N was telling me last night about her successful cockroach killing secret weapon.  It seems that they have had a couple of them in her flat and it’s not just her apartment, but the whole building.  The landlady gave her some bait to put down, which she duly did and then she saw the cockroach come along, dance for a while around the bait and then scamper off!

She got really fed up when the cockroach decided that having a rest beneath her whilst she was on the computer was a really good idea.  She screamed and thought that something had to be done as the bait was obviously not that tasty.

So she got a can of hairspray and sprayed the roach.  This seemed to stop it in its tracks.  To be on the safe side, she put a glass on top of it.  Then, every so often she would check to see how it was getting along.  It didn’t seem to be getting along at all, having never moved.  Eventually after a day or so she decided that it was definitely dead and has hovered it up.

I have visions of the roach playing possum and now living in the hoover bag; but I didn’t like to tell her that!

We were off to see Pirates of the Caribbean – as the Odeon, near the Duomo, had the film playing in the original language.  Unfortunately they don’t do this all the time – only when they can’t get enough Italians to go to the Italian versions.’  Of course, it’s warm now and, at the weekends, most Milanese leave the city for the sea or mountains, so they’ve restarted the program of original language films.

This is better than waiting for the film to appear at the special English language night at the three cinemas (one of which is 2 minutes from our house) because the films at the Odeon are the ones that are just released – the English Language films are, usually, several months old.

The films in the Odeon used to be in Sala 10.  This was a bit pokey, but OK.  However, this time it was in Sala 7.  I had never been to Sala 7 before.  We went down a lot of steps as if going towards a rather dingy basement.  But I was hopeful; after all, the Italian films are shown there.  But, I’m afraid it was rather as the walk there had suggested.  It felt like we were in some sort of seedy basement porno cinema.  However, there would be air conditioning, right?  Well, yes, but we had tickets right at the back, under a low ceiling, so the effects of the air conditioning weren’t really felt until about half way through the film.

And the film?  Well, it was quite good.  Lots of action and a good old romp but perhaps not quite as good as the others.  I’ll have to watch it again to make sure.

Afterwards, the plan was to go and have a pizza but, as the film finished at 12.20 there was nowhere open.  We walked back to Porta Venezia hoping for a pizza restaurant, Indian or anything (even the kebab place) to be open – but nothing.  So, for the first time in Milan we had McDonalds!  Uugh, but necessary.

And on Hay it would seem that S is far too busy to text me, which I understand having helped her in previous years.  I don’t like to text her as she has enough to do.  I hope she’s OK and I send her my love anyway hoping she can feel it.