MN Little Italy 20 ........Buon Natale !

[Rosa]

Here we are then ........

Swiss men being famous for their virility...

Sputnik, I know , I'm wondering if I have sinusitis or a toothache... boh.
You poor thing, it takes a while to recover from stomach bugs. Eat lots of digestives!!!

MM, I think tiredness might be caused by a mix of cold winter and a bit of boredom...

is starting to ease slightly franca but still feel rotten. Doing 2 aerosols a day and taking 2 ABs. Has absolutely knackered me out as well.Hope you feel better soon. Sputnik in my self indulgent state of mind about my illness I missed your post about you being ill-glad you are starting to feel better anyway.

Hope it gets better soon. Is it cold in Rome? I'm so fed up of this winter.

Morning all....

Sui, hope you start to feel better soon....I don't think I had the baby blues, but I did a lot of shouting and crying at dp's fucking relatives calling in at all hours (all time record being 11.30pm on a Saturday night).

I agree wholeheartedly with everything said in pps. Having a baby (IMO) is some kind of mental evolutionary design fault. You don't get in a car and drive without having been taught first, and yet, a baby (hopefully) pops out and bumpf, you're responsible for another human being!

If I had another, I would definitely not let anyone through my door unless I had invited them, would lie on the sofa feeding all day (and watching boxed set dvds) and fuck everyone who tried to tell me different.

(I believe in some cultures, IIRC from the lovely book by Deborah Jackson) mothers are just left in bed with their babies for weeks to bond and feed and just be I think that's a lovely idea.....

Pippi- Gargano.

My favourites are Peschici and Vieste (Vieste a bit more goey than Peschici, but personally prefer the latter) Ive never been down to Lecce end but apparently beaches down there are fab. Will ask dp for suggestions for down that end as well.

My friend went in to kick ass with her son's teacher and was told the teacher "has to treat him like that otherwise he gets nothing done" I am so glad we have a maestra molto materna. We have meeting on Monday for pagella (dd reckons she has been given a 9 ) I might not be able to go as am at school, but teacher says there are no probs academically, just a heck of a lot of cocciuta-ness Like Mother like daughter.....

Gosh Buch, the more you tell us about your dp's relatives, the more I'm

I, on the other hand, enjoyed to have lots of people around, but generally people came bringing stuff to eat (my aunt) or good advise (friends)

I felt very lonely when I had dd in the Uk and apart from dh, ds and my mum no one came to see us at the hospital .

Puglia: I only know the area around Otranto (beautiful), the beaches are fab. I also went to Gallipoli, fab, fab beaches, but avoid August at all costs. Lecce is bellissimo.
Pippi, dh has friends who live in southern puglia and I have friends who have just bought a rudere in salento... I can ask them for tips.

Buch thanks. I have been to all the places you mentiones as a kid and remember it very beautiful.

I think what we'd like to go for this year (we will prob change our minds in a couple of weeks mind) is a selfcatering accomodation within a resort. even a small one. but as we are not going in high season we'd like some entertaining for the kids in the evening so they can enjoy themselves with other children singing zecchino d'oro songs while we sip lovely drinks and chat!

Franca by all means the more suggestions the merrier. thanks.

hope you are all feeling better with your synusis (sp?), I don't think I can fully sympathise as never had it - sounds awful though!

a resort?

God sinusitis is truly awful (much worse than stomach flu!). Hope you're both feeling a bit better today.

Gio (or Franca) if you're around I wanted your advice on the scuola materna. I picked up a leaflet about it and it said application was for children aged 3 by december 2009 (DS wiil be 3 in june). Then it says those aged 3 by dec 2010 can also apply but will get lower priority. I thought most people applied at lower age, was I wrong about that? Would applying anyway this year give me higher priority on any waiting list?

Anyway probably a bit academic as the nearest place to us has a grand total of 9 places for 2010/11, the next nearest all of 3 places, one after that 12 places e cosi via.....

Oh bugger scrub that post, I read wrong. It's 2010.

I remember that when Gio was making applications for her ds there were huge differences in the process between Rome and Milan, and I know that there are differences in application between materne statali and materne comunali

When I did this for dd, age of the child wasn't considered for the points. Points were given by distance from school (15 points for choosing closest materna), other siblings, working parents and certificato isee. I'm told things have changed now. Plus I know that some materne have a limited number of places for those who start when they are under 3.
But if your ds will be 3 by the time he starts materna it's not a problem

yup that's one we went to as children Franca. Thanks. That one and Pugnochiuso.
Will check them out but I am scared of prices.

That is a lovely one but I think a much smaller one will do.

Yes!
Can you just go self catering? The dc will make friends on the beach anyway...

we could. but you see for us poor italian ex-pat seeing your children dancing and singing to old cartoons/zecchino d'oro songs is quite priceless. in the past we have done the small villaggio, the house and the brits abroad all inclusive (the worst) and although the house was great with the dds so small the small villaggio was the best overall. Easy for us, possibility to explore and nice evenings while kids played.
I am sure in future years we will be more wild.

... I went to club mediternee in caprera when I was 10 yrs old and had a fantastic time.
Only my mum wouldn't give me and db those palline you used to pay for things... other children had necklaces made of those palline and drank coca cola, me and db couldn't. wtf???

Dp has worked in Pugnochiuso in the past too...I'd forgotten that.

Franca, I am so tempted on that aren't-continentals-glam thread to post the photo I have taken from my balcony of 3 lardy middle aged men in pink, orange, and yellow trousers respectively, with hideous clashing shirts, while their wives totter behind in bright white ice-cream seller too tight trousers and golden sandals, and say, Now, what were we saying?????

Some women down here are fantastically well dressed and it's classy. The majority are expensively dressed but seem to equate cost with class. And it so isn't.

But they all have a fur.

lol Bucharest .
Yes, I think there are lots of myths and generalizations, and I really think people forget the substantial difference between big cities/rural areas; wealthy areas/deprived areas in the very same country.
And talking on the continent... do you think they are deliberately forgetting Germany

As I said in that thread when I used to work in fashion the best paid stylists were British, working for vogue UK, i-D etc. Having said that, I think the Brits manage scruffiness quite well

talking of the continent...

lol- we play spot the German in the summer.
Striding purposefully along, beige shorts, white hairy legs, blond moustaches. Rucksacks. Penchant for bumbags......

Franca, I never notice your mistakes until you come back and point them out!

The distinctive trait of the germans is - imho- a liking for "elegant" jeans... you know those jeans with the pence or the riga in mezzo. And a mullet.

Not sure anything can beat the British tourist for lack of style tbh

Sun goes to their heads, poor bastards

Oh dear... dd is playing "cagnolino", where she pretends to be a puppy and at the moment is "peeing" to mark her territory...