recipe for multi lingual madness

Ingredients

• 2 Chinese ladies who speak dialect Chinese and moderate Italian


• 1 Spanish woman who speaks Spanish, German, some English and a little Italian


• 1 Spainish woman who speaks Spanish and a little English and Italian


• 1 Spainish man who speaks Spanish and a little English and moderate Italian


• 1 woman from Litgenstien who speaks German and a little English


• 1 woman from Australia who speaks English and very little Italian


• 1 woman from Scotland who speaks something like English and very little Italian


• 1 Frenchman who speaks French, English, Russian and a little Italian


• 1 Basque woman who speaks Basque, Spanish and a little English and Italian


• 1 dog who speaks all languages when food is being offered

Add vino ......

Add more vino .......

Add a dictionary and some playing cards ......

Result .... multi lingual madness and a whole lot of fun.

more budget travel tips for Italy

So yes... we are finding Italy quite expensive on the Aussie dollar!

Tip number 6:

Book a language course (learn Italian) in Siena, Florence or Milan with Scuola Leonardo da Vinci and they find you super cheap accommodation. Serious, it is cheaper to stay somewhere for a few weeks and go to school from 9-1pm than to be a regular tourist. And guess what, you learn pocco Italiano.

We will be in the beautiful, and car free since the 70s, Siena till after il Palio - check it out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palio_di_Siena

PS did I mention that I left Australia with a back pack weighing 10 kilograms? Yes, friends a sack of spuds, a very small child, the weight I put on in the last year (which seems to be falling off with all this walking).
And what can you do with such a back pack? You can run away fast from dodgy hostel proprietors, climb many many flights of stairs to other hostels, lift it well above your head onto train racks, use it as a seat... other ideas greatly appreciated.

Ciao from Siena