Category Archives: Experiences

Don’t Panic! The Cleaners are coming……

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I love my dogs, I really do. They are fun, they are loving, they are, in nearly all respects, wonderful. There is one (there are probably more but for this post, there is really only one) problem. Every day, the place looks like a park. And, by that, I mean that, given their hair, they collect the park and bring it home, dropping it at home during the next 24 hours so that home looks like the park – mud everywhere (in the form of huge amounts of dust), dried leaves, twigs that got stuck, etc.

To give you an example, a couple of days ago, V went to the shops and I swept up. I did a good job but, when he came back he did it again.

And, as we have no carpet here, the dust flies everywhere so that, within 24 hours, there is a slight film of dust everywhere. As I look at my desk, which is in the hallway and, therefore is, by far, the worst place in the house, I see the dust, on the bookshelves, behind the computer and it looks like I have never, ever cleaned it.

And today, S&N have kindly “lent” us their cleaner(s). OMG! I really had to fight the urge to clean everywhere before they came – you know what I mean. I did fight the urge but immediately apologised as they walked through the door, blaming, of course, the dogs (which is true, of course).

However, V is doing some sort of party on New Year’s Eve so, at least, we should only have to do a surface clean tomorrow, I hope.

Then, I guessed as they don’t speak English, that they needed the cleaning stuff. Except I found we had no glass cleaner and no bathroom cleaner!

It would be great to have someone in a couple of times a week but I guess it would be far too expensive and, given current circumstances, more difficult than normal.

Anyway, they are here now and starting on the lounge. They are here for a few hours so I have limited the cleaning to the most important areas as, given the state of it and the size of the place, I’m sure they will struggle to complete even that! We shall see.

Still, it was so nice of S&N and I’m sure it will sparkle and gleam like it never has before!

Gift Wrapping – is not always for gifts!

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After a slightly heavy post yesterday I thought it was time to lighten up a bit and also post something about one of the differences between here and there.

I was struck by this, taking Rufus and Dino out for walk yesterday, late afternoon.

There was a smartly dressed couple, obviously on their way to friends or relations for dinner or a party or something. Here it is Santo Stefano day and, similar to the UK, a public holiday except that they do not start their sales (that has a date set by the government sometime later in January) and nearly all the shops are shut (except for the Chinese ones around Paolo Sarpi, much to N&S’s delight).

Anyway, this couple were each carrying, like a tray, a beautifully wrapped parcel, with ribbons, etc. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought it was a present. But I do know better, and they weren’t presents at all.

They would, in fact, be one of two things. Either a tray of hand-made chocolates or a tray of small cakes. We have the gelateria just below us who sell less ice-cream at this time of year (although they still sell some, which amazes me every time I see it) and, so, have gone into the business of turning half their shop into a hand-made chocolate shop, which they make on the premises. Imagine, if you will, Thornton’s (if they still exist in the UK) but these shops are, generally, not a chain and the one below us certainly isn’t.

We went to a party on Christmas Eve (it started at 10 p.m) and when I asked what to bring, I was told some sweets. So I duly went to the gelateria below and chose my tray of chocolates, selecting eight of each type which she carefully arranged in rows on the tray.

Now, cast your mind back to “Love Actually” and, in particular to the scene in Selfridges or wherever with Rowan Atkinson where Alan Rickman is trying to buy a gift for the girl in the office whilst his wife is in the same store and, having selected the gift, wants to just pay for it, whilst RA spends the next 20 minutes gift wrapping it.

That’s, more or less, how it is here. I spent 10 minutes selecting the chocolates and the girl then spent at least 10 minutes gift wrapping it, even putting a small Christmas tree decoration to add the festive touch. They also do that for nearly anything (pens, scarves, etc., etc.), at any time of year, if you tell them that it will be a gift (regalo).

It is one of the nicest touches here but don’t be in a great rush when you are shopping for gifts (or chocolates or small cakes) as it can make the whole process twice as long.

But the finished product, when you hand it over to your host really is so much nicer and so much better than a bag of sweets or a box or whatever as they are always so beautifully done.

If you come to Italy, you should, at some point, buy something and tell them it is for a gift just to get the nice packaging. And be prepared to wait. It’s worth it.

(False) Lessons in Life.

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Christmas is a time for reflection and for remembering things past. This one was no different. At various times over the period I remembered the Christmases we had in the past. The mountains of presents; shopping for the veg on Christmas Eve at “Wiggy’s” shop in Kington; having the open fire to sit around; and the people with whom we have shared our Christmases, including my sister (one time, I think).

However, it was also time to think of deeper things; things more hidden or, rather, not previously analysed.

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The mysterious case of the disappearing heater; fancy dress parties; Be afraid, be very afraid (the de Menezes travesty of justice)

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On Friday, I went into the smoking room to get warm and have a cigarette. Later, just before lunch, I went in again – the heater had gone and the chairs had been rearranged now that there was vacant space! The heat already in the room from the heater kept the room above freezing for the rest of the day, so better than nothing. Several people have said that, in the New Year we shan’t be able to smoke inside the buildings any more. It will be quite funny to see the MD outside lighting up! We shall see. On the plus side, at least it won’t get so cold in my office as she won’t have the window wide open in hers whilst having a cigarette. So there are advantages to everything, I suppose.

Last night was a fancy dress party. It was held in a friend-of-a-friend’s shop in an area of Milan that, they say, is up-and-coming. She sells designer clothes from lesser-known designers from all over the world.

I absolutely HATE fancy dress parties. I never have a clue as to what to go as and am always genuinely shocked at other people’s ingeniousness and how something so simple can look so good.

As we had less than 2 days notice and it was Friday night (so no time to try and do something special on Saturday), V came up with the idea of going as 70s people. My era. Sadly, we had all the necessary items in our wardrobes including, for me, a pair of real platform shoes that I had worn only once before. They had brought them in as new items in the 80s in Schuh, in Birmingham, hoping for some sort of revival, I guess. Well, it never took off but I kept them as I loved them. Boy, they looked good last night but how my calves suffered! Anyway, it was a cool party and we got back about half one in the morning.

Finally, I had written a long post about the jury’s verdict on the de Menezes case but feel it was far better covered over at Stef’s site. If I lived in the UK now I would be very, very afraid. What kind of future is there when you cannot trust the police to be truthful and themselves uphold the law against murder?

Oh, yes, and it hasn’t stopped bloody raining for days!

And just WHO is going to buy all this crap??????

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We arrive about 1 p.m. The place is heaving with people. Italians, not renowned, in my view, for moving to one side, bump and jostle with each other to get to the stalls, get to the next aisle, get to a place for food.

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Monopoly; Snow; Fat Feet; An Outing At Work!

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I won! Since this happens rarely and certainly if V is playing (since he nearly always wins) it was quite something. It was a match arranged by V with some colleagues since one of them, L, was convinced he could take V on and beat him.

But I did like the ‘new’ way of making deals. L started it with the deal he gave to M, letting him complete the ‘dark-blue’ set on condition that he wouldn’t have to pay rent if he landed on them. Then I made a deal with him in a similar vein but also collecting 25% of any profit that he made during the game.

>However, my coup-de-grace was letting V have the final green one in place of a complete one and a half sides of the board! I knew that he wanted the greens so much that he would give anything to get the set.

And it snowed Sunday night, even in the centre of Milan. And it’s been very cold since then. I just HAVE to get another job because they don’t keep the offices warm enough for me. The forecast is for snow and rain from now until next weekend! Enough already! Roll on spring.

In other news: I think my feet have put on weight. It seems to be getting harder to get my socks on.

Also, I found this morning, yesterday someone at work found my blog. I was a bit concerned for a while but then I thought it must be Pietro. Luckily, perhaps, it was. However, whilst I was looking at all the sites they had visited, it did scare me for a while. Anyway, now that he has found it perhaps I should include his blog on my links on the side? Nice to see you Pietro!

Please, don’t go to sleep on the floor whilst flying.

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Swiss, formerly Swiss Air, is an airline I like to fly with. As I was in charge of the booking of our trip to Wolverhampton, I chose not only Swiss to fly with but also the Novotel in Wolverhampton to stay at.

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