What a crock

I think it's a case of love them or hate them. Hate is a strong word but I certainly don't love them. Actually I don't like them at all.


They've not really reached Italian shores yet. Will they or won't they? I'm not sure if they'll go right with the Vespa.

It's too darn hot

It's 39°C on the balcony just now and very humid. I don't like to be air con reliant, but when it gets to 32 degrees in the house then the only option is, in my opinion, to crank up the air con. On days like these I couldn't be without it.

For the first few years here I didn't have air con and I remember the summer nights where it was impossible to sleep becasue of the heat. Night after night I'd lay awake watching TV, this was in the days before we got Sky TV too. I'd end up watching CNN on La Sette channel which was on in the middle of the night. Consequently I was really up on events in America during the summer.

"Here's one I made earlier"

Check these babies out. Only for serious chocoholics I should add. I consider myself a chocoholic, but to be honest I couldn't quite finish one of these. There are lots of versions of chocolate molten cakes around on the net. Nigella and Delia both do their own variations.

There "should be" liquid chocolate inside, but that depends on the cooking time. As it was my first try they were only moist inside and not oozing chocolate, but I'll get it right the next time. They were still delicious.

Another great thing about these is that they freeze well. Put the mixture into ramekins and freeze, then when you're ready just defrost and cook. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side too for a true delight.

Sunday

I’ve fiiiiinally started using a blog reader tool. Before I used to hop from blog to blog and back round again; Quite time consuming and then inevitably I’d visit one of my fave blogs and see that I’d somehow missed a post that was published two days ago. Aargh! Those days are now a thing of the past thanks to Google reader! My trusty new friend - I’ll call him GR for short, tells me when there’s a new post and I’m right there to check it out. So if I comment on your blog five minutes after you’ve posted you’ll know why.

I’ve added the majority of my book marked blogs, and of course those on my right hand column but I still have more to add. All you have to do is insert the link. Easy. Highly recommend it for anyone who follows blogs.

August seems to be a relatively quiet bloggin’ month. Bloggers are only human too I suppose (in a cyber kind of way) and must take a break too.

Mechanical Lemons and more

We went for a drive down the coast to Sant' Agnello yesterday. It's such a beautiful relaxing area. Well, relaxing if you stay away from the lidi. Here's one of the lidi at about 5:30pm - ie not peak time. The thought of being on there in August makes me shudder. No grazie very much. Nice sea but look at those crowds!


Passed the lidi we came to an enormous metal lemon with a man inside selling refreshments. I imagine it sold lemon based products like limoncello and granita di limone, but we couldn't stop so I'm not sure. Or maybe I was too scared to stop, after all we are talking about a man inside a metal lemon. Anyway, if it didn't sell only lemon products, then I think it should do. I would have liked to have taken a better photo but this is all I could manage.


We arrived at Sant' Agnello and had an aperitivo in one my favourite bars. You can see why it's my favourite place, the views are spectacular. There was an American couple on the table next to us who were awe-struck, saying it was like being in a film. I like to see people appreciating Italy like that.

Where to go?

Whilst much of Italy is on holiday it's time to think about my holidays too. I've got some time off in September and I can't decide where to go! We're considering going home-home as in my parents house or to Tuscany which is an area we love. We've always been to Chianti classico before but this time we might go to the part which is near the sea. Not sure what this place is called exactly...Must investigate further. We've also considered getting a last minute package deal, but from Naples there aren't many direct flights so package deals aren't plentiful - at least not to places other than Grecia and Croazia.

Decisions decisions. I could probably even just stay here in Naples and completely relax...

On expedia.com they've got a couple of decent long haul deals from Rome or Milan. You can book online or in person at one of their recommended agencies. This morning we went to the nearest recommended agency to us and guess what? It was closed for ferie.

People Watching

If you've flown BA recently you'll know that instead of the mini complete meals they used to give out, they now give sandwiches out - at least this is what happens on the Italy-England routes. I don't mind the sandwiches but I miss dessert. Anyway, on these flights I pass some time on by trying to figure out where people come from, what's their story etc. It can be difficult, especially when the parents have a bilingual kid. Last week I realised a near fool proof way of identifying if someone is Italian or English at least. It's easy, you see Italians hold their sandwiches in a paper napkin whilst they eat it so that they don't touch it with their hands. The English have a more hands on approach and eat it with their bare hands. I'm not sure what other nationalities do. Being a Brit who has lived in Italy for years, I'm in a bit of a confused state and forget what I'm supposed to do so I eat it half using the napkin and half without.

August

So it's the second day of August, typically one of my favourite months in Naples. This is becasue everyone b*ggers off to their holiday homes. Well, this is how I remember it being a few years ago. Now it seems like people are finally starting to be a bit flexible on the holiday front so some go in July, some in August, plus I think that many people "only" have a few weeks holiday rather than a month or more. This means that today, on the second of August I still found myself sat in traffic :( Fingers crossed the city will be emptier next week. After that it's Ferragosto which is the week when most things close so at least that week should be nice and quiet.

I know, I know, I'm in the wrong place if I want a quiet life, but just for one month, is it too much to ask? ;S