1 year with the Italian man...

Sorry folks, today is a soppy blog post. Still Italian themed, but definitely soppy.

Today, myself and my lovely boyfriend celebrate our 1 year anniversary. God only knows how he's put up with me for that long, but we've made it!!

 
So this is a shout out to him, and here are a few reasons why he's just GREAT:

1. He is a fantastic cook. Even his simple pasta with tomato sauce is out of this world.
2. He's not only a boyfriend, but a best friend too.
3. He'll drop everything to come and help me/comfort me/cook for me (ahem)
4. He doesn't speak English very often, so that helps me no end with my Italian!! :D
5. He is gorgeous, funny, kind, generous and ALWAYS supports me. 

OK that'll do for now otherwise you'll be reaching for the sick bucket. But anyway, this post is dedicated to him.

Buon anniversario e tanti auguri amore mio! 

(Normal, sensible posts will resume soon, I promise...) 

Mmmm (Italian) chocolate....

I have a very sweet tooth. If you haven't realised that by now, take a look under the 'food' section of my blog. Go on. You'll see many, MANY photos of cake.

Anyway, yesterday, I came across THESE:

They were two little bites of chocolaty heaven. The Perugina brand make absolutely scrummy chocolates, namely the 'Baci', which are 'explained' below:

Don't you just want to eat 10 of them??

 In other news, I have recently joined the official League of Expat Writers! How fancy does that sound.

I have written all about the joys (I say that with a mix of sincerity and sarcasm) of learning a foreign language in expat land, and the lovely Bex over at Leaving Cairo has published it on her blog for me!

Check out the link right HERE!

Hope you're all having a great week so far! :D

Are you LEANING towards a trip to Pisa??

Over the long weekend, myself and my man took a trip 'up north' to Pisa and Florence. I'd never been to Pisa before, and was keen to mooch around and also see that famous tilting tower that they've got up there. The tower itself is actually not that tall (it's 8 stories) but it does have a jolly good lean to it. I did a bit of research, and found out that right from the moment it was built (some time in the 1100s) it started leaning, due to the soggy soil it was built on.

As well as the tower, in the piazza dei miracoli you can also find the grand baptistery, the cathedral and the cemetery, which are all worth a look, even if the tower itself is the piece de resistance.The interior of the cathedral is simply beautiful.

One of the most fascinating things about the tower though, is not to do with its history, or even its construction. What amused me the most, was the amount of people taking photos of themselves/their friends/family/pets 'holding up' the tower. It really was quite a (humorous) spectacle to behold. Naturally I joined in too.

The city of Pisa itself is quite small, but is worth the visit. There's a main shopping/bar/restaurant area which can be found near the river and is easy to navigate. The tower is not central, so bear that in mind if you are staying in the centre of Pisa. We didn't see as much of the place as I would have liked however, as we were tired from the long journey/getting rained on quite a bit. That's the weather up north for you. Now though, I'm safely back in my southern comfort zone (the south of the country, not the drink...) where the weather is, well, also pretty bad actually...

Florence update to follow soon! :D

Support needed! (plus- silly photo...)

A great big BUONGIORNO from southern Italy to you all.

I hope you all had a great weekend. I spent my (long) weekend 'up north', in Pisa and Florence. Full report/pics to come very soon!

Until then, I need your help again blog readers. I have entered a writing competition for an expat website, and I REALLY WANT TO WIN! oh so much! :D

So, all I ask, is that you click on the link below:

The magic link to my super duper article!!!

 and 'like' my story, or share it, or even comment. I would really appreciate it! And to say thank you in advance, here is a very silly photo of yours truly 'holding up' the tower of Pisa in an oh-so-comical way. Ahem.

Thanks again, and happy Monday!!

Happy Halloween from Italy!

Hello everyone. I hope you all have some suitably spooky plans for this evening?

We have been doing special Halloween lessons with the youngsters in these last couple of days. Do you think my look was suitably scary?!

The teeth were actually so uncomfortable I could only leave them in for 5 minutes at a time. Should have gone for a witches hat.

 If you haven't kept up with my tweets (@BritInItaly!) then here's another reminder to check out my horror story on the Displaced Nation website.

check out my story here!

 And finally, my long weekend starts tomorrow! We have decided to take a trip to Pisa and Florence, so expect a write up and pictures upon my return. The weather up there is really  bad at the moment, so hopefully it won't ruin our plans too much. As we'll have to get up fairly early in the morning, I don't have a Halloween rave planned for tonight, but I do fancy getting all cosy and scaring the beejesus out of myself with this classic Italian horror film:

Go on...watch the trailer here....

News and nibbles

I have some exciting news to share with you.

As of yesterday, I became the new contributor to this super stylish blog:

You can find my article on living in southern Italy here, and make sure you stay and look around for a while! There really are lots of pretty things to feast your eyes on.

In other news, it was a friend's wedding yesterday which unfortunately I wasn't able to go to, due to work commitments. So the boyfriend bought me back these tasty treats:

sugared almonds

what can only be described as fried, gooey, creamy, amazing bites of heaven (or: I don't remember their name!!)

 Every guest received a box before they left, and after munching his way through a million courses, my man thought it best that he brought the goodies back to me. Score!

Weekend report

So, this weekend I was supposed to go to a christening, but unfortunately it had to be postponed until December. (Which means rethinking the dress I was planning on wearing. Hmm...)

I did have a lovely time on Saturday though, because I had a very nice meal (well, would you look at that, another post about food...) with some friends at their new flat.

I'm going to admit the fact that I didn't play any part in the cooking (let's face it, would you interrupt an Italian in the kitchen? I thought not...). All I did was wander around, snapping photos and chatting. I did bring the dolce though, which I always consider to be a fundamental part of the meal.

We ate and talked and ate a bit more, then almost fell asleep on the sofa, watching the rain (yes, it does rain here...sometimes!) :D

I adore that yellow wall!

One o'clock IS wine o'clock :D

The secret to a good risotto? It's all in the stirring!

But now it's Monday, so long lunches with friends will have to wait a few days. I do only have half a week this week though, as Thursday and Friday are public holidays. Wooo! And I have a rather exciting trip planned... ;)

All you need is...antipasto!

What finishes off a long, tiring week perfectly (apart from a spa weekend/massive lie in/bottle of wine)?

Yes, that's right, a fabulous Friday feast.

Myself and my man found a cosy, local restaurant and indulged in a host of tasty antipasto dishes.

I think it's best if I let the photos do the talking....

Fresh tomatoes and mozzarella

Who knew veggies could taste this good?

Prosciutto and salami

Bruschetta and Focaccia

Provola cheese from the forno

Pampanella: yummy, spicy pork

Are you hungry now? ;)

Expats Blog Interview (plus- TGIF!!!)

I don't know about any of you, but this week I'm SO glad to see Friday!

Recently, I've been working on some exciting collaborations with other blogs and websites (more about those soon!) but today I thought I'd share a recent interview with you.

The lovely folk at Expats Blog contacted me to do an interview about my experience in southern Italy. And, here it is:

Interview with yours truly...

Feel free to browse the site/tweet/like/share/laugh at the pictures. :D

I hope you all have a smashing weekend! I'm off to (another) christening on Sunday. Dress and food pictures to follow! 

Too much cake?! Is it even possible?!

So, I'm pretty sure by now that you are aware of my love for all sweet things. Gelato, chocolate and in particular, CAKE.

But even I struggled with this helping of sugary/chocolatey/creamy awesomeness that was placed in front of me at a recent family get together:

I mean, oh my WORD. I got through half of it and was almost in a sugar coma already. The hardest thing about it though, was that I wanted to finish it, because it was all just SO.DAMN.GOOD. Starting from the fork and working clockwise, we have nutella cake, some kind of lemony/spongy/gooey thing and of course, tiramisu.

I couldn't eat anything for about 2 days afterwards. Only then was I ready to face the nutella jar again.