Feeling hot hot hot...

Hello from cloudy England!

Once again I am writing from the UK. I know, I know, this is supposed to be a blog about Italy, and in fact I fully intend to write about Italy. Today, dear readers, I am going to write about the recent heatwave in Italy. Here is a picture of said heatwave:

Well, more or less anyway. To the right, just out of view, it reads: CALDO INTENSO E AFOSO. A rough translation of this would be: BLOODY HOT. 

At the start of July I took a short trip home to the UK to see my parents' new house in Norfolk (which, by the way, is delightful). After a few days of rest, relaxation and eating lots of fish and chips, I was once again Italy bound. Now, I don't know about anyone else, but I always get cold on planes. Is it just me, or do they really whack up the air con to frighteningly cool levels? Anyway, in preparation for this I wore jeans and a jumper. Well done Amy. Two hours later, as I stepped onto the tarmac at Pescara, I was already plotting how I could sneak back onto that chilly plane. There was no air. You couldn't breathe. The heat hit you and smothered you. OK OK I'm being a tad dramatic (just a tad, mind) and I was wearing jeans and a jumper, the latter of which I removed IMMEDIATELY, not caring about my wildly flailing arms as I struggled to get the thing off amidst all the other passengers surrounding me. I wanted my cool, British air back. Oh, and did I mention, this was at 9pm? Uff.

Anyway, I naively believed (along with millions of other Italians probably), that this heatwave would last a few days, a week at most, then flutter off back where it came from and leave us with a nice 29/30 degrees during the day. Well, it didn't quite play out like that. 

Until the very moment that I got back on the plane to come back to England again for a longer stay, said heatwave did not cease. Not for one moment. For three whole weeks. Well, we did have a storm and a drop of rain (which I stood out in and enjoyed...much to the bewilderment of bystanders...possibly due to the fact that I was yelling YES! YES! ...ahem) but fast forward half an hour an the air had become even hotter than before. 

At first, it was just hot. Then the nights got hotter. No bed sheets, fan pointed directly at my face as I slept. Well, I say slept. 4 or 5 hours a night was a good quantity if I was lucky. Gallons of water. Three showers a day. And the SWEATING. Oh dear readers, simply SITTING became a sweat inducing activity. For a while I continued to apologise for it. Then I was too hot and tired to even do that. I simply couldn't wait to get back to England for a beautiful, cool night's sleep. I complained every day to anyone who would listen (and even those who wouldn't). Even the Italians couldn't believe it. (The heatwave, not my complaining. But probably also that too.) 

But for fear of being a negative Nancy (who, me?), I do wish to point out that it wasn't all bad. The small amount of time that I wasn't complaining/sweating/not sleeping/putting my face dangerously close to the fan, I tried my best to enjoy the gorgeous sunshine: trips to the beach, evening swims, mountains of gelato and several glorious sunsets. One evening I took a dip in the sea at 8pm and I have to say that it was simply beautiful.

Yep, heat makes me jump.

So there you have it. That's how a Brit copes (or indeed, doesn't cope. At all) with a heatwave. Seek out shade, copious amounts of gelato, and bodies of water in which to immerse yourself. Oh, and air conditioning. FIND AIR CONDITIONING. Let's just say that I was nowhere near my jeans and jumper for the flight back to the UK this time...

10 signs that you know the southern Italian summer has REALLY arrived...

Apart from the obvious sign of course: that you are really, really, sweaty...

1. You find yourself making more and more excuses to 'do the shopping', knowing full well that all the big stores have wonderful, amazing, incredible air conditioning.

2. You realise that is it ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY to have at least 2 showers a day.

3. You realise that it is also ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY to sleep in the middle of the day. For at least two hours.

4. You will no longer care about getting a tan whilst at the beach. Between 12pm and 4pm, shade is ALL that matters.

5. You find that your gelato/crema al caffè consumption has skyrocketed. (In my case, this means at least one of each per day...at LEAST...)

Mmm...cool, creamy, sugary goodness...

6. Salad, tomatoes, cold cuts and mozzarella will become you dietary staples. Because a) you are often required to do number 1 to get them and b) cooking? When it's this hot? You're joking right?

7. You find yourself walking really, REALLY slowly.

8. Nobody, I mean NOBODY, is out and about between the hours of 12.30pm and 5.30 pm.

9. You ACTUALLY need to drink that 2 litres of water that doctors tell you you should. Because if you don't, dizziness/headaches/nausea may occur.

10. Unbelievably, you start craving the Autumn.

So, stay cool folks. Literally.

Friends and Veggies

Hello folks!

One of the things I least like about being in Italy is the fact that I'm not near to my friends and my family. I can't just pop round to my see my mum and dad for a cup of tea and several (hundred) biccies. Nor can I just jump on a train and see my lovely London friends for a night of several (not hundred) cocktails. So when one of my friends comes to visit me here in Italy, it doesn't half put a big smile on my face. Despite the fact that there is the added pressure of making sure that they are well fed/comfortable/not bored/not being harassed by Italian men, I love having people to stay, and now I've got my new place with an extra bed and wonderful roof terrace, it's so much more fun!

My first official guest (Anika) came to stay this last week, and it was great having her around. We stayed up until ridiculously early hours of the morning, just chatting and drinking wine and generally relaxing. I also took her to the beach, for some seriously good ice cream/pizza/other delicious foods and of course, made sure she met all of my Italian friends here. They loved her, she loved them, and she wants to come back really soon. Here's hoping!

So now onto the weather. I am British you know, so it's mandatory that we discuss the weather every now and then! I've been hearing that in the UK the summer has well and truly arrived- yay! Normally my decision to spend the summer in Italy (even though I don't work in the summer months) is well and truly reinforced by the fact that British summers are usually dismal anyway, so I'm not missing out on much. But when it's actually hot and sunny there, I do get a longing for picnics in the park, outdoor pub lunches and countryside walks. I'm heading back to the UK in August, so let's hope the weather stays sunny until then!

And finally, this would not be a sunshine and tomatoes post without some reference to food. I've included a couple of photos of some of the delicious cibo that I have been tucking into lately, so if you're prone to food envy, look away now. Also, check out this whopper of a courgette (!) that my boyfriend's uncle gave to me. Will keep you posted on subsequent courgette recipes! (After all, I think it'll last about a week...)

Home made parmigiana

Can't even begin to describe how good this was (Thanks Antonio!)

With fresh buffalo mozzarella...mmmm

The giant courgette.

Happy Monday!

Summer days...?!

So, I'm sat here at my computer, with my balcony doors wide open, wearing jeans and a VEST. Yes folks, you read that correctly. Here in the south, the weather is GORGEOUS. So gorgeous in fact, that yesterday we decided to head to the beach. I was still a little unsure about subjecting my feet to the still icy sea, but, after a long winter, I was finally able to feel the sand between my toes. And it was amazing.

So here's hoping that, after several recent 'weather optimistic' blog posts, the spring actually HAS arrived, and will very quickly turn into summer. Days at the beach, 'mandatory' afternoon naps due to the intense heat and of course, the perfect excuse to indulge in a LOT of gelato. Wherever you are and whatever you're doing, I think I speak for everyone when I say:

BRING ON THE SUMMER! 

Have a great day!