti, penne alla Sorrentina, 1 x fritto misto, 1 x dolce , wine, caffè,water came to 30 euros in a trattoria slap bang in the centro storico opposite the entrance of the underground tour. Dread to think what equivelent would be in Rome. And was so good. Had pizza twice and of course the wondorous sfoglietelle while dp had babà (not a fan personally).
We wanted to go to the monastero Franca and walked past it a couple of times but ran out of time.

Glad you had a good time Gio only been through Napele so many times and never stopped !!! No chance of ever getting dh to go there would be lucky if he ever goes to Rome ! Foul weather last 3 days but blow me its warmer again! I seem to be busy but don't have much to show for it!

Ciao ragazze!

I went to Palermo a long time ago, about 15 years, I think, Franca. I had a great time, visited lots of places of historical interest. What I remember most of all, for some reason (I'm not usually macabre!) is the trip to the catacombs, and the stacked up bones, and the mummified baby. It was quite a strange experience.

Mmmmm yummie Gio! Don't get me stared on how expensive milanese restaurants are, and how "average" the quality of the food is (mostly boring), apart from a few exceptions (usually€€€).

Alex, yes, I have never seen the catacombs in Palermo, but hopefully i will go back! My fav place is the Spasimo, have you been? And the food, well, the food is amazing!

I am totally tired and it's just wednesday. The medie will kill e

ciao a tutte, have been away from MN for a while, but back again... it's been fun reading the last few pages of posts and catching up. Ciao Alex, I'm very impressed with your blog!
Glad to hear you had a great weekend in Naples Gio, I'd love to go there for a few days too as it's "only" 4 hours from here. I've only been there once for a few hours, but I did get to see the Chiostro di Santa Chiara, it's absolutely stunning.
The catacombs in Palermo are very creepy indeed, but loved the crumbling grandeur of the rest of the city (not to mention the food!!)

We're still settling in to life in Martina Franca one month after moving in, and it's a whole world away from Milan, but I was prepared for that- perhaps not quite as aware of exactly how quiet and lacking in privacy villagey it is here in the old centre, but I think it's great for DD on the whole.
She started scuola materna finally, around mid September - actually, the school "forgot" to call us and tell us when the first day would be so she started 2 days late after I went in to see what was going on. The mensa only started on October 1st.... Teacher seems lovely though and DD is settling in fine.

For now I'm over the initial culture shock (well, nearly...), enjoying being in our own home at last, and taking advantage of proximity to MIL so DP and I can get some much-needed time to ourselves.
Still haven't met any of the fabled expat community here... but there are certainly lots of bewildered looking British tourists wandering around with maps!

Ciao Spaghettina! So you've moved already! Glad to hear dd is settling fine at materna... Often it's possible to meet nice people through scuola materna.
Not sure I have already mentioned it, but we visited Martina during the Easter holidays, and wow I was impressed. What a stunning place it is. That cathedral and all those beautiful bars! I'd say that there must be an elusive community of various expats, maybe in Cisternino?

Have a lovely day, I am off to my library duties in half an hour and still have to tidy up a bit. It's wet and grey here.

Hi Franca, yes I remember you had a holiday here recently, glad you liked it. It is lovely walking around the centre. It's sometimes quite surreal though, living in a picture-perfect tourist destination. There was a week in early September when we saw a different bride every day outside the cathedral waiting to go up the aisle. We'd just moved here and I think DD thought it was a scheduled daily event, and was quite disappointed when the weddings dried up!

Came across a large tour group of pensioners from northern Italy the other day, they were wondering out loud how this place can function with all the shops closing down from 1-5pm every day :)

It's been terrible weather here, torrential rain and power cuts - but the sun has come back today, temperatures expected to get up to the mid 20s again. hope the weather "up north" improves soon for you soon!

Oh I am so glad to see everyone liking Palermo

I am dying to know how the schiacciata turned out too.

It is friddu ca moriri here in Scotland, only 5 degrees overnight and I think maybe colder. Brrr!

Morning all ...well funny weather here cold then wet then humid . Yesterday the mountains looked lovely. City still full of tourists though . Big change in Martina Franca I bet . Sounds like you are settling in though.
Me Palermo never again well driving round it that is I honestly though I am never going to survive ...
Looking ahead to Nov 1st and what we might or might not do. But after last years drive back from Tuscany not sure its a wise idea.
Well minirosa has gym club so better go and sort that out . Not much on at the cinema so not having afamily outing this pm so I guess I will do the ironing!!!
Buon weekend everybody!

Sorry, I forgot to come back and tell you all about the schiacciata!

It was delicious, but next time I think it might be a better idea to use non-seeded grapes!! Seems so obvious, bu there you are!

I enjoyed the food in Palermo too, although I can't remember all the details now, it was a long time ago. I do recall eating these little balls (are they called arancine??) of a rice mix, that were very tasty.

Annunziata - I can hardly believe the temperatures you are having! I'd better not tell you that it is 23 degrees here today!

So pleased to see several people enjoying my blog. I don't actually know many people IRL who are interested in languages and etymology. Any suggestions for future articles gratefully accepted! I just choose things that interest me at random and research them.

We made a whole 11 degrees today! I felt quite toasty!

Yes, arancini, they are my absolute favourites

I am quite excited tonight- DD1 wants me to meet her boyfriend's mum and he is taking her to Rome at Christmas-time. Do you think I should buy a hat?!!!

Oh it's cold here, and our building will switch on the heating tomorrow. Can't wait. Really envious of Alex's 23 degrees, and Alex I will think of some English expression that I particularly like.

Oh wow Annunziata, when will you meet her?

My fav food in palermo I think was spaghetti con le sarde. Mmmmmmm. I had a boyfriend ages ago, whose grandmother (who was sicilian) made the most amazing arancini I've ever tasted. Oh gosh.

Damp but not cold here - very strange still not had the heating on here as just don't feel we need it. It doesn't look as if it is going to get cold soon either.
Busy week ahead going to the fiera in abilmente in Vicenza. WIll come back full of great ideas of things to make and do and then never get round to any of them !!!
Undecided what to do for ponte del 1/11 would love Tuscany but the drive back really don't fancy it again after the code last year ! Also its minirosas birthday coming up the week after in November and we have invited peppa pig ...and peppa pig is coming mrosa doesn't know that yet I think she will wet herself when she sees it ( have hired the costume for an adult !)
Palestra sta sera e non ho voglia per niente ..... Have to put myself on a diet as well as otherwise will see nil effects of all my hard work !

Forgot to say arancini only tried them once as to be honest diddn't like them- however I think they need to be 'proper ones ' in order to appreciate them !

I'd love to have Peppa Pig to my party too ! Awwww, she is going to be so happy!

We were thinking of going to Exeter for the morti, as the children wanted to spend Halloween with their English friends (we were there for Halloween 2 or 3 yrs ago and they loved it), but they don't have enough days to justify such a long (and expensive) trip. I think we'll stay home, we are knackered already!

Well Franca consider yourself invited ....another excuse to come to Venice!!!!
Bloomin fog today but now ,this morning at 8 it was clear. Its also warm!
Sciopero friday and I have an arrival at the apt not sure how am going to get there yet ..maybe swim??

Arrivoooo!

Oh yes, there's sciopero at school too. Uff

Scusi...
Can I barge in and ask you experts for your insiders' tips on Rome? DH is taking me there next weekend for my 40th and I'd like to see beyond the tourist traps. If this isn't the right place I'll scuttle off abashed to short-haul and leave you in peace.

Thanks in advance - and hi to Franca, our MN paths haven't crossed recently.