la piscina

Here is a note to our friends Annalise, Joe, Malcolm and Eleanor about the municipal pool here which has become weekly pilar of our summer experience in Monterenzio:

There are two pools- one with jets and shallow splashy places and a slide, the other with lane lines that's a little deeper. There's a place to play video games and buy ice cream treats and actual good food (! no hot dogs and nachos). There's also a beach volley ball court and a ping ping table. There are two places to sit- on the pool deck or out in the grass. There are smallish but sturdy umbrellas and a few free plastic chairs in each place. I say free because you have to pay for a 'lettino' which is a sun bed. (I found this out the hard way, it costs 2,50 euros extra) A sun bed for grown ups is worth it, though- it is a sturdy metal frame with nylon fabric, totally adjustable, and it has its own little sun shade (kid of like a visor). I want one at home. When the kids want to warm up (the water is chilly), they come and huddle with me on the lettino. There are different rules for the two seating areas- on the grass you can: walk around without sandals, eat, drink (even beer, etc), smoke, and sunbathe topless. People tend to stay all day- we pay about 15 euros for the three of us to go and have a tiny ice cream treat which with the exchange rate is more like $23. :P The best part of it is that since the first time, we have yet to go and NOT run into friends (I have exactly three here, so that's pretty good).

Maddy and I got new suits for the pool and I now have the official Italian pool outfit for females aged 12 to 72: a string bikini. I'd say I fit in when I wear it but I'm no where near TAN enough. I bought sunscreen today and it was a challenge- more than half of the offerings were oils with less than an SPF of 6 (now we know how they do it!).