alexist

I left my iPod in the seat pocket on the airplane. 2nd time I've done that. I'm going to ring BA in a few.

(OK... I need to ring Heathrow and they're closed till 8am tomorrow.)

I also came home to a letter from the US Embassy. I didn't specifically write in the employment section that I'd been unemployed/a housewife. So I have to write a letter saying that. Bah.

Holiday write-up will no doubt take some time; in the meantime I've uploaded the photos. Titles and descriptions are gradually being done. :-)

I have a toothache (UR7). That tooth already has a giant filling in it so I'm worried that further work may mean a root canal, post and crown. I cannot afford this, and the NHS will not pay for a decent crown (i.e. porcelain over metal) on a back tooth. I refuse to have a completely metal tooth. Can we say "bah"?

Also, possibly because I forgot to turn it off before the flight (it was buried in one of my bags, OK??) my mobile phone has fried itself. I do not wish to buy a new phone now, especially since I'll be leaving the country in a few months and will need to get a US phone. Neil's going to take it to the Orange shop near his office and see if a firmware reset does the trick.

Something I've noticed is that although Americans are generally fairly child friendly, the most child UNfriendly people (the ones who are rudest about it) are American. The ones for whom it isn't enough not to have kids of their own, they have to hate everyone else's. The British are fairly child unfriendly (after a week in Italy, where they absolutely adore children and never bat an eyelash at anything--in fact, they like it more when kids are spirited and make noise, you really notice this) but they tend to be passive aggressive about it.

It does get to me sometimes. I'm not much for parents who let their kids run riot--the ones where the kids are old enough to be told no and you can tell the parents aren't even trying. But toddlers make noise. Babies make noise. It's about selfishness and "my rights", which can be a very American thing.

(inspired by a week in Italy, and a blog post about the horrors of parents taking children into bars. Honestly, no, you shouldn't be taking the children out drinking, but having a beer or a glass of wine during the day? Not a problem.)

( Saturday )

( Sunday )

( Monday )

( Thursday )

( Wednesday ).

( Thursday )

( Friday )

( Saturday )

Overall, great trip though I feel like we didn't see anything (we did, of course; just that there's so much you could spend months there). We didn't do any museums, oddly enough. Aliza was pretty well behaved although the late dinner times got to her (Italians simply don't serve it before 19:30, and she'd tend to go into meltdown sometime in the 2nd course--I never got to eat dessert! Luckily we'd always just get 2 courses, no antipasti.) Italians don't bat an eyelash at children, so it was OK. On one occasion I did have to cut my meal short and take her outside--that was at the end of the week though.

I want to go back. :-)