Pull your socks up

Weekend again so it was off to Civitanova, of course, which is really becoming something of a habit. This time our visit was driven by two things: my need for an autumn wardrobe and Stephen’s flirting with subito.it.

Before we hit the big city, however, we had a quick jaunt to our house yesterday morning after my lesson to measure up the future dressing room to see how many second hand wardrobes Stephen would have to source to fulfil his concept for the room. This, I’m afraid, will have to remain a secret till the enterprise is completed, as not only do I lack the words to describe it in its full theoretical glory but with the vision existing entirely in his head I don’t really know myself what’s in store.

We made a hasty getaway in the batmobile after lunch and spent a happy hour or so in OVS then Kiabi sourcing some good value (i.e. cheap) clothes. With nights drawing in and the temperatures dropping (at least at night) it was time, I decided, to increase not only my layers of clothing but also their tog values. Having come to Italy in the spring and consequently beefed up my summer wardrobe, I now had to do the same heading into winter. Whilst I had plenty of suitable clothing, it is still lurking in one of the countless boxes piled up downstairs at La Casa dei Due Baffi.

You will be relieved to know that for a knockdown bargain price I came away with shirts, jumpers, trousers and scarves enough to make sure I have some choice of what to wear when I get up in the morning – and hopefully avoid Stephen repeating his cutting comment of the other day when he congratulated me on dressing to suit all seasons in one outfit. Besides all these goodies, I also entered fully into the Italian best-dressed man contest by stocking up on socks. This may seem a tad mundane but there is a significant difference between British and Italian sock: whilst their British counterparts are short, sheer and prone to wrinkling any moment to reveal uninvitingly alabaster ankles, Italian socks are knee length and comfortingly cosy with no fear of descending to half mast.

Personal shopping over, we then went to a second hand shop to look over a wardrobe and drawers, for the office/guest room, that Stephen had located on his current favourite site. We liked what we saw and duly handed over the money, but not till after the owner had showed us round his shop pointing out other things that might interest us. One of these was a large, and I mean large, table that seemed to be hewed out of one enormous piece of wood and could have accommodated Robin Hood and as many merry men as he could handle at one time. Both Stephen and I had the same idea: perfect for the downstairs summer loft, if only it were not €3000 (he had to be joking) and in need of a crane to lift it into position.

A satisfying afternoon’s shopping completed, we ended the day as usual with date night at the pub (because we can take the kids with us), where they had a special on offer: chingiale pasta. For those of you who have never had wild boar ragù, I can heartily recommend it. I’m sure Pizza Hut will add it to their menu if enough people suggest it.

As for today, Stephen made good his promise of a few days ago and this morning set about painting the bathroom - after we had taped plastic sheeting across the tiles to avoid blemishes from spillage. Then in the afternoon we headed Macerata way to a place called Villa Potenza, where there is a large second hand market every now and again, in search of wardrobes for Stephen’s vision.

We were not disappointed by the size of the market, which covered quite a sizeable area both open and covered, however furniture was in distinctly short supply. I suppose if we had stopped to think about it, it makes sense as (a) why would the sellers transport large items on the off chance they might find a buyer and (b) how would any buyer actually manage to get it home? A large wardrobe certainly wouldn’t fit in our Panda, no matter how many seats we folded down.

To make up for the lack of success we stopped off at Corrodomnia, it being some weeks since we had called, to get an injection of caffeine at the Lindt coffee shop and fully explore the Chinese store upstairs – and for me to get some more of those wonderful long stocks. How good it is to have cosy calves.