One of the conditions of my WordPress Least Prolific Blogger (Overseas) award is that I’m only allowed to blog twice a year. So here is my bi-annual update.
Unbelievably, we leave Italy in just over a week. Three years have flown by and, despite all my bitching about Italian drivers, Italian shoppers, Italian rudeness, Italian lack of awareness, mossies, unbearably hot weather, bland food, graffiti, rubbish strewn across the streets…etc etc, I’m going to miss Rome more than I ever thought possible.
I’m going to miss:
The hot weather (I finally got used to it just as we’re leaving!)
Cheap prosecco. Cheap wine. Cheap beer.
Perfect cappuccinos served in a proper sized cup, rather than a bucket.
My apartment, which is bigger and nicer than any house I’ve ever lived in. We’ve actually played tennis in the living room. It’s ten minutes away from the centre of Rome but it looks towards the mountains on one side and over a nature reserve on the other.
Walking through Rome whenever I like and being surrounded by history and beautiful sights.
But most of all, I’m going to miss the wonderful friends we made here. Both Italian and other nationalities have been so welcoming, generous and sociable. I’m not overly emotional but there will be tears when I say goodbye to everyone. I’m half-inclined to tell everyone I leave a week later so I can just sneak off and not have any blubbering farewells (red and blotchy is not a good look on me).
I won’t miss:
Conversations like the one HWW had in his canteen at work a few weeks ago –
HWW: Tre caffè (three coffees)
Lady behind counter: Eh?
HWW: TRE CAFFÈ
Lady behind counter: EH?
HWW (very slowly and loudly): TRE CAFFÈ
Lady behind counter (getting very flustered): SCUSI SIGNORE, NON PARLO INGLESE… (EXCUSE ME SIR, I DON’T SPEAK ENGLISH…)
Yeah, maybe it is time to go home 🙂
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awww, so sad. and funny enough, I will be in Italy next month!
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I actually feel jealous that you’ll be here and I won’t 😦 Where will you be?
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I am doing a week of argiturismo near Bologna. It will be all about food, wine and horses. (and I am spending the preceding week in Germany)
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I LOVE Bologna, one of my favourite places in Italy. Don’t know about the horses, but the food and wine are amazing!! Have a great time 🙂
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Any particular tips?
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It was snowing when we were there so we spent lots of time drinking hot chocolate in bars! Fun things included climbing the tower (Towers of the Asinelli and Garisenda) which offers great views over the town, the library was really stunning and had exhibitions, coffee shop etc (more hot chocolate!) and we had a day at the Ferrari museum which we loved but might not be your thing!
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Hahahaha. My best friend is a HUGE F1 fan (and formerly an equally huge Fernando Alonso fan), I am not sure she would forgive me if I went there without her.
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Yes, you might have to make a return journey with her for that one!
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Aww, goodbyes are always so sad.
I miss cheap prosecco, cheap wine and cheap beer already. Luckily I can just pop across the border to get them 😉
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I plan to start shopping in Lidl and Aldi when I return to the UK so hopefully I shall be able to recreate the cheap alcohol experience!
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Nice to see you back, just before you go! Hope you continue to blog (rarely) from England, we need to hear how this book’s going 😉
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The book might be a separate post! It’s finished, I have an editor and I’m currently (slowly) working on the next draft. I’ll get there 🙂
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Getting ready to welcome you back to the land of expensive prosecco,rude English people, cold wet weather and WORK!! Lol
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HOW DARE YOU!!! You know I don’t like that sort of filthy language 😉 I’m looking forward to seeing certain rude people!
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Booo. I’m sad that you are leaving, especially when you are sad to be leaving too! I still haven’t made it to Rome, which is annoying, but it is on our list (very near the top actually) for later this year.
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I’ve just had a lovely discussion about English tea rooms so that made me a bit happier about moving back! You must get to Rome, it’s the best place for a holiday. Wait until the autumn now, perfect weather for sight-seeing, walking, and drinking Spritz cocktails and eating antipasti. I’m so jealous 😉
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We’ll definitely wait till autumn, and then look forward to all the lovely things Rome has to offer. 🙂 English tea rooms are lovely – especially if you stop and have tea and scones/cake in them! 🙂
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I ALWAYS stop for tea and scones! 😉
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Good girl. 🙂
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Sounds like you’ve made many wonderful memories during your adventure in Italy. You’ll have awesome stories to tell for years to come.
PS – I love your photo of the Mouth of Truth. It reminds me of the lovely movie Roman Holiday with Audrey Hepburn.
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Yes, I’m going to live off my memories of my time here for many years to come. I love that film too, that’s why I had to visit the Mouth of Truth!
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You had me at cheap prosecco, cheap wine, and cheap beer. Rome is a magnificent city but I can imagine it would be rather challenging to live there at times. Still, I envy the 3 years you spent there 🙂
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It’s been a great three years, but, you’re right, it has been challenging – especially the first six months! I will be back though 🙂
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Ah, leaving a place is hard after 3 years. I wonder where you are headed.
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Off back to the UK – time for some rainy weather, job hunting and a decent cup of tea 😉
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Hey, BW. Long time no see… I hope that you’ll step up your blogging again and let us know how you’re getting on in the UK. I’ve been serious competition for the least prolific blogger award recently – now back only to find that you’ve gone 😦 Come back to the dark side, BW, I have cookies.
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Hey, MM! Lovely to hear from you. The blogging has been put on the back burner due to a few slightly more important tasks: find a house, find a school, find a job, eat my body weight in Hobnobs. I might not be loving it back in Blighty but the cookies are better! I haven’t even kept up my blog reading but I promise to rectify matters soon. Hope all is well with you and you find time to return to blogging soon too 🙂
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HOBNOBs…. Sigh… (MM thinks back to when she demolished entire packets in her uni hovel). Good luck with finding your feet girl. We’ll make out comeback together in style 😀
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I’m afraid I’m going to have to fight you for the least prolific blogger award. At the same time, I must let you know how much I enjoy when you are around and that I’m EXTREMELY jealous of your time in Italy. Like a lot. Like, if I don’t get out of New Jersey soon we all might end up in the newspaper.
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Aw, thanks for your kind words. I actually feel jealous of myself spending three years in Italy – it feels like something that happened to someone else now! I do recommend it though..go on, give it a go 😉
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I’m going to rome next year, to watch England play Italy in the 6 nations, yay!!! I think I should have the least prolific blogger award though. Loads of things have happened, none of them blogged. Jane x
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Oooooh, how exciting! When is it? Hopefully not in the middle of August?? Do you want me to present you with the least prolific blogger award? I’m vaguely thinking of posting this month (all about my top tips for Rome!), so I may have to renounce the title anyway 😉 Hope all the things that have happened to you have been happy things xx
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Mid February! I can’t wait! Please do post your top tips for Rome, I would love to hear them! Oh please do present me with the least prolific blogger award! I can’t say that all the things that have happened to me recently have been happy, Alex (aka the love of my life and the subject of my blog) died tragically in an accident a few months ago. So that’s been difficult. Same old rubbish love life, the latest man in my life kept running back to his mad ex every time she threw a hissy fit, so thats just ended badly. But curiously, life is good, those things apart. Lovely Matt is back in England, so we are having a brilliant time catching up in London (I work there now), and we are heading back up north to see his parents and mine this weekend. So it’s all pretty good. Hope you are ok, and that you have a bit more time for blogging in the future. your posts always make me smile 🙂 Love, Jane x
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Sounds like it’s been an emotional year for you. So sorry to hear about Alex, how shocking and traumatic. Glad to hear that things are going better now. Enjoy your weekend up north with the lovely Matt, sounds like you deserve it.
Things here have been hectic – finding somewhere to live, schools, looking for work etc. But settling down a bit now so I hope to find time to write more. Job hunting is depressing and boring. I just want something nice and well paid to fall into my lap! xx
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It has been awful, he was just 29 years old, and he was such a good person.
I’m working from home this morning, yay! Then we are heading North later this afternoon. I’m so lucky lovely Matt arrived this week, he has completely put the sunshine back in my life 🙂
Any tips re Rome, and nice places to stay/eat/visit would be gratefully received, neither Matt nor I have ever been there, so it would be great to have some advice from someone who knows the place well!
Hope the job hunt goes well, let me know if there’s anything I can do to help! And do stay in touch.
Love, Jane xx
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That’s just so sad to hear when someone so young passes away. Hope your weekend away was fun. What a lovely thing to say about Matt, I would love to hear that I’d put the sunshine back into someone’s life!
I will post my top tips for Rome very soon…xxx
ps if you can find me a job doing very little, drinking lots of tea, having a laugh with fun people and paying at least £30k a year, then, yes, I’d love some help 😉
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Molto divertente. I really enjoyed this post.
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Thanks very much 🙂
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