OK, Italy isn't rubbish

Yeah, I had my rant, that's ok. It was well deserved and I meant every word.

But.

Here are some things I like about Italy.

The coffee, well at least the coffee at Tazza D'oro, was very nice. Any country that regulates the price of coffee must be heading in the right direction. I had some very tasty espresso in Rome ranging from average to very good indeed. Good enough for me to buy a kilo of it. Monmouth Coffee in London still takes top slot though.

When in Rome try this cafe for a nice quiet coffee where you won't be harrassed by the people who run it.

Very close to the Colleseum too.

Gelati, yum, my tummy got bigger and I ate a heap of the stuff. Love it. Amereno and Chocolat, by the litre.


Italian drivers, yes, they do try to get 4 lanes of traffic where there should be 3 but. Oh hang on, no buts, they are rubbish.

Not much there really is there. Best we move on.

Next stop , Blackpool. This is it, the big day, donkeys on the beach. The night before and a few beers we have made the decision. Come rain or shine. Most likely rain. We are going to Blackpool.

Then disaster. My niece informs me via Facebook that Friday is Donky Day Off. Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo...

I doesn't matter, we can still see the family, perhaps the wether will be ok, perhaps we will see the beach? So we did. We set off in the pooring rain having packed out cagoule and weather beating cream, (the equivilent of sun tan lotion in Blackpool). Off we went.

It rained and rained and rained all the way there and as we pulled up to the house of my sister the grey clouds rolled over. Welcome to Blackpool.

That didn't stop the smiles though, all the kids, neices, great neices and great nephews, my sister and brother in law. It was, as Tracy would say, ACE.

Without being there I have no nway of conveying the atmosphere. It was great. I loved every moment and then something strange happened. The clouds parted, the sun shone and the blue skies appeared. This last happened in Blackpool in 1958 and was recorded as the longest summer in history which lasted for 6 hours.

I jumped on the chance and immediately called, "Beach, prom, ice cream NOW!!!" We left for the Golden Mile straight away and 30 minutes later everyone was out of the door and in the car. That's what happens when you have 8 kids in tow apparently.

What you have to realise about Blackpool is that the charm is in the kitchness. With the sun shining we hit the prom front and stopped for ice cream.

7 kids, each one wants a different ice cream. They all got pink and white. A very very cluey ice cream seller saw my pain and announced to the children that he only had pink and white left. LOVE HIM!

The pier is calling me now, the rides, the flashing lights, the carnies. Yes, the carnies. "try your hand, win a toy, give me all your money"

So we head up the pier, the kids go MENTAL and I mean MENTAL. The screams the running around, the wide eyes. 

What could I do after feeding them all sugary treats. I had to over stimulate them on rides before handing them back to their mums and leaving. 

Harry and I went on the helter skelter and everyone went on the ferris wheel. I probably shouldn't have told Ellie that if you make the ferris wheel cage spin round enough it unscrews and falls off. Still , I enjoyed it.

This is now officially and epic blog post. Still we have done a lot lately. 

Next stop, WALES!!!!!  I love my exclamation marks.

I think I will stop blogging now and have my beer and maybe go to bed early. This brings us almost up to date. We did go to Wales today. Wales basically equates to rain and castles, in that order. Possibly Fish and chips and seagulls.

You will find out in the next thrilling installment what happened in Wales.