Tag Archives: Holiday

Half-preparing

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Well, my first night ‘free’ for a long time.

I have been so busy and will continue to be busy for the next two days before the hols. I have tried to set up this WordPress thing to allow me to post by email. I got it working partially but the text of the message came out as gobbledygook. I might have another go tomorrow. It would allow me to post whilst I’m away or, at least, it would be much easier to post. Still, if I can’t do it that way, I can try something else. We’ll see.

I should have done a few minor repairs to some jeans and trousers but I will take the stuff away with us and do it then. Maybe. I mean – maybe I will take it away. And, anyway, even if I DO take it away, maybe I will do it. The probability is that I will take it away and bring it back in the same state. But I do have one week without F and I think I might do it then.

I have given the dogs their monthly anti-heartworm and flea stuff tonight so they’re ready to go.

I did the last shopping (I hope).

Tomorrow evening, I shall pack as Friday will be busy and I don’t want to have to do it then.

Two nights from now and I should be eating pizza (with aubergine, asparagus and lardo) in Bati Bati on the first night of our holiday (subject to F finishing work early enough, T finishing her English Test early enough and the traffic not being horrendous).

The weather is very hot right now but is due to change on Monday (typical). This evening, walking the dogs, it said it was 34°C which is quite warm really. Still, even when it changes it will still remain n the high 20s, so not too bad.

And I sit here finishing my nice cold beer before I take the dogs out and go to bed, for I am exhausted.

Till my next post. If you’re going on holiday too, then have a nice time. If not, then have a nice time anyway.

Social or Anti

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I don’t know why but during the weekend I kept thinking of my parents. Well, not thinking of them, exactly, but rather how much they wouldn’t like this. This thing that I do now.

I always thought that I would never pay to go onto a beach. But I used to hate carrying everything. Not that I actually carried everything, of course, but as I was the eldest, it was always more. And, instead of setting up camp near the entrance to the beach, we always had to go where there was no one else. Which meant walking on the beach. And walking. And walking. Laden as we were with deckchairs and windbreaks and costumes and food. And walking until I thought I would die. Or felt I would die. Or wanted to die with shame and embarrassment.

Even when we arrived at what seemed to be the furthest possible location, it wasn’t finished. For there was the setting up of the windbreak, the deck chairs, the changing into costumes, one at a time, using this thing that my Mum had fashioned out of, what seemed to be some sort of toweling but was almost like a curtain – but a very ugly curtain, with elastic at the top or drawstrings or something so that it covered you from the neck down. I absolutely HATED changing on the beach.

Then there was the food. We were a family of 6 so there was a lot of food. Sandwiches made that morning, sausage rolls made last week and kept in tupperware, rock cakes, hard boiled eggs. And other stuff.

It all seemed such a palaver.

But, being 6, I guess they couldn’t afford to go to restaurants and we didn’t have burger places then – except Wimpy, which was dreadful (not that the burger places now are much good). I understand now and I think I understood then.

That doesn’t mean I liked it. I didn’t. I HATED it. I hated everything about it. It’s like we were some sort of tribe, invading the beach. But with the embarrassment of it all I was, kind of, glad that we weren’t near other people. But they seemed to hate it when other people came near. If someone pitched up near to us they would complain and ask (themselves) why the person had to park themselves so close to us.

And, on reflection, perhaps that is one of the reasons I find it hard to socialise, in general. I wasn’t brought up to socialise, I guess.

Of course, in the early evening (unless the weather was not so good) we had to reverse all this. Packing away the food left-overs, uprooting the windbreak and rolling it up, collapsing the deckchairs. Getting changed again using the stupid and hateful changing robe thing. And then carrying the whole lot back to the car.

However, now, I love the fact that we just go to the beach. We take towels. We take personal stuff. But we don’t have to take deckchairs or food or an umbrella or a windbreak. It’s not a 6-mile hike to the spot we have. Of course, there are people always nearby. It’s not like we can hide away. And because F is from there and so are many people on the beach and that we share an umbrella with another couple (who only come for about an hour), you can’t really NOT talk to anyone.

But it’s nice.

And, coming back to the point, a lifetime away from anything my parents would have done.

I am really ready for this

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The holiday starts next Friday and I can hardly wait.

I am so busy at the moment that I seem to not even have a second to myself. Of course, that’s an exaggeration – especially as every weekend we are away. But it does feel like it.

So, three weeks away (F is only coming the first two) – with time to relax, is definitely a need.

Who knows, we might even get to meet up with Lola. I’ve mentioned it to F and he thinks we might make Pietrasanta the place to meet as we’re supposed to go to some restaurant there. It’s run by the nephew or someone connected to the woman vet who has the umbrella just in front of us.

And we have to go to La Brace ‘cos F really wants to go there (we didn’t go last year).

And we have to do other things. Hmm. I can see it will be just as busy – but at least it will involve much eating and drinking ;-)

I am not 20

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Personally, I think it was the last mojito that did it. After all, it wasn’t a mojito at all but, rather than rum, was something else entirely.

I was, as said by one of the characters in the Fast Show, Rowley Birkin QC, and shown below, very, very drunk.

Of course, I didn’t go out with the intention of ending up completely wasted. No, no. It was just a meal out with friends. We didn’t even start off by drinking much. OK so an aperitivo at the bar we all met up in. And, I suppose, I did drink most of E’s drink since she didn’t like it.

Then we ahd some wine with the meal. Well, three bottles of the good stuff and a carafe of the house wine but that was between six of us.

OK so one person hardly drunk any, another only slightly more, so I guess effectively 4 bottles between 4 which, I suppose, is a bottle each.

But it was the beach party that did it really.

One of the nice things about Italy is the cocktails. There’s no such thing as gills. Or is it gils? In any event – measuring. They don’t do it.

Since the barman was the son of E (who’s drink I had nearly drunk earlier), he did the mojitos for me and Alf. I’m not a fan but it was a disco (with the dreadful Italian summer music) and there was sand beneath my feet and it was warm and people were dancing and it seemed to go down quite well.

At some point, someone mentioned going for a swim in the sea but, even in my inebriated state, I knew that was dangerous and declined – saying it was dangerous. In the end, no one did go for a swim. Maybe I had frightened them. Or, at least, made them think.

I wasn’t going to have another but, you know, it seemed we weren’t likely to go home any time soon and so, I thought, why not?

Of course, in the light of day there were a million and one reasons why not. But it was not the light of day but about 1 a.m. These reasons did not even cross my mind. But, apparently, they had run out of rum and so our wonderful new friend, the barman, suggested something else which we agreed to try.

To be honest, by then, it could well have been antifreeze and I would have drunk it. Perhaps it was antifreeze? I drank it anyway. And then I remember very little until about 7 a.m. when I first woke up.

Not when I GOT up, mind you. Just woke up. The dogs were being a bit of a pain so I let them out in the garden.

F woke up about 10.15. I had woken up several times between 7 and then. We got up and took the dogs out.

In the end, we got to the beach about 12.30 – about 3 hours later than we usually do. As F said, we shouldn’t really do this very often and I totally agree. It’s not like we’re 20 any more.

Still it was a nice evening. From what I recall!

Relaxing/preparing

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Sorry for not posting. This week has been so incredibly busy and I am very much looking forward to the weekend a relaxing a bit on the beach.

Of course, this is before the BIG DAY on Monday, for it is on Monday morning that we shall go and collect Piero and bring him to his new home.

And, in celebration (and also ‘cos he did a Guardian interview), you have to check out this blog from a dog!

The weekend on our own

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It’s the last weekend we’ll be on our own. Just me and Dino.

We’re going down to the seaside house tonight and, although I enjoy it, it’s just not the same without F. I’ll do most of the things we usually do, even going to F’s parent’s for dinner – but, in any case, it’s not the same at all.

Still, the weather will be very hot and sunny and F will be working, so I really shouldn’t complain.

And I’ll have two days on the beach to improve my tan a bit – and play cards and continue reading the book that I’m enjoying (which I would tell you the title of – but it’s already down there and I can’t remember) and playing games on my phone and, generally, relaxing.

The one advantage of F not being there is that I should be able to sleep in a bit longer, which I am looking forward to – especially as, in a couple of weeks, when Piero joins us, I will be getting even less sleep than now!

So wherever you are and whatever you’re doing, have a nice weekend.

Villa Singer and a wedding.

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Yesterday was a wedding.

An Italian wedding. But not like an Italian wedding at all. There weren’t a thousand and one guests; there wasn’t a wedding breakfast which had 100 courses; there wasn’t a white dress or top hats and tails. It was, in fact, more like a small, intimate party. And it was truly lovely.

This was one of F’s childhood friends, P, getting married to a banker, A, even though he looks nothing like a banker should look. I have never known P without A and, so, to me they are perfectly right for each other. She, apparently, was a bit wild in her youth (so was F) but can still be a little unexpected now.

The wedding ceremony took place in Piazza Reale, a stone’s throw from the Duomo. It was conducted by one of her ex-boyfriends.

Apart from the happy couple, and F and his friend R, I knew only one other person – L who bears a striking resemblance to Betty Boop! Only a tad older.

We were late for the ceremony (of course), arriving some few minutes after it all started. It had started at 10.

F took photographs. Lots of photographs.

The day was lovely but not too hot. The groom was dressed in white trousers with a white T-shirt and loose white scoop-neck top. The bride wore white trousers, similar top with an off-white jacket. She had had some braiding in her hair and looked lovely.

After the ceremony we went, by metro to Villa Singer (pronounced singe – er). We arrived about mid-day.

The first picture you see on the link was, more or less, how it was. It’s a not-so-big garden, next to one of Milan’s old canals. Tranquil, beautiful and the perfect setting for a wedding reception. It wasn’t many courses but, rather, a buffet that included fried courgette flowers, oysters, grilled green chilli-like peppers with anchovies, courgette mouse, vegetarian lasagne and a cake that was beautiful sponge covered with lashings of whipped cream and raspberries and strawberries. I had two slices :-)

There was prosecco (Italian champagne) and white wine or, for those who were not drinking, water and grapefruit juice. I wasn’t one of the last group.

We drank and ate and chatted and laughed. There were about 25 people so large enough not to get bored but small enough that you chatted to everyone and I met some really nice people (which is normal). It was all delightful.

Inside the house the rooms, full of antique furniture were open for you to walk round – and I did for a few moments.

But it was all so relaxed and, even if it is an overused word, nice. It was like being at a small garden party with friends, drinking in the afternoon sun (in both senses).

I watched F, from time to time, being the joker and centre of attention – but not in a bad way. Everyone loves him but I adore him. Someone (it may have been Betty Boop) asked if I would marry him and I said that I would. Of course I would.

And, if we did get married, I would want a wedding like this.

We left about 6. It was wonderful and I was really happy that I had been asked to go and that we went.