Itazakura Na Kiss, by Kaoru Tada

Itazura Na Kiss, Volume 10 by Kaoru Tada
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It is an incredibly pity that this story will never see its end.
I enjoyed it very much, for the "freshness" of its drawings and the humor of the story, although it is quite absurd.
I didn't mind also the characters, who in their incredible limitations, try always to improve or, sometimes, appear to be quite different from what one might think.
Maybe it is not the most realistic shojo ever written, but it always gives hope that in love wins who has tenacity and never gives up.

View all my reviews

Antica Vineria Italiana, in Lund

The other day I decided to explore a new place (or at least, I haven't seen it there for the first time, too long ago) in central Lund.
It was a lunch occasion, so I can't surely say how it'd be the dinner, but if at least they could spell the names right, the menu would be more inviting (although, I am possibly being quite cruel now: if you look at the menu in italian the names are correct!?).

For Antica Vineria Italiana the lunch menu is nothing revolutionary and possibly follows most lunch restaurants in Lund. However, there are three pasta options, except the daily, and a soup.
Of course, the option fell over the pasta. What would you otherwise eat for lunch in an Italian place?

When asking though what exactly the three pasta and it was a very hard question.
"What does pasta alla pizzaiola have?"
"It is vegetarian".
"Yes, but what there is inside?"
"Well, vegetables".

Anyway, the choice ended up to be Pasta alla castellana, which fundamentally is a pasta with ragu' and peas.
The plate was inviting, topped with some grana. However, the grana was not of the best quality/taste. And surely, the pasta was boiled in unsalted water, because I had to add a fist of salt to balance it!
In general, it was ok, but no bread was served with it and it was a disappointment for a place that is trying to sell itself as more genuinely Italian.

As summary, the impression was quite average and I don't think I will visit the place for another lunch. However, it might be that the dinners are spectacular, but the lunch was not inviting at all and I am not sure I'd prioritize to go there for a dinner meal!

But if you have a different experience, please, share it with me :-)

Winter Sales, part 2

After few days of sickness and a tour trip to the Vicolungo Outlets, I resigned (while Mattias instead kept shopping) and decided to go for the traditional shopping "downtown Gallarate".
It required, as always, a serie of intense meditations but eventually I got convinced and did "some" purchase. I must confess though that before doing the big step, I was hoping that some friend of mine (namely Chiara) would rescue me, but the sicknesses kept us apart.

I love socks. Especially tights of all colours, patterns, etc.

/0s colours

Unfortunately, there was no sale on the tights I liked at Calzedonia, but I decided I absolutely needed them all and bought them (I could have taken more...).

What to put over the tights, though? I mostly wear jeans...!

I went to Tezenis and after some decent exploration (Mattias and Isabella were bored beyond salvation) I got some item at a great price (wonder how many times I will be able to wash them...).

It looks better when on!

60 style for this dress

Finally, I decided it was time to look at Benetton, although I could have been going to whatever shop. My main problem is that since I never enter a shop I have no idea what I want or not, so we did have to spend, again, few precious minutes making me think, and think, and think....

A lot of t-shirts!

A sweater

Another one

Of course, after getting into the mood it was hard to stop...luckily, it was time to go back to Sweden :-)

Winter Sales in Italy, part 1

I like shopping, but I am not a fanatic.
In reality, I am off "all markets" since I seldom do clothes/shoes/similar shopping, mainly because I lack time to focus on such and I do other things with my time (...). I also feel very restrained by the place where I work/live which is a bit different than what I have been growing up with.
Not that when I was a teenager I was actually following any fashion, on the other hand I was probably dressed very odd (and maybe that is an understatement), but generally, I could state that in Italy we spend more time (and money) on our personal appearance, while in Sweden there is more a care for how the home looks.
In fact, just the other day, I was noticing how many clothes shops there are in Gallarate and I was thinking that in Lund there are definitely more interior designs shops. But maybe it is just what I am looking at while in Sweden ;-)

We have had the luxury this year to remain a bit longer in Italy, long enough to finally get into some winter sales.
That's great for me since the "winter" time is slightly longer in Sweden and I feel I wish to have more of winter but also spring and autumn clothes. Sales in Italy is almost like Christmas time.
People are just awaiting for the best purchases while the shop owners are maybe digging out some old stuff to put on sale.
I always feel torn to buy or not to buy because I realize that my wardrobe doesn't make too much sense and that, afterall, I end up going to work in a place where most of the people wear a t-shirt and a pair of jeans (and it is not like I go out so much to justify any special purchase).

Despite my constant doubts, today, we started to do some serious shopping. And the first place we bought stuff has been the Replay Outlet.
Last purchase happened just three summers ago (...), so I decided to go skinny for once...

Blondy skinny model, by Replay

Radula skinny model, by Replay

On top of this, or maybe it is better to say under them, a nice pair of ankle boots will work greatly.
For example, these ones!

Edythe ankle boots, by Replay

Let's see if there will be more chances to update our winter collection!

Följ min blogg med Bloglovin

Winter in Stockholm

I am not a big Stockholm lover. I have been there few times but I have never got a great impression of the city.
After our "road trip", we took the plane and flew up north since I had to renew my passport and the only place where I can do it, these days, is the Italian Embassy in Stockholm.

The tram we took to reach Djurgården

Once arrived at the train station, we walked a bit reaching Sergels Torg and we took the tram directly to the Embassy.

The Italian Embassy

Despite the appearance of the majestic Embassy building, the passport renewal occurs in the green building, which is in a not so fancy state.
The Embassy is located in Djurgården, which impressed me for its beauty.

The sun was already down and it was just one o'clock

That part of Stockholm is special with old buildings, museum and a very peaceful atmosphere. The sun was very low at the horizon and it was shining very nicely through the ice and the frozen tree branches. A perfect winter landscape!

Walking in Djurgården

After the administrative business was done, we decided to talk a walk from the Embassy to the train station: it was just about Isabella's afternoon nap time and we took a chance, hoping she fell asleep despite the cold.

The biological museum

It actually worked!

While she was sleeping, we enjoyed the beautiful landscape and wondered what the different buildings were.

Problem was that until she was sleeping we couldn't eat lunch, so that got postponed few hours respect to our usual time.

An entrance to Skansen

We always try to do plenty of things despite having Isabella and this trip was certainly not easy for us and her (especially after the car trip through Europe), however, we focus on prioritizing her main needs (namely, food and sleep) planning as much as possible and hoping for the best (especially for her sleep).

Mist over the channel

Despite the tiredness and the stress of such a day, we actually enjoyed walking around in Stockholm and the trip turned out surprisingly positive (also considering that we are usually surrounded by some unluck curse).

Bye bye Djurgården!