Inside Italy isn’t exactly an official guide to visiting Italy, so please don’t use it to plan a holiday! It’s just a series of random ramblings about things here that catch my eye.
Now I’m definitely with Joan Rivers when it comes to housework: ‘I hate housework. You make the beds, you do the dishes and six months later you have to start all over again’. And I’d be the first to admit that I’m not the world’s tidiest person but I do have a slight disadvantage here in Italy. I was amazed to discover that almost all of our Italian friends have a live-in colf (domestic help) or tata (nanny), usually Filipino, to do the cleaning, dusting, dog walking and all the other domestic chores that get in the way of having fun.
Our apartment has the tiniest maid’s bedroom and bathroom leading off the kitchen where the colf would be expected to live; we use it to store boxes and hang my husband’s Kylie calendar! The bathroom is so small that you have to actually climb over the toilet to get into the shower.
We’re the only family in our apartment block that doesn’t have one of these maids. When I’m relaxing with a cappuccino on my terrace, a sea of checked uniforms surrounds me, beating out carpets or hanging out washing. It’s almost enough to make me put down my book, leap out of my chair and join them in a spot of frantic scrubbing. Almost…
BARBED WORDS 