I would like to do this blog as a kind of Italian diary of what it is like to be an English person in Italy. I don’t think it will be especially thrilling but more of a this is what it’s really like to live in and own a property in Italy.
I have, last weekend, returned to Italy after spending almost three months in the UK. Coming back has uplifted my spirits and made me freshly aware of what it is like to live here and how it compares to Britain.
Today I am in Ferrara, a Renaissance city known for its beautiful buildings and as the city of bicycles, because they are the most popular form of transport. It’s the home of my daughter and family who have a house which is part of one of the old gates in the walls which surround the city. Tourists come to stand outside and admire the architecture. Italy has so many lovely places to visit!
It was raining earlier this morning but now the sky is a perfect blue and it’s warm so I take a walk to the shops. No coat needed, but the locals are still wearing their padded jackets, scarves and boots. They must be hot, but there’s definitely an unwritten rule about dress code and the season. If there were any UK citizens about some of them, without a doubt, would be wearing shorts.
My route takes me through the green area surrounding the church of San Giorgio with its tall, leaning tower. There is no litter anywhere, trees are in blossom and there’s a smell of fresh cut grass. The ice cream shop has opened after its winter sleep and the bar is busy with people sitting outside. Italians in Ferrara rarely miss an opportunity to socialise. I pass the home made pasta shop and the fruit and vegetable seller. It’s all sold loose and it’s all a lot bigger than I’ve got used to in the UK, and there’s nothing out of season.
In the supermarket there is very little in the way of ready meals and cakes, no PG tips, no Thai curry sauce in jars, but I buy a Colomba cake, which is a delicious Easter speciality and a good bottle of wine for less than €4.00, thinking that in the UK a similar wine would be twice the price and not as nice. Frozen chips sit next to Spaghetti alla vongole.
Time to get the grandchildren from school. The waiting adults are all better dressed than me with co-ordinated accessories, men as well, and dogs too, who wear coats the same colour as their owners. Everyone, except me, is wearing sunglasses!
A lovely spring day, excellent pizza for tea. What could be better?