We did it - we finally had the 'BBQ Event of The Year' and we had a great night and we hope that everyone enjoyed themselves.
Sarah and Mark's activity
Questions Asked
Wed, 07/15/2009 - 08:22
Well we just can't get Jessie out of the water and to celebrate her 9 month Birthday, we went down to our lovely Lago di Ruffino for a swim!
Thu, 07/02/2009 - 15:42
Did anyone just feel that earth tremor at 11pm. Here near Amandola it was very strong but short, the first we have felt for a while. Hope this does not mean there is worse to come.
Mon, 06/22/2009 - 18:15
Had a great meal in Da Cicco in Gualdo last night. Although it was 10pm when we arrived, Michelle the lovely waitress was very helpful and friendly (she is Romanian) and spoke very good Italian and English.
Mon, 06/22/2009 - 10:04
The devastating earthquake that struck the region of L'Aquila on April 6th 2009 is long gone from newspaper headlines and television reports.
Sat, 06/13/2009 - 04:58
The Marche Chapter are holding a BBQ to raise funds for the victims of the L'Aquila earthquake on Sunday 21st June, hosted by Sarah and Mark at their home Villa Conti (please pm Sarah for directions) from 3pm.
Sun, 06/07/2009 - 11:15
Please can we make a list of raffle tickets bought and add them on here when we have been notified. If we can try and just keep this post for the raffle ticket listing so that it is easier to add up. Thanks.
Fri, 06/05/2009 - 18:15
Please can we list here any raffle prizes we have collected or are donating, so that we can all see what we have:
Fri, 06/05/2009 - 10:41
More raffle prizes! - Sarah who works at Cicerone, the publishers of the walking book we found, has very kindly donated a copy for our BBQ. Anyone else collected any prizes - we need as many as possible!
Tue, 05/26/2009 - 11:53
Comments posted
We have had our hand luggage weighed on all the Ryanair flights we have been on in at least the last 2 years. Either Ancona or Pescara to Stanstead or Ciampino to East Midlands. One time on the return flight from Stanstead to Pescara, our hand luggage was weighed at the check in desk and again at the entrance to the security checking area, so do not think you are safe even after the initial check in. This is even though our bag is well within the size allowed. Please be aware also that they make you put any handbags you may have inside your hand luggage - only 1 piece allowed inside the cabin in total!
Its looking good for Sunday - weather seems to be picking up at last (probably because my visitors are going home tomorrow!).
The L'Aquilla fund raising BBQ will now be held on the 5th July 2009 at Sarah and Marks near Amandola at 3pm, so can you all wish for some sunshine please and hope that all those who could not make it last Sunday can now come. Please support us - we are doing our best to get the BBQ underway, the only thing we can not control is the weather!!!
Hello Helen,Very sorry about the BBQ but I made a point of emailing you at 3.56pm yesterday as soon as I could after we had decided to cancel. Sorry you did not see it in time. I tried my very best to email everyone I knew was attending. There were very bad storms all day Saturday, so I sent the emails at the first oppertunity I could when we had power. Do hope you can make in next Sunday. Sarah
A x 6 ishM x 1K x 6P x 2A & J x 2Am's x 4A & R x 2B x 1D x 1S x 1A & J x 2S & M x 2J & J x 2K & J x 5K x 1L & Mum x 2K & S x 2P & J x 4Paul & Jane x 2A's Americans x 2C & S x 2Rod x 2Helen x 3 TOTAL TO DATE = 55 approx!!! WOW
It WILL NOT be raining next Sunday as we have no family or friends visiting us. So all will be fine!
Maybe that's it Badger - they may just want the locals going in but even so, to actually only have one menu with the inflated prices scribbled on, they are shooting themselves in the foot as how many tourists/ foreigners actually dine out on their own. They need at least 2 menus I would have thought. Oh no, now I am just giving them tips on how to do things the 'wrong' way! We need to sort out the incident at the time (although as when we tried, it really spoilt our dining occastion). The problem is the last thing that happens is normally the most memorable and in our case it was the bill. In our restaurants we used to serve Mars Bar Cheesecake and as this was very often the final meal experience, guests would rememnber how good it was and travel for miles around to try it again. Lets just hope that we can get through to them, especially as many holiday guests are now arriving for the Summer season - we have already played a small part in getting one restaurant in the area closed down who wanted to charge us €100 for 6 pizzas and 2 jugs of house wine (the pizzas were €5 each on the menu and the wine €3), they refused to give us a bill - but that is another story!
I can honestly say that in over 25 years of working in restaurants, we have never ever kept the change from any customers bill (would be horrified at the thought of doing so) and have always trained our staff to do the same - never 'presume'. Many times the guests actually say 'keep the change' but then they have made this choice. For this to happen in Italy is even more shocking as, rightly or wrongly, we have always been led to believe that tipping is not the norm and the cover charge partly includes the tip. I think that the most important thing we can do is complain at the time and do something about it, showing thet the 'stranieri' are not a pushover as some Italians presume. Then make a note and let us all know where and what we need to keep an eye out for. I fully believe that it is very much the minority of restaurants/ shops taking the **** but if we are aware and know what to look out for, we can give them a second chance to get it right. If then there are still issues, we need to work out our next plan of action. Happy dining!
The one I am looking at def says 09!!! Help????
Yes the food is great - it is such a shame about their policies. I think the best thing we can all do is to keep an eye out on the menu prices and on the bill prices, complain if they are wrong and tell them they will loose their business as you will not recommend them to others, which is a shame as there are many tourists arriving for the summer. It must be illegal - can not imagine any country, even Italy, to allow this type of scam. Maybe we could set up group on here to report things like this, so we are all aware and can notify each other of any unusual findings. We have run restaurants for many many years, so problably we are some of the more fussy customers when it comes to standards, both in service and food quailty, but we would hate to feel that us 'foreigners' are being taken advantage of in any way. What do you think?