Mumsnet Little Italy 4

[Rosa]

Ciao - Everybody Welcome.

We live in 70sqmet and it's fine, well laid out, etc. How are you feeling Rosa? Your flat sounds lovely, and the idea that it is in Venice....Lived in Cannareggio in the 90s with a spell in Giudecca and Lido. Have wonderful memories of Venetian houses....
My nausea is back today, comes and goes, ohhh i am fed up, scan next week...

I have done the more serious conti whilst dd is asleep and I don't think that we can afford it being totally practical. Anyway will go and play the lotteria .
Am feeling rough to be honest more in the evening than the day which is better !!!Never had this with dd ..Must be my age !!!

rosa, hope it doesn't last, my sister too made comments about me feeling crap because of my old body. i think each pregnancy is different, take it day by day. i spent the afternoon sleeping, after sleeping 12 hours last night...still feel tired, bleagh!
i wouldn't take too big a mortgage if it will make your family life a pain. to think that in the past properties were so cheap...
rosa do you remember the name of the famous venetian band that was famous in the 90s?

Thats exactly what I think about the mortgage I think I will be obsessed with it I am a saver then buy and live in your means kind of person . I will be in a total flap if dh has a bad year and with my parents getting older I want to be able to have a bit of spare cash to hop on a plane if I have to.
The band I think is pittura fresca... I know the songs you mean as when I went out with dh and his mates they were always on in the bars.
Brangelina / Franca when you read this ...How old will your dd be when she/ they goes to asilo invece di nido/ materna? As we have a place for dd in a nido at 2.5 and I was thinking a year there then on to Asilio at 3.5. There is an asilio that will take her at 2.5 ( sept) or 2.9 ( jan) but I am thinking too soon esp if she will have had no experience of nido / play group and you might remember my thoughts on a ratio of 1;25

the house sounds lovely Rosa but it's not worth putting yourself under loads of pressure re mortgage etc, it'll just end up becoming an albatross around your neck. I have quite a few friends in the UK who are morgtaged up to the hilt, beautiful houses mind you, but are so caught up in the money game of having to earn a certain amount and filled with panic at the idea of no longer having a well paid job that I wonder if it's worth it.
You're all convincing me that this 75 metres will be fine. went to see it again with ds this morning. He liked it although thinks its a bit small. I dont quite know what he thinks we are going to get for our money! He is insistant we live in this one area of Rome (near to Dad etc), which is beautiful but pricey and yet he seems to think we are going to find a 90 metre apartment with terrace for 1100!!!!!!!!! Add another 700 to that figure and we might be talking. This one is 1350, not cheap but good for area. Want 3 mths up front though plus first mths rent plus 10% of first year to agent!!!! So am going to spend the whole year panicking that I wont earn enough to pay the inevitable huge amount of this I will have to use overdraft / card for!
I am starting to think I am NEVER going to be debt free
Franca are you going to buy in Milan when you sell your house in the UK?

Rosa:

• dd (who'll be 4 in May) is now at scuola materna. In England she's always been at the same nursery where they had different rooms (babies, 1-2, 2-3 and 3+, so she was in the 3+ group when we moved back to Italy). Yes, I'd do the same: nido when you have the place, and scuola materna at 3.5, because of the ratio. A friend of mine did the same, her dd was born in January so she decided to keep her at nido until this sept when she was 3.5 as she felt her dd couldn't have coped in a bigger environment at an earlier stage. It was a good choice, and her dd is now thriving at scuola materna.

• the flat sounds amazing, and in Venice!!!! I love mansarde... but yes, I think I agree with you and hhell aboput the mortgage, especially for having the possibility of jumping on a plane with no second thoughts to visit your family in the UK.

Gio, blimey, rents are high in Rome ! I suppose the only consolation is that Rome can be breathtaking (with all its defects, is it as trafficata as Milan?)
Not sure what we are going to do, it depends how much money we can get from the one in the UK. sorry have a food emergency in the kitchen will be back!!!

Fabbo thats my thoughts I just think dropping her in at materna / asilio is too much even if it is only for 2 hrs. This nido takes children from 18mths- 3 yrs only . They are part funded by the comune but you have to pay anyway. Max 24 children 3 teachers its not big e.g not lots of running round space but we are in Venice.
SIL who put her dcs in Materna at 2.5 feels that I am wrong . But when her No1 went in there were more suore and less children. Her No2 went in in Jan and its 1;25 in a class with the odd suore thrown in. I think its wrong . Ok they do good things and the children seem happy but....
Gio 10% to the agente they are ladri like up here then ???

no, stick to your guns, of course there are some 2.5 yr old who are fine with being in a bigger environment, but no, I think that - on average - at that age they still need the cuddly environment of a nido. Make sure that the staff is affettuoso, that you have a long period for the inserimento and she'll be fine!
We are going out tonight, my zia is babysitting... ... they'll probably take advantage and go to bed way too late ...

did you have a nice evening out Franca?
We are going to put in offer for the flat tomorrow, feel v nervous. Now I have decided I want it I am really excited and will be gutted if doesnt happen.
Agents, landlords-all ladri! Hate them all, wish there was a way to avoid but there are so few properties available without agents. I am trying to make myself feel better re terrifying outlay of money by thinking hopefully we will stay there for a good few years so once it's done and furniture is bought (and eventually paid off) that is it! Just the extortionate rent to find
Does anyone know of a cheap way to transport a few items of furniture from the UK. Would LOVE to get my sofa over, and some bits and bobs from my house there. My sister has been renting it but she is leaving in May so need to find official tenants so will need to clear a lot out.

Yes, lovely thanks Gio .
there are no cheap ways to ship things from the UK ! We spent lots of money on our removal. I'd get as many quotes as you can. We ended up doing it with an Italian company as they were more flexible with the dates than the british ones. Expect quotes that vary a lot from each other.

Good luck for tomorrow!!!!

Dove siete ??? Pippi are you back in the UK ?
Gio did you sign ( and are you on the strong stuff yet??)
We went to the bank and this house is a no no. The amount of money they would have lent us 2 years ago ..Now the rate will be Euro 800 more for the same amount. SO back to the house newspapers......... Pity as I loved that house
Buona serata tutti off to play with dd its lazy town and I hate it !

Yes, where are you all?
gio, how did it go, did you secure the house?
rosa, that's a shame though about the gouse. Lazy town? did you get english sky btw? (forgetful emoticon)
It was lvely here today I took the dc to the park on the Bruco Mela, do any of you remember it??

No we get sky playhousedisney but it is fisso in inglese. Raisatyoyo you cant change but jim jam you can .
Bruco mela is that the giostra???

yes the ottovolante (gosh waht's ottovolante in english???) or littlies.
I like raisat yoyo, yes, I noticed you can't turn it into English, it;s a shame. We are still with no satellite. I noticed that the children are watching less tv. bedtime, ciao!

Ciaoooo, is Pippi without internet at fil's?
Going to splash out on maternity clothes, as bump is here to stay. Still feel rough as hell, friend told me that i might notice a big difference at 16 weeks, if not, i am utterly screwed and it is early night and napping and being fussy with food till the birth. Tomorrow scan which is exciting. Gio, how exciting a flat in the centre of Rome!!! Rosa are house prices going down or up in Italy? Whenever i read the italian newspaper it is all doom and gloom about the economy. Read about the comment that dick of Berlusca said to the precaria who asked him what is she supposed to do workwise, and he said something like 'Signorina si trovi uno ricco come mio figlio Piersilvio...', basically advicing women to prostitute themselves. Feel good about being in London when I hear the rubbish he talks, feels so angry about it.....

gio71 - when I wanted to ship stuff from the UK and was horrified at the prices quoted by the mainstream removals companies (and the quality - I had moved back to the UK with one of them and wasn't impressed) I looked in the local classified magazine in the UK and found a man-with-van. He was fully insured and turned out to be much, much cheaper for a small load, and also better quality - he loaded and unloaded his van himself in my presence and there was no transit.

Hot let us know how it goes. The papers here had a riot with what belusca said ..
Have fun shopping for mat clothes. I am going to wait until after cvs and then try to get mother to bring some over !
Foul day today and its fathers day domani ..looks like we will be making a card which should be fun dd and paper scissors are not a good idea

Shopping for maternity clothes is a bit of a pita as they tend to be utterly hideous, or at least they were ages ago. But have noticed that both zara and topshop are doing a maternity range, otherwise there's still plenty of those tunics which are quite nice. Speaking of maternity clothes though... you are making me feel broody all over again... stop it!

I second Anna's idea of man with a van, could be a good solution if you don't have too much staff. We had too much, half of our furniture is now stored in my inlaws garage...

Didn't hear Berlusconi, thank god. What an asshole. Yes the media here in Italy are particularly pessimistic. People moan the whole time. I think in England people and the media don't moan as much. but then they don't have berlusconi

I have a wedding when I will be in theory 3.5mths I am a testimone so I need to be pretty well dressed . I have no idea where or what to try and get . It is in the comune but its going onto a posh restaurant in the evening... Cosa faccio ??

mmmm I'd wait last minute to buy the dress... At that stage you might even cavartela in a non maternity dress. What sort of style do you fancy?

(the reason I'd wait wopuld be to see how "big" I was and buy accordingly)

As its mid may I am thinking something semi lightweight that can put shrug / jacket on later. I am not a floral kind of person , must cover upper arms. I am thinking a dress will be better rather than top and bottoms as you say I might find something ..But seeing as I am not your standard 46 my scelta is a bit limitato. I don't want to leave it too late and end up with nothing as I don't have anything suitable in my wardrobe. I already have dd dress it was a birthday present from Iana and they also included a little white jacket and frilly socks ( which I diddn't ask for but are perfect!)

Oh I feel ill with aniticpation. We have offered on the house and waiting to hear. Now I have decided I want it I will be GUTTED if we don't. I swear it was easier to buy my house in the UK than to rent an apartment here.
Hothell, Berlusca is such an arse! I want to slap his stupid, lifted,smug face when he says things like that. How dare he dismiss the plight of the majority here on crappy Italian contracts/ wages with such an arrogant remark!! Makes me so !!!! And then it looks like that same majority are going to vote him back in .
Thanks for the man-with a van suggestion Anna and Franca, will look at that route if I ever get a house to put sofa in
OOH maternity clothes shopping in Italy Rosa, that terrified me. What about online shopping with Blooming Marvelous or something? What are Pre Natal clothes like? I stocked up completely in UK before coming here

Oh dear, I created another MN little italy thread convinced that we had got to 999 posts and it was 899... . my grey cells are goneeeeeeeeeeeee...

yes, maternity wear is crap in Italy. Don't like Prenatal at all, but Zara is now making a maternity range (just seen it here in Milan) and possibly H&M.
Yes, rosa, I'd go for a vestito. I was witness to a friend of mine when 7 months pg with ds (early may, it rained cats and dogs) and bought a black dress (a bit stretchy) with scollatura in Stefanel. But in milan it's ok wearing black at weddings.

Gio will keep fingers crossed for the house!