1342 Every Day life in Italy - Just Curious

;) Last night as I finally left work and went home, ran into the kitchen and poured the biggest glass of wine I could (really rough day at work), I was thinking what is a typical day for most of you, George, Lyn, Frances, others. I know a strange question, probably not too much different than mine, but see I fantasize about Italy, living there, I will one day, but right now is not the time of course, when the Karma is good and all falls into place then I will be there, until that time I fantasize about living there. So I want to know how most of you live it.

My typical day - up at 5:00 a.m. on weekdays - sometimes I go to the gym, sometimes I will lay in bed until 5:30 - get ready for work, stop at Starbucks, go to work-work all day at a job that I do like except for yesterday.... no e-mail, it was down. The brokers think I'm a I.T. person and not the Office Manager when computers or e-mail goes whacky - life sucked at work for awhile. I'm an office manager for a commercial real estate company - busy a good percent of the time :) Anyway, go to the grocery store after work, visit with my husband, while one of us is fixing dinner, shower, bed, start all over. Phone calls from my daughters :). Oh and my puppy dogs got to hang out with the dogs!

How I see myself living in Italy and how you all do it now - I think this is where the really creative side comes in for me. Waking up in your house that has this wonderful property around it, green and beautiful, coffee in the kitchen, working in the yard, some of you off to work, but a majority working in the yard, reading, going to the open air market, chatting with the locals, coming home from the market with fresh vegetables, meats, fish, etc. fixing dinner, having a glass of wine or beer, maybe going back to the Piazza and visiting with friends. So romantic and laid back is how I picture your every day life.

Crazy I know - I don't know why I think your life in Italy is so different from mine - I guess I just admire, envy, you all for being able to live over there. I want to know what is a typical day - average for most of you.

Peggy :p

Category
General chat about Italy

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 09/14/2005 - 12:08

up at 6am let dogs out go back to bed up around 8am (ish) light breakfast shower feed dogs let guard dogs out around 9am log on check mail and forums around 10am drive down to bar through fields of sunflowers (till last week when they slaughtered them all) have caffe Moretto and cake filled with crema (have to maintain body shape, a bit like a reverse gym programme) walk Neo so that he can meet his adoring public, sit in piazza for a while, around 12.30 return home, light lunch watch Fox News, laugh like a drain, nap, bit of houseworky stuff Orzo Italian for an hour, then whatever is on for evening... boring really, and exhausting ;)

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 09/14/2005 - 12:59

Up 5am...'cos I want to get up...sign onto forum...talk to myself as no-one else up ...or on forum !!!...start a mammoth bread making morning ....do a bit of ironing in between bread and forum...drink loads of coffee....about 7-ish have Special K and plain Yoghurt...more coffee....go for a wander round garden checking plants and cuttings.......7.30-8ish...Alex gets up...sit on verandah having tea and coffee...after shower...take dog for walk ...9.30am Alex off to school ( well his Italian Lesson !) . He does shopping on way back !

Finish bread making ..get lunch...risotto with porcini mushrooms ( recipe from Forum !!!)...snooze on verandah......have lemon tea...then plant some rampicanti round new archway to new blue and white garden .....both of us and dog then go down to orchard and spend rest of afternoon harvesting almonds...and notice more of olive trees spouting olives......sit on verandah cracking nuts....and realise we have forgotten what to do with them.....sign on forum and set 2 old posts about almonds running at the same time , just to annoy George ;) ......now signing off as 2 men coming to give quote for irrigation system...sky black..storm due ...and loads of rain lately ...do we need one !!!!....
.....and this is a quiet day...what a life...doing all the things I never had time to do before...I love it !!!!!!! :)

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 09/14/2005 - 17:56

During my 5week stay in the mountains, I would wake around six go out onto the balcony and watch the sun rise, watch the clouds above Turin that were below me gently rise for the next couple of hours and wonder if they would stay level with our house or rise further and give us a beautiful sunny day. Make sure the kids all had breakfast washed and changed etc. Kids would feed animals, play in the sloping fields of the mountains or help me pick the vegetables in the fields for lunch/dinner or pick the herbs and more tender salad veg etc in the greenhouse. Go for a walk after a long lunch and a glass or two of vino rosso, usually ending up in the village shop/bar for a gelato. Sit on the bench outside the church trying to practice my italian with the locals who wanted to know who the strange person was with some of the local children. (managing to tell most of them i was staying with my Kitchen instead of my cousin, cuccina/cugina). Think they liked me they all laughed not sure if it was with me or about me but they said they would see me next year. Walking back up the mountain to the house and looking after all the children while others cut the grass and raked it all up for the animals during the winter. Children then helped me to decide what was on the menu for the night, lots of conversation in English with games and magazines to make sure my cousins children carry on learning to speak English. Phoning my cousin and her husband 30mins further up the mountain who were running their rifugio to see what sort of a day they had had. Finally my time again sitting on the balcony with a glass of Dissarono looking down onto the twinkling sparkling lights of Turin and listening to the Church bells of all the mountain villages signalling the time completely out of synch with each other like it is some sort of competition. Oh not to forget my weekly trip to the market on the mountain bus to the nearest town for my shopping fix. NOW, well back to reality just the same as you Sweetpeg back in the office chaotic IT systems everyone telling me they are priority and dreaming of the day when my life in the mountains is my permanent life and not the offfice.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 09/14/2005 - 21:55

Deb, Lyn is right that was great - oh my gosh. As I write this it is early Thursday morning for you. It is 6:45 p.m. Wednesday, you are nine hours ahead of me - so good morning. Deb, awesome, plus good for you adding your "two cents" Yahoo! See how easy :) George, Lyn you are blessed you know. Whether you believe like that are not - you are truly blessed to me. Deb you are too, we just are blessed in other ways until we both get to live in a place we love, love, love!!!!!! How about great Karma, lucky, whatever you want to call it, that is what it is!!! :)

You know I am so sure that there will be a day that someone will get on this website go to forum and ask what is your typical day like in Italy and guess what? I will be able to tell them!!!!!

Okay, got to find something to make for dinner - it was a better day at work today ;) Hugs to all of you - Okay yea, that is a California, earthy thing to say, I like to hug, what can I say. :D

Peggy

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 09/15/2005 - 03:46

[QUOTE=Sweetpeg]Deb, Lyn is right that was great - oh my gosh. As I write this it is early Thursday morning for you. It is 6:45 p.m. Wednesday, you are nine hours ahead of me - so good morning. Deb, awesome, plus good for you adding your "two cents" Yahoo! See how easy :) George, Lyn you are blessed you know. Whether you believe like that are not - you are truly blessed to me. Deb you are too, we just are blessed in other ways until we both get to live in a place we love, love, love!!!!!! How about great Karma, lucky, whatever you want to call it, that is what it is!!!

You know I am so sure that there will be a day that someone will get on this website go to forum and ask what is your typical day like in Italy and guess what? I will be able to tell them!!!!!

Okay, got to find something to make for dinner - it was a better day at work today ;) Hugs to all of you - Okay yea, that is a California, earthy thing to say, I like to hug, what can I say.

Peggy[/QUOTE]

ROFLOL, we are indeed blessed Peg, doubly blessed by the friendship of people like you :D

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 09/15/2005 - 03:52

I think if you are retired, the days can be very special but as a mom to young children who works I can say that my life is pretty much the same as before I came over. The differences being I now have two kids that keep me busy (but that has nothing to do with Italy) instead of a restaurant and I have killer views!

My day starts at 5:30 so I can have a bit of me time before the kids get up. at 7. The it is breakfast, teeth, backpacks, snack for school and run to catch the schoolbus. Then it is off to work on my sites, do laundry, clean house, whatever. Then pick up the kids at the busstop, get them snacks, take them to skating classes or to the park or like today to a birthday party. Get home, dinner, wash dishes, get the kids to bed, veg in front of the TV for an hour and then off to bed for us. Weekends, the kids are home so we just play outside or at the park, watch movies, hang out.

Exciting? For me, Yep I love it but I think that it has nothing to do with where we live.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 09/15/2005 - 07:13

Cor ... I'm speechless Will. Are you a professional writer?

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 09/15/2005 - 07:27

You are making me jealous…. In a grey rainy English day your posts make me feel happier :)

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 09/15/2005 - 10:42

Will that was awesome!

Christine you are right has nothing to do with where you live, but what a great opportunity to ask this question and hear what people have to say about there typical day. Like I said I'm here in California my day isn't much different - just different country - different scenery.

Isn't it fun though to see what everyone else does during the day? I'm one of those people that when I take a walk I'll start making up a story about the family who lives in the house - it amuses my husband :p heck amuses me.

Thanks for sharing ;)

Peggy

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 09/15/2005 - 12:54

Gee Will, I'm a director and if I ever get enough people together in Le Marche to
direct a play, I'm going to hunt you down to play the leading roll!

Can you put that much passion into an acting role? ;)

Dee