Mumsnet Little Italy 6

[Rosa]

Ciao , Hello , Welcome .

Oh dear rosa, sounds tiring already. Hope you managed to get an early night.

Is your mil in pain? they are rubbish giving pain relief in Italy, I hope she's fine.

THing is she is in hospital and not telling the doc everything. She said her knee was swollen and hurting a bit but she diddn't tell the doctor as he only asked about her hip/ fenmur. So when dh went yest pm he went and found the doc and they gave her some pain relief. She had had some nerve/ circulation problems before this and she said she had told them when she went but there was no mention on her notes so again ' ma tanto mi passa '..AHHHHHHHH DOc made a note and a neurologo ( sp ) is going to see her as well.
Thing is she is not 'old' and obviously she must be scared 1st time in hosp etc etc but we have all said good place to get it all sorted out. Op looks as if it will be Prob Tues and then we will find out about rehab , physio etc. She lives on 1st floor and thankfully she could get round the flat with stampelle but we need to find out if she will need any special extras and maybe a badante x la notte ( can envisage a guerra !!)
me pipi only 4 times last night so thats one better. Brutto tempo so thinks we will make muffins !!

Yes, old generations are usually too proud to say something hurt. Good that the op is going to be soon.
My aunt broke her tibia, I think, skying 3 yrs ago and was confined at home for a month. Needed lots of physio etc. I think a badante, or someone who stays with her few hrs in the morning and some in the afternoon (doing her shopping, cleaning, cooking etc) is needed. But if she's anything like my mother she'd refuse... .

mmmmm muffins! I wish I lived closer and I could autoinvitarmi for tea

You better come round quick as I only had farina o not oo so they will go a bit hard quick . DD liked them however and had 2 after lunch ( we did do piccoli ones!!)
I am thinking a badante just for the hours that we can't cover - also MIl is a pretty independant person but she has to get it into her head that she must do as she is told - not put weight on it etc . I think she thinks she will have the op and then do as she likes and she won't sit and rest . Due to the alteza of the break they won't plaster it . Anyway we will see. Also she won't like someone coming into her house!!!
One good thing confined to a bed she can't smoke so maybe finally she might give up .

yummie! have you got a good recipe for muffins? Mine never satisfy me a 100%.

Yes, lets hope that some good comes from the whole situation, good thing if she stopped smoking. Unless it makes her more nervous....

ok, please can you help with 2 hotel stops?

Thinking (not booked time off yet) of coming over 2nd - 14 October. Flying to Pisa and travelling down to Rieti area. Arriving at 2.30 pm so want somwhere to stay an hour or so from Pisa, preferably south.

On the way back, will stay in Pisa I think so i'm close to the airport for the early flight home.

Any recommendations please?

Was thinking of maybe staying here

www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g187899-d277084-Reviews-Hotel_Santa_Croce_in_Fossabanda-Pisa_Tusc any.html

thanks

doesn't look like that hotel is available

Waiting for the date of the op. They have put a cathaeter(sp) in now as she is moving too much in bed - SO as dh says hopefully she will see that they are being very serious. ( I feel for her as it must be very degrading as ok she has a broken leg but she doesn't feel ill as such ). Went to see her yest and she is ok bored more than anything. But she doesn't want a book and there is no tv - she is a tv da mattina a sera person when at home.
Del girl an hour south of pisa it depends which way you are going down. You can either cut through Tuscany or go motorway so to Florence and then down. SO if you go motorway its Florence ( not worth dringing into Flo for 1 night) / Lucca really. If you go through Tuscany and hour - Certaldo , san Gimignano , Colle Val d'elsa . If you go down the coast its a bit boring as you get to Livorno rather industrial.

Del girl, as I said I don't know much about Tuscany, but I know that Lucca is very nice town, would it be a good place to stop?

Rosa, maybe she can cure also the tv addiction?? I couldn't imagine being in bed and not reading! Poor woman, she might be in shock.

Rosa, you'll have to buy here a TVfonino. Can she not read magazines at least? Can you not get a supply of Chi, Sorrisi, Oggi etc. in for her? Poor MIL, it must be so boring being in H all day. Are there not any like minded ladies on the same ward she can have a natter with?

Delgirl, I totally crap too wrt to Tuscany, but if you're thinking about 1hr southwards then it will be something like Lucca (not exactlysouthwards but you'll be going in that direction if you get the motorway), Montecatini Terme, Pistoia, Fiesole on the other side of Florence, or if you don't mind keeping off the motorway then there's Volterra, San Gimignano and other such gems all the way to Siena.

Grrr, just wanted to have a wee rant about dense maestra at DD's materna. There are 2 maestre, one youngish and nice, good with the kids etc., and one "di una certa età", a bit of a jobsworth, always seems to be keeping away from the little ones. This morning we finally got all the paperwork in for all the newbies and noticed that I had put down no religion. She then starts giving me the spiel about the religion class not actually being about religion but about making friends etc. (as I glance round the drawings of St Peter and the fishes, the feeding of the 5000 etc. on the walls). I told her politely I'd made my choice thank you, we're not credenti and that I would let my DD participate in the religion class when it encompasses all the world's religions. Blimey, it's not as if DD's the only one not doing it, there were at least 6 names on the alternative activities list. I wonder if she gets commission from the vescovo every time she manages to convert a heathen parent.

I must look like I need saving or something, when I was in the UK I used to attract every Jehovah's Witness/Jesus Brethren for miles around. Not to mention my loony Moonie ex boyf. Is my middle name really Damien, I wonder?

Oh and this was after the long discussion on whether my DD ate fish or not. I tried showing her the vegetarian menu list that I had from ASL for nido but she said they already had one. So I asked her if there was any fish on it. She said no. I didn't need to add any more at that point, but it took 20 mins of discussion over 2 days with her constantly asking "yes, but does she eat FISH?" before it finally dawned on her. My armpits were beginning to get very itchy, I can tell you!

We had thought one of those little TV with a portable antenna headset kind of thing for her - costs lest than a tv fonino and hopefully less complicated. we have a portable dvd player but it is a bit big and obvious and if she gets hauled off for treatment then it cannot be shoved in a drawer.
The maestre sound in difficulty with anything 'different' and not run of the mill. And as for vegetarian creates problems/ panic even though this country is so easy to eat vegetarian and many people do without realising it !! Hope it gets better and as for alternative activities what do they do ??? I think if we put dd with the suore we will get the full works - we might have to as the communale one we want has just taken some fantastic teachers and the word has got out !
Obviously dd nido is different and we have the incontro domani - so far we haven't got any drastic questions just how much they give them to eat as dd has never had 'merenda' just a bit of bread if we get some or maybe a biscotto if I need peace !

I always wondered about the eating thing at nido, I was always told that DD ate loads, primo and secondo, plus merenda, plus more crackers before going home, yet she was till always hungry. Then I saw the portions in one of the photos DD brought home. It was quite a bit less than I give her at home. Apparently ASL tells them something like 40g. of pasta and 30g. of meat/fish/cheese for a 2yo or something ridiculous like that. I did wonder for a while whether I'd been overfeeding her at home up until then! I must say the food was always good, though. Much better than some of the shite they seem to serve in UK nurseries.

Those portable TV things I find annoying, too small to see anything in properly, but that's probably just me. We ahd ones for a while, but passed it on to someone else a few months ago, otherwise I'd have sent it to you.

Don't let them fool you Brange, it'll be original sin, bleeding hearts and weepy crucifixions if DD's experience is anything to go by. I really hope, after the talking to they got last year, they remember to keep DD out of the reigious lessons. Do they not make friends at other times then?

Anyway, we're back from Ischia. Not sure it was entirely worth the hassle tbh, the first couple of days was unbearably hot and humid, hardly any of us slept properly the first night (poor DD even fell out of bed, poor thing) so all bad tempered the next day, and I was rude and surly to my ILs. Saturday was better, went to beach then sunday we left. The hotel was in a beautiful location, lovely pool etc but the food wasn't great, the place we usually go to is smaller and better.

Also (rant alert) I would pay alot for a decent coffee in the morning, why is there not a single hotel in this entire coffee-loving nation where you can get a good cappucino not made with uht milk? I paid extra for coffee as there was no way I was going near the crap they served to the germans, but it was still crap, even espresso. I am taking my espresso machine and supply of milk next time I go anywhere.

Anyway, got DD off to school sucessfully this morning. They were supposed to be fixing her school and building an extension and everyone was transferred to the one in the centre. So after parking, unloading everbody, baby in trolley etc etc, they inform me that no, they weren't there, the sindaco changed his mind, work postponed bla bla and they're all back at the usual school. Apparently there were notices about it "everywhere"

Sorry to hear about your MIL Rosa, hospital is so boring.

Delgirl, can't help with Tuscany I'm afraid. Did you get my email? I was using my webmail which isn't always 100% reliable.

Agree, hotel coffee is foul, only beaten by aircraft coffee. Even in the bar away from the restaurant it's generally undrinkable. They must supply a special brand of regenerated coffee to the hotel industry.

I have huge problems trying to find a decent coffee in the UK. You pay £1.20 for a "ristretto" only to find a caffé extremely lungo and acquoso. I usually stick to tea when I'm over.

And my mission is to be Heathen of Monza. My DD is going to be so embarrassed when she gets a bit older. DP already called me an integralista for my vehement refusal of any type of religious instruction.

Brange you are brave with the veggie thing. We are vegetarian but it never even occured to me to ask for a veggie option at school, didn't think it was possible. I'm not that bothered though if they eat meat outside home though, as long as I don't have to cook it! They can decide for themselves later on.

They eat their merenda here at 9:30, ie just after they arrive in school, is that normal? DD hardly ever eats hers as she's just come from a huge breakfast of yogurt, egg, toast, banana etc! I suppose a lot of people just have a bit of milk and fette biscottate etc.

I have to say them school menu is pretty uninspired here: pasta al pomodoro, pasta al burro, mozzarella, polpettine, the ccasional vegetable....

They have fruit here at around 9.30 too. Apparently it's because children will eat fruit more volontieri in the mornings. We ahd the same thing at nido, so it must be a national thing for preschoolers.

I'm quite adamant on the veggie thing and was pleased to see it is offered by the comune here as a menu choice. Had it not been I'd have insisted on etico-religioso grounds. DD can choose when she's older too, but I preferred it was something to be added rather than subtracted from her diet IYSWIM. Oddly enough DP supports me in this and he's a rabid fish and meat eater (though less meat these days), nonché a McD lover. I used to see stepson taken 2 McD's twice a week and shudder at the thought of my pfb having to ingest the stuff. At least this way he can't do it to her.

Yes, tea only in the UK, I have given up. I even tried convincing them to just run less water through the machine, but it's more than their job's worth, apparently.

LOL at heathen of Monza. Every town should have a token heathen. There is only 1 other child at DD's school of 75 or so that opted out. I found it a bit surprising as it's quite a left wing place with an anti-clerical tradition - they have an "anti-carnival" after the start of Lent (every freak in the whole of Lazio turns up and there's a huge piss up in the piazza, it reminds me of my festival days, but I digress). But it seems everyone conforms nonetheless.

Do your lot hand out fruit then? Here everyone brings their own merenda from home.

It's supplied by the schools here. I think they take their own merenda when they're at primary.

Very conformist here and very bigotted, Milan is only a few km down the road but it's as if the places were centuries apart. I do sometimes wonder if I'm a little too alternative for this place. I'm not, honest, I've become very borghese in my old age, yet I'm in some way "odd".

My next challenge is the riunione condominiale, I want them to cut the spese and the fuel bill is too high, mainly because inside our houses it's too bloody hot. I'm talking tropics here. I've tried broaching the subject with a couple of the younger, more intelligent neighbours, yet they seem oddly resistant to the idea, despite one of them being unable to sell her house because the spese are too high. We pay about 3000k a year.

Thanks for the suggestions, i'll look into those . I shall be staying in Montasola for the bulk of the holiday and quite possibly will live there next year as my dbro and dsil have said I can live at their place. I'm still going to look around though but at least I have a fall back which is fantastic.

Sputnik - no, I didn't get your email?
Perhaps we can meet up when i'm over there in a couple of weeks if you're free. I'm sure there are a few gelatria's (sp) i've yet to try out.

Oh that's strange Delgirl. Will email you again. I'd love to meet up, there are 2 gelaterie in Poggio, they are both good but I still can't decide which is the best, a second opinion would be appreciated!

Nice of your brother to let you stay there.