Day 81: Ciao Italia

Today is the day. Day number 81. The last.

Alessandra woke me up at 7am and then we were all ready to go to the airport. Arrived in plenty of time checked in okay and they didn't charge me extra even though my bag was overweight hooray! Said goodbye to all of them, Bea cried which made me feel very loved :). 

Got through to the duty free. No magazines in English :/. To then find out that my flight has been delayed by an hour. Nooo. Why Ryanair? There isn't even a burgerking or McDonald's to waste my time in. Plus the wifi sucks it doesn't work properly.

Got on the plane okay. Nice flight! Excited to be back in England hopefully these next three weeks in Wakefield will be good :) last minute shopping for Lizi's wedding tomorrow and an early night! 

Week 12: Ultimate Week

Sunday:

No church today as no way of getting there instead I went with the family to watch Fede participate in his first moto race. They took his older motorbike but then found out it wasn't powerful enough to take him up the hills so they had to drive back to take his other one. It takes about an hour to drive to the race place. He did okay, stalled the bike a lot but he isn't as used to it as the other one. But he managed a lap of 7 minutes which was good. It started to rain later in the afternoon surprise surprise. Last day in Rovescala tomorrow morning we go back to Milan. 

Monday:

Left Rovescala at 10 they were all sad to leave but I'm glad to be back in the city I prefer it there. It's busier and more alive, peace and quiet is nice but after a while I longed for a noisier place. The kids don't understand why I prefer Milan and Fede said as much that I must be stupid to prefer the city. I don't think they realise that not everyone has the same opinion as them. I half unpacked and then repack my big suitcase so the things I use I can just throw into my small one. Took Fede to the park most of his friends are back from holiday now so he had people to play with. 

Tuesday:

Didn't get much sleep, I think because I changed beds hopefully tonight will be better. Bit of a slow morning as Bea and Fede did their own things homework etc so I just had to supervise. Fede was making a book that he had written gluing various pieces of paper etc together. Bea was translating songs for me from Italian to English and English to Italian. She was very good. When she wants to she can speak English well...she just often does not want to. Fede loves the 'What does the fox say?' song and keeps asking to replay it he likes the video too. Went our to the park and took an ice cream at Massimo's as he was back open. 

I found Rebecca the cat sat on my bed.  

Wednesday: 

Early awakening. I go to bed too hot so I sleep without the covers but then when morning comes I'm cold so I wake up tired. Today is colder, yesterday was very warm even too hot and the all the mosquitos come out so the cool is better. 

In the morning I did English with Fede then tired him out by walking to Porta Romana to see the hole made by all the rain but we couldn't find it. Then we walked into the centre and I picked up some final gifts for family. I read the map wrong at one point and we ended up going the long way round Fede wasn't impressed and we took the tram back. 

After lunch we went to see some friends of theirs. They live in Porta Romana near the hole so we got to see it after all. 

It was bigger before but they have already stated repairing it. All the heavy rain washed the ground away because underneath it is hollow where all the underground parking is for the flats. 

Another ice cream from Massimo's. I had salter caramel and passion fruit. The caramel was nice not too salty and not too sweet. 

Thursday:

Last full day. In the morning went out to the centre. I picked up some more bits and bobs. Gifts for the kids to say thank for the summer. Alessadra bought me a book, it's cool because on one side of the page it is in English and on the other side it's the same page but in Italian! I choose A Midsummer Nights Dream. After lunch I finished packing had a dilemma run out of weight space. Why I brought so much stuff with me is beyond me I didn't use half of it. They gave me a load of pasta to take back but I don't know if I can because of the weight. When I weigh it in at the airport tomorrow fingers crosse there will be enough room. Had a last last ice cream at Massimo's. Mandarin and Passionfruit the two best flavours. 

Built a race track with Fede out of kapla - jenga bricks. And we raced ball bearings down it. 

For my last dinner Alessandra made Lasagna yum! 

Week 11: Settimana Penultima

Sunday:

Went to church as normal, got assigned a talk to do next week. How fun that will be to write in Italian and also pronounce. Having had gone to bed past midnight and then having got up at 7am I was absolutely shattered especially as I hadn't slept well the night before either. So in the afternoon I had a nap...turned out to be five hours long but I needed it! Luckily Sunday is my day off!! 

Monday:

Today was a weird day. Right from the word go Bea and Fede were at each other's throats...for the whole day. We cleaned the house. Then I did English and reading with Bea tried to with Fede but he refused. He managed to calm down as we read some English. Then the girls came over and we went on a bike ride around Scazzolino as they had just got new bikes. All was fine until one of the girls left then it was two girls via Fede and they teased him unceasingly he did not have a good time. The girls asked to go in my room bad decision later I found out they had gone through everything. All my drawers, my wardrobe, my books as notepad, my bag and even my purse also my surcease and shoe boxes. Nothing was missing but I couldn't help feeling upset as they had disrespected my privacy. Next time they ask the answer is no. In the evening we went to Rovescala for the last night of the festival. The music was better tonight and some of it was English so it was nicer to hear. They had a firework show at the end. It was the best I have ever been to. They were huge and loud and so colourful!

Two mishaps today. 

1 - we went to see the field that the family own which is more like a mini forest and I got a random nosebleed in the middle of nowhere luckily they had tissue in the pick up

2 - after dinner when I took the tab cloth out to shake I didn't realise it had rained and I slipped on the marble steps and fell about halfway down. It was very painful I hit my arm, hip and shoulder. They were all very sore and I had ice on them.  Bruises tomorrow I think. 

Tuesday: 

As predicted lots of bruise all over me from yesterday's fall and dull aches. Fede was on a homework spree today after being threatened with not being able to compete in the motor cross race on Sunday. He summarised a chapter of Italian and did eleven English units. A record. He never gets past three usually. Did some English with Bea also. She had a horse riding lesson in the afternoon Sofia and Alice came to watch and I went to McDonalds to steal wifi again! Watched Cobra 11 it's a German show but they do Italian voice overs. It is very dramatic in the car crash department. Every episode at least five cars die in dramatic over exaggerated ways! 

Wednesday:

Read two chapters of a English book with Bea. Fede a huge contrast from yesterday he managed to only do two units of duolingo and very badly. Today should be called 'hate on Maria day'. If I ever I wanted to cry today was the day. If ever I felt homesick today was the day. The girls came over and stayed for lunch. After lunch all four of them sat on the swings and pretty much covered everything they dislike about me. Clearly none of them realised I could hear it all through the open windows and door...or maybe they knew it. It happened they moved so I went outside to read, they didn't want me to join in play with them. Then they came back...invented a 'code name' it wasn't hard to realise they were still talking about me. Then surprise surprise they want me to take them to Rovescala oh boy I did not want to but we went. Guess who had to carry all the water? Guess whose instructions of stop, slower and move inside away from the cars were ignored? Guess who got mimicked, laughed at and whispered about the whole way there and back. But I didn't answer back, I wasn't mean I remained as pleasant as possible. Maybe one slip up they wanted to play on my phone and I said no. Though they had the gall to ask why. I'm not a total sucker, my patience has limits and they were close to breaking them. Then on the way back they found an injured butterfly on the road Sofia picked it up and they took photos and she was. carrying it away, of course they all know I dislike butterflies and of course Bea wants to put it on my head luckily it decides to fly away.

Thursday:

Another bad day, should have known when I woke up and the weather was bad. Both treating me badly. Hooray. Managed to do some English with Fede none with Bea oh well it's her choice at least I try. Afternoon was a nightmare. To make matters worse it was Alessandra and Stefano's 17th wedding anniversary not such a lovely day for them! Although they went out for dinner while I looked after the kids we had all calmed down and managed to be civil the later the evening rolled on the better we were. Hope this good feeling carries onto tomorrow. 

Friday:
The day Bea goes on protest, avoiding all possible contact. Stefano and Alessandra went out to shop pick up more water etc. she glued herself to her room for the majority of the morning coming out only to pick up her homework books or use her phone. She refused to eat dinner with us. After lunch we went to Bobbio to see where Fede would be racing on Sunday, again Bea did not come. The pitch was big and nice and lined with blackberry bushes so we picked some. I saw a Ramarro, green lizard but it ran off pretty quick. Everyone cheered up after that Bea and Fede went down to Rovescala to play with Sofia and Alice and their cousins for most of the afternoon. One of the cousins Giacamo is so sweet Alessandra said he looks like the little prince and I agree he was very cute. So we all had a quiet afternoon up at the house. Stefano was jet cleaning the motorbike and pick up for the race apparently its a ritual though I am pretty sure they are going to come back covered in dust but oh well. Alessandra was busy washing linen for the appartment downstairs that they are preparing to rent out to people. I caught up on duolingo and helped Alessandra. Also they fixed the shower! The bathroom kept flooding with water, they have a weird draaning system the drain in the shower links to another on the floor outside of it and the one outside kept spewing the water out inside of keeping it down but yesterday they managed to fix it so we were able to have proper showers!

Saturday:
Penultimate day in Rovescala. Bea had a horseriding lesson at 11am and they dropped me off at McDonalds on the way where I now write this. Today is the ultimate day the postman comes to Rovescala before I leave. I'm waiting on a letter from New Zealand and I hope it comes today because otherwise I will be back in England :( Fingers are crossed. This afternoon I have to pack, no time tomorrow as we will be in Bobbio for most of the day and then after dinner we will leave so I will have to do it today.

Week 10: Rovescala

Sunday:

Took the train as usual to church. Some kind of attention warning was given out not sure what was said fingers crossed it wasn't too important! The two sister missionaries were leaving as they had finished their missions so new ones next week, they got me to add them on Facebook so we can keep in touch. 

We had a barbecue lunch and after we went to see a castle and medieval village. Which as it turns out wasn't medieval but built by a duke in the 18th century it is very nice though. 

Drove back and had an early night.

Monday:

In the morning Alessandra and Stefano had to go to Milan for work so I stayed back with the kids. What a fun morning that was. Refusing to do homework, fighting with each other. Fede wanted to start with summarising chapter 2 not chapter 1 in his excercise book. All in all I was glad when their parents returned. 

Tuesday:

Rainy and cold so spent a lot of the day inside eating and watching movies. 

Wednesday:

In the morning me and Fede played spies which involved turning the sofa and table into a tent/prison and me getting shot at a lot and killed. After lunch me and Bea went on a bike ride and picked up Alice and Sofia then we all rode in the pick up up to the motorcross pitch to see Fede ride. 

Thursday:

In the morning we went to look around Pavia. It is a little bigger than Piacenza but still quite small. At least it stayed sunny. In the afternoon the girls came round again and we went on a bike ride around Scazzolino together. Then when we came back we walked into Rovescala to take ice creams. A tiring but fun day! 

Friday:

In the morning I tidied and hoovered up my room. Fede and Bea argued for a lot of it. Tried to coax them into English no success. Sofia and Alice came over to play but left quite soon as their aunt was coming to take them to Pavia to see a butterfly exhibition yuck! After lunch Fede and Bea wanted to go on a bike ride but I said not until they had both done some English. Fede started and then refused to finish so in the end only me and Bea went. After that Bea went horse riding and Alessandra dropped me off at McDonald's where I could use the wifi to google my family and Jemima was there so I got to speak to her too! 

Rovescala has a festival this weekend which I had forgot about until I went to bed and I could hear the singing. Tough nights sleep. 

Saturday:

Pretty much spent the day on no sleep. After not being able to drop off until the band stopped singing I was awoken again by thundering rain at 4 in the morning. Scared of water coming in under the balcolny door I picked up everything attached to the floor of mine - shoes and suitcases - and put them on the other side of the bed to be safe. Luckily it stopped after a bit and I managed to get some more sleep. Today was another weird day yet again noone wants to do any English so I am bored. Can't go out because it's cold and wet. The only exciting thing is the bicycle race going past. 

This afternoon the showers drain decided to stop working and it up chucked water all over the bathroom floor. Alessandra after mopping it poured some acid chemical thing down it to dissolve whatever was blocking it and it smelt horrible it really made you feel sick. 

In the evening we went down to Rovescala again for the festival. They had a live band...with an accordion. Let us now say I hate that instrument with a passion! One song MAY sound good played on it but a whole nights worth was awful. Still it was a fun night free food and music and it didn't rain. 

Week 9: Rain, Sun, Rain, Sun

Sunday:

Late night and an early start up at 7.05 to get ready for church. There were two new sister missionaries as the others were transferred or had completed their mission. They were both lovely and unfortunately they both finish their missions in a week and a half so there will be new ones again! Got picked up from the train station, the family had guests over some friends from Milan. We had lunch and afterwards I went to bed I was so tired I couldn't stay awake and Alessadra sugested I go. I think they find it slightly amusing how much I sleep the hot weather certainly has an effect on me! I managed a nice three hour nap.  Fede and Stefano spent the majority of the day at the motor pitch riding their motorbikes. Fede came back extremely tired and therefore cross and agitated. An early night after a long day. 

Monday:

Woke up at 2.30 in the morning with a massive headache, luckily I was able to find the paracetamol without having to wake anyone up though it took me an hour or so after to get back to sleep. English with Fede and Bea. Cleaned my room out thoroughly with Hoover and sister bye bye all spiders. Went in the pool. 

Tuesday:

Finished reading Alice in wonderland with Bea. Fede got in a really bad mood with me because I asked him I do his guitar practice instead of watching TV. Which he had been doing for the whole afternoon. 

Wednesday:

Went into Broni with Alesandra who did the food shop. More English with Fede. In the afternoon we wet in a walk - me Alessandra Bea and her friend Sofia - round Scazzolino where we picked figs. Fig is a strange fruit it looks like a sea anemone and I have no fondness for it.

A house had it's own little shrine on the side of it in Scazzolino

Fig tree

We also went up to see Fede at his motorcross circuit he was good!

Over a jump: Fede

Thursday:

Lack of sleep last night, it was almost like waiting for Christmas Day to come, waiting for school results. I did respectfully though I had hoped for a little better. Three A's in: Medieval History, English Literature and English Language and an A* in General Studies. I really wanted an A* in History though but nevermind they are still fantastic grades and I've comfortably earned my place at university. In the afternoon a parcel arrived from home with chocolate and English books. Then me Alessandra and Bea went blackberry piling we didn't find many though it had been a bad season for fruit. I caught my ankle on the gate as I was closing it and managed to take a chunk out very sore and makes it a little difficult to walk as it is on the bend.

Friday:

Today is a special feast day in Italy for all the Catholics. So at 10am they all went to mass, I stayed back though I was invited. Though curious to see a catholic mass I thought as I didn't speak Italian there wouldn't serve much purpose in me being there. After they came and picked me up, and then we drove to the mountains where we had a picnic. 

Very green. 

The clouds were pretty, fluffy white with the edges lit up lit silver

After the picnic we went into the woods to pick raspberries we found quite a lot. The kids have found out my fear of insects so kept pretending to thow bugs at me etc. it was funny at first but then annoying. However I got my ownback haha ;) 

After finishing picking fruit we went back to car as it had started to rain. As I opened the boot I saw something jump inside and then dissappear. A lizard. All of them hate lizards, Bea, Fede, Stefano and Alessandra. So I said "wait there is a lizard in the car" already Bea and Fede screamed and ran away (they hadn't even seen it) Alessandra didn't believe me at first because she knew I was waiting to tease Fede and Bea back. I looked in the boot and couldn't see it anywhere. It didn't help I was laughing so much they still thought I was kidding. Until we lifted the base up and there it was in a little side pocket! 

The real screams began now!

It began to rain a little harder. All the contents of the boot was on the ground outside and we didn't know how to get it out. Eventually Alessandra managed to get it out by wrapping it in a cloth which she then flung on the ground. 

It was quite a sweet little thing. 

I think it might have been hurt because it want moving very fast and it was staying in the middle of the car park. Stefano asked if I could move it. So bravely I picked it up and deposited it in the woods. It felt soft rather than scaly but even I got a bit squeamish when it started wiggling in my hand! Of course having now seen me touch the lizard this was too much for Bea and Fede and they refused to come near me, so I chased them round the car park a bit with my finger! Payback for the insects! Then when we had to get in the car to go, I normally sit in the middle but Bea and Fede had squashed right up the other side of the car so I got a nice side seat! They didn't want to be near a hand that had touched a lizard in their words "che schifo".

Saturday:

No horse riding today as the guy is on holiday, so another trip to McDonalds for us! Had a mini brioche. Made good use of the wifi, updated the blog, and all other social network sites. Thank goodness McDonalds is so close to the supermarket or I would never be able to visit it this often. It looks like it might be rain for the rest of the day it rained last night and the day is not looking too good. 

Week 8: Return to the hills

Sunday:

I think this was the first sunny Sunday we have had all summer. It normally rains. I went to church discovered that the trains I normally get back are cancelled due to the summer timetable so I had the option of waiting two hours after church finished for the next train or leave early...I left early. Alessandra picked me up and then we went to see Fede and Stefano race in a motorcross competition. Though actually none of them ended up racing because it soo began raining heavily and the pitch was too dangerous to drive on. 

Monday:
More homework with Fede much to his disgust. Though we managed to get through quite a lot of pages. Played some board games too.

Tuesday:
More homework and board games. We also went to Voghera to the huge supermarket with shops and went shopping. I bought some flat shoes from H and M. They are peach with scallopped edges, very nice. I saw some Vans in footlocker but decided against them, Bea bought some black Nike Air Force. Which are apparently the height of fashion but as Alessandra said they look like orthopedic shoes.

Wednesday:

In the morning Alessandra and Stefano needed to go to Milan for work so I stayed back with the kids. We did more homework and games and watched t.v. In the afternoon when they returned we went back to Voghera because Bea realsied she had bought the wrong shoes. She meant to get the low nike air force and she took the high ones. So I went with them and decided to take the Vans! I got red ones and they are very comfortable.

Thursday:

We went to the Lake of Garda to visit the sister of Alessandra and her family. Also Alessandra's father and wife were there and her brother and his wife and her aunt so it was a little family get together. It was a beautiful place and the weather was good. We ate dinner at a restaurant, walked round the lake and spent the afternoon in their large outdoor swimming pool which though unheated was still warm nice. Me and Fede had races and a competition to see who could hold their breath the longest. 

Lago di Garda

Meal at the restaurant

At the Lake

The outdoor pool. I'm in red at the front. 

Friday:

A sleepless night led to a trying day. I managed to coax Fede into completing four pages of homework and the reading of two pages of the English book. I also read some more of Alice in Wonderland with Bea. I played monopoly with Fede, twice. The first time I was winning until he swept the board clear of all the houses and figures. He wanted to play again and this time he won with 562,500 lira. We spent the afternoon in the pool. And it began to thunder in the evening. 

Saturday:

Today Bea went horse riding and Alessandra dropped me of at McDonalds so I could use the wifi to update my blog and email people hooray! I bought a chocolate frappe it was very nice.

In the evening a family, friends of Alessandra came for dinner. We had a barbecue it was very nice. And the smoke kept the mosquitos away from us. 

Week 7: Tuscany

Sunday:

Beach day! We arrived at the beach at around 10.30 then Alessandra Stefano and Bea went grocery shopping whilst me and Fede stayed on the beach. They got back around 12.30 and we had a picnic. The sea is wonderful, not clear but warm and the waves are huge and powerful it's great fun to swim in. We stayed until 4.30pm and then went to see a friend of theirs who they had met in the supermarket. 

The beach

Cucumber for the sun burn!

Monday:

Another day on the beach. By this point I have rather bad sunburn on my shoulders and back, despite wearing factor 50 sun cream. The sea is nice huge waves to jump over and when it is calm it is great to swim in. 

Tuesday:

It threw it down with rain so we went to visit some mines. Il Parco archeominerario di San Silvestro. It was good fun. We got a guides walk through tour through one mine and then on a train through the second. It was very interesting. We also went to look round the village of Bolgheri and found an olive tree planted in 1720. 

The mine train

Inside the mine

The guide

The olive tree

Wednesday:

Still raining. We stayed in the house all morning it rained so much and then in the afternoon went round Marina Castagneto. Took ice creams and ate them inside the restaurant because it began raining heavily again. Went to the beach on the evening to watch the sun set. 

Thursday:

Went to an archaeological park in Baratti on the gulf. It was very interesting all roman remains of temples and streets and Etruscan houses. We also went to Necropolis to see some burial tombs of the Etruscan tribes (pre roman) that were dug up. Then we spent the afternoon on the beach. 

Pirate ship in the gulf

Foundations of temple A had a secret underground passage 

Remains of the baths

On the Roman road

Me and Fede on too of an Etruscan but

The castle

Etruscan burial tomb

Sarcophagi

Friday:

Last full day in Tuscany so we spent it on the beach. We stayed for the morning then spent the noon hours back at the house because the sun gets too hot and then went back for the afternoon. We made friends with the adjacent people who have a cute little dog called Pino! Went our for dinner at a pizzeria. 

Saturday: 

Packed up to come back to Rovescala. Went home via a terracotta shop - Tuscany is known for making terracotta. They bought a sundial and Fede chose a beware the cat sign. I picked up some little starfish. Hopefully they will make it back in one piece. As soon as we got home it started raining. Also thunder and lightning. 

Week 6: Countryside

Tuesday:

Spent the morning playing with Fede and reading in English. Then for lunch came Alessadra's friend and her two daughters Laura and Carola. Carola had private English lessons and can speak it perfectly but was shy and didn't really talk to me which was a shame. It was a nice day though although too windy to make use of the pool. Later on it started raining too. 

Wednesday: 

We made out to Broni the village past Stradella to go to the market. Unfortunately we found out when we got there that the market was on Friday not Wednesday. We went to McDonald's and set up the wifi to the laptop and phones so hopefully I can use it to google hangout my family when we are near one again. The weather was very windy again so no pool, we played ludo and badminton and read. In the afternoon two girls children of a neighbour came by to play. Bea had an argument about whether she knows more English than I Italian or not. Alessadra thinks I know more Italian. And still she refuses to learn. Me and Alessandra made a cheesecake this afternoon it was very nice with honey in the cheese bit to sweeten it with less sugar and stewed blended plums as a top juicy section. Did some drawing with Fede. My picture:

I thought it came out quite well! 

Thursday:

I slept in, oops but luckily so did everyone else I think the cold weather made us all stick to our beds a little longer. In the morning Bea went horseriding I skipped it this week and stayed back with Fede. More drawing and English and Ludo. 

The work. Pretty pleased apart from the face, hate drawing faces. 

In the afternoon I went biking with Fede and then after taking a nap all of us went on a walk to the centre of Rovescala with the two girls Alice (Ah-lee-chay) and Sofia. Then homemade pizza for tea.  

Friday:

Packing day for Tuscany. Spent the morning playing and doing English and then in the afternoon we packed for Tuscany. It started raining again. There seems to be a pattern, sunny mornings and rainy afternoons. I just hope the weather is better in Tuscany than here otherwise we won't be able to go on the beach!

Saturday:

Up early to finish packing and then on the way to our Tuscan destination. Stopping at Pisa along the way! 

After Pisa we carried on to Marina Castagneto where we are staying in a holiday village. The sea is beautiful. Had tea at a pizzeria I had cipolla e salsiccia (onion and sausage) it was great.