Ziatitina

Hello, hello!

Another week, another story and this time little Tine adventured to the deep of East London... the dog races in Walthamstow. As you can see, it's not difficult to miss and what a fun night it has been!

Lisa's birthday was reason enough to try something a little different, so Lucy and myself left Paddington around 6pm heading towards Walthamstow. For those of you who don't know...it's still in London, on the Victoria Line. Considering the usual engineering works, two tubes and a replacement bus we had to take we didn't do too bad and arrived in front of the Stadium by 7.45pm. Just in time to miss the first race.

It's completely different than anything I would have ever expected, there are various little bars build on stairs around the track, so you can see everything properly. Inside each little bar (or whatever you want to call it, I'm not sure) is a bar, a kitchen, loads of tables (on stairs as well) and a betting boot. Ha ha ha, we obviously had to try that one out and while I was having serious issues understanding the different bets one could do I decided to go down the easy way and pick a dog to win. Number 4, GO PRINCESS ... and guess what?? I won! Ha! The winnings went straight into a glass of tap-Chardonnay for Lucy and myself, and I am still very proud of winning without having the faintest idea bout dogs! What can I say, there is a race every 15 minutes or so...if not 30, you can eat, you can drink and the whole place holds its breath while those gorgeous greyhounds buzz around the track. All in all a really good night out. If it only wasn't for the long way there...but even that is no reason for complain, it took us 1 hour to get back to Marble Arch. Flying I call that :)

On another note, my blog has just turned 1 and I am quite shocked and surprised how quickly that went by (and me being able to keep on writing...). But, my birthday came and went, and exactly a year ago I received this gift from my little bro. Let's see how much longer I can keep this up :). Fear not, I am having way too much fun sharing my random stories. Watch this space, there is a big party coming up on Friday and I intend to gather tons of photographic evidence ha ha ha!

Take care

Tine x

Only one comment..... it's snowing.

Heeeeelllloooo? Did I miss something here?? It's the 19th March and I have to fight my way home with ice-cold winds and S-N-O-W???!!

Enough of that - I WANT SUN!!!!

Ok, I admit it...it's also Monday and I have the good "Monday Blues" so a bit of general grumpyness is just part of me today, but still... it's been a fun weekend with lots of sleep, more sleep on the couch, movies and a rather funny evening out at a Pub near Regent's Park. Walking into what was supposed to be a rugby afternoon and turned out to be a stag due was hilarious! The obvious question " Are you the stripper??" didn't take long to arrive and after an initial I-don't-think'I'm-really-comfortable-here feeling it turned out to be a really good laugh. Do I need to say more? :) A bit of a different St. Patrick's Day celebration, but definitely worth it.

The pictures with the stupid hats will follow shortly, I haven't downloaded them yet. In the meantime I wish a lovely week (without snow!!) to everyone.

Tine

Time to catch up on a few things....it's already Wedensday evening and I haven't put a single picture from my weekend trip online. Well...be patient, they're coming, but not much this time. The most (photographic) attention was given to a little princess called Beatrice, who is now almost 4 month old and is a real beauty. Sorry, couldn't help it! Anyways, it was time for me to briefly head back to Milan once again to catch up with everyone after 5 months. Oh yes, it's already been 5 months since my last visit...shame on me!

So, little Tine makes her way to the City Airport on a sunny Thursday afternoon to try out a new way (and airline) to Milan. If you have never used it, let me tell you... City Airport rocks!!! Not only did the whole check-in / security thing take good old 15 minutes in all, on my way back I was so quickly out of the airport - with bag and all - that I still can't believe it!!! Brilliant. I'm slightly tempted to make a few comments about the "suits" around there, but that would not be fair. I felt a bit out of place though....and all because I don't own a Blackberry!!

Bene and Ste picked me up from Linate, off we went for a quick sandwich at Panino Giusto and around 10 pmI finally turned up at home...a bottle of white wine later it's 1 o' clock in the morning and Daddy and myself are pretty merry. Ha ha ha, what a classic! Friday morning...the sun is shining and I'm loving it...take the sunnies out...go for a little stroll around the streets in Brera....pop by the hairdresser (I ALWAYS do that...don't ask) and meet Bene and Ade in Centro for lunch. It didn't really turn out to be lunch, but my girlies and me just sat outside Bar Senato for a coffee and caught up on the gossip. Can it get any better? The afternoon was relatively calm, dinner at home with mum and dad and around 10.30pm we met at Noon, a really nice Bar in Via Boccaccio. Various Vodka-Lemons later we make our way to Shocking Club and I think I rolled out of there around half past 3 in the morning....

A couple of hours later I woke up with a terrible hangover, but that had to be fought relatively quickly, because Bene and I were due to meet Fra and little Bea. Off we went and....

That's it, I left a little piece of heart behind. Fra is looking better than ever, YUMMY MUMMY comes into mind :), and the little princess has taken us all by storm. Now I just have to find some London outfits to bring back the next time I visit. You wait for it, I'll come up with something unique......

Time flew by way too quickly, and after a small pit stop at home off I went again to meet the gang at Smooth for an Aperitivo, followed by a really nice dinner somewhere outside Milan. I can't even remember the name of the town, but this Osteria was on the way to Pavia somewhere. Gnam, it's hard to beat a good plate of affettati.... yes, you guessed right, I ate like a little pig. Worth every bite. Sometime after midnight we got back to Milan and I could just fall into bed, totally exhausted. Sunday was family day. My bro and his girlfriend were visiting from Bolzano as well, so Mum and dad had all their hands full in organising a feast for lunch. By 2pm I was already on my way back to Linate (grazie mille Dadina!!!) and shortly after we took off direction London City Airport.....

There you have it, summarizing 3 spectacular days is actually not that easy and some of it sounds very boring. Whatever, I had a great time and that's all that counts! It looks like the next couple of months will be eventful, with a Birthday Party, visitors from Rome, visitors from Milan, visitors from Germany and a trip to Nice coming up. Watch this space. Now I better take care of this weird pseudo-cold that I have caught somewhere (Dada?!) which is totally driving me mad and taking my voice away.

Guys, thank you for looking after me once again. Love you all to bits!!!

Tine

The suitcase is almost packed, still lots of bits and pieces to do, but I will hopefully manage to get a good night sleep and head off to Milan tomorrow afternoon. Yay! I can't wait.... 3 full days at home, pure bliss if you ask me!! It's been a mental start to the week, it's only Wednesday and I'm exhausted. Nobody ever come and tell me that I have a boring job, because that can't be possibly true! I love what I do and these little stories just contribute to make it even better!! Don't worry, I am not going to bore you with details, but climbing down a lift shaft was certainly one of the strangest things we had to do so far. I guess I'll find myself one day and write a book about all the "adventures" that we have been through ( including the naked man!) Well, I can certainly tell you now how to repair the "clonking" of an elevator. Pssssst, I know it's a health & safety risk, but in emergency situations one has to take emergency measures! :)

I wanted to share this small gadget with you that has been hanging above my bed for a couple of weeks now. It comes back with a funny reflection on this picture, but I am sure some of you will recognize places and time when these pictures were taken. :) Let's see that we can fill up the gaps soon!!!!

The Lasagne are almost ready, so I will leave you..... Have a fantastic weekend wherever you are and let me know if you are in London on 30th March as we have finally found a suitable venue for the Birthday Party!!! I'm getting old....

Tine x