Italy, October 2020

[cheb]

I've discovered pizza fritta. Think pizza, deep fried. Should be rank, but they're delicious.

I've put on 5kg at least.

See if you can find deep fried custard. A very firm egg custard, breaded and then deep fried.

[Nordboy]

Sounds great, looks great. I really love Italy, well the places that I've been to in Italy!

As a side point, where did you get your 72 hr covid test done? My brother is off to the far east at the end of the month and needs the same but he can't seem to find anywhere to do the test. Either that or more likely, he's just being a twat!!

[gremlin]

TBH, my local walk in NHS testing centre. There was nobody there.
I'd tried looking for a private test but it was impossible. Went to to the local one with an appointment, was in and out in 15 minutes. Place seemed to be run by Arge from TOWIE, but worked well enough. That was on Thursday, results by Saturday morning.

Nobody asked for it at Bologna, I have to add. Very odd as Italy is shit hot on covid.

[Bigyin]

Sounds great, looks great. I really love Italy, well the places that I've been to in Italy!

As a side point, where did you get your 72 hr covid test done? My brother is off to the far east at the end of the month and needs the same but he can't seem to find anywhere to do the test. Either that or more likely, he's just being a twat!!

Online NHS, they ask if you have any of the below symptons .......tick loss of smell or taste, Hey presto, testing appointment the following day with results from 24 to 72 hours by text or email

[Alan PBTD]

Really enjoyed reading this thread - especially as I remember some of the places when we went to WDW. Just wondered if gremlin had any final thoughts / comments on the trip ?

Might be an option in 2021 as we can just about get to Tesco's @ the moment...

Got a voucher from a cancelled trip to Ireland for June 2021 but the way things are that looks doubtful.

[gremlin]

In no particular order....

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Prato is, so they tell me, the second-largest city in Tuscany after Florence. It deserves to be better known as the duomo is nice, it's very walkable and has nice restaurants. The old city is walled and there are lots of little side streets to explore. We took a train into Florence for shit and giggles which took 35 minutes and cost Eur5.20 for both of us each way.

[gremlin]

Florence. What can I say? It's a gorgeous town. A bit touristy around the centre, but to be expected. There's a really good food market that has many different stalls selling all sorts of local street food.

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[gremlin]

Sestri Levante, near Genoa and Portofino. Think Whitstable with better weather.

We stayed in a nice hotel perched high on a hill. You could take a lift from the ground level up to the reception. As you approached the tunnel carved in the rock face the lights came on, as did the jazz-style music. Kid couldn't resist playing the 'air sax'. . We then ran down the long corridor laughing like loons, only to be confronted by an elderly Italian couple coming out of the lift. They thought it was funny!

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View from the drinks terrace. We were the only ones there. Mind you, the kid ordered a Mojito that was Eur 15. The tight-wad in me balked at that.

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and the street during the day:

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[gremlin]

Modena. One of my favourite places. Small enough to be intimate and cosy, but big enough to be interesting. Nice vibe with lots of outdoor bars and restaurants. Good place for a weekend trip IMO.

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And this is where the Gremlinette got her first tattoo. Bad parenting on my part.

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All in all, a bit of an odd one given all the restrictions, but glad we went. It's nice to spend some time with my daughter and I do genuinely like her company. She's good fun to be with and we share the same sense of humour. And shit taste in tattoos.

The tattooist didn't speak much English, but summed up how we all feel, I think, with a simple comment: 'Fuck covid!'

[Dodgy69]

Is it a Chillie.?

[gremlin]

Is it a Chillie.?

Yes. In southern Italy the 'cornicello' is a lucky charm, said ward off evil spirits. The Italian 'corno' means horn, and over the centuries the horn and chilli have sort of merged to be a good luck symbol.

I have more traditional cornicello on my inner bicep, but I insisted that if she was having one, it was small and discrete. The tattooist was from Calabria, in the deep south of Italy so his face lit up when we described what she wanted. Drew it free hand and went over it. Gremlinette insisted it had to be red, not black.

She's happy and even Mrs. G said it was ok. My testicles remain attached.

[Bigyin]

Gremlin, Thanks for the thread and the info within it.

Showed the missus bits of it including the bike hire costs and her first reaction was "Thats actually nowhere near as expensive as i thought it would be so not bad at all"

Hopefully be able to talk her into a trip when some sort of normality returns or even just when its a bit warmer as Italy on a bike has been one of my "wants" for a while

[gremlin]

Gremlin, Thanks for the thread and the info within it.

Showed the missus bits of it including the bike hire costs and her first reaction was "Thats actually nowhere near as expensive as i thought it would be so not bad at all"

Hopefully be able to talk her into a trip when some sort of normality returns or even just when its a bit warmer as Italy on a bike has been one of my "wants" for a while

Keep me posted. Happy to share any info or give tips if needed.