MONTALBANO

when I said I was spending Saturday night with montalbano my kids thought I was talking about a bottle of wine !!

H'mm a nice Sicilian, warm and full bodied

Perhaps all Italian men are bow-legged? All that womanising?

Deeda will know!

Can't think what you mean roses Actually DH isn't bandy at all, although his father was. Perhaps the bandiness has been watered down by his English mother.

We are now going to be looking at all Italian mens legs to check for this,( especially the younger good looking ones) for research purposes only of course.I myself volunteer to check all around Lake Garda this year.

Noble of me I know.

So good of you to take one for the Team roses

Goodness, that could be misconstrued, Deeda!

Bandy legs give lots of crotch space.

I wish, Ana

I will take a notebook and pen and sit out happily in a public space (say, a cafe that sells mango gelato) and do a count of passing bandy legs, if they wear shorts it will make it easier to spot, or very tight trousers, so those will be the ones to keep an eye on.

My sister is visiting Rome this year, so I shall ask her to do the same, in the interests of science ( though I must tell her not to be too enthusiastic, I wouldn't want her to be arrested.)

You'd have been better off by the sea, Roses, studying the strutting promenading males taking the sea-edge walk in their hundreds, but I think what stands out is the hairiness of the legs rather than any bandiness. They do seem to have a habit of scratching themselves as they walk, too, though maybe it's just for reassurance. My own lovely Italian husband is from the far north, very tall and blond - and very straight-legged. Of course the blond has turned to silver now, but plenty of it.
What I most enjoy about Italian male-watching is conversations on street corners. Those arm-waving movements have me in fits, and each gesture has a meaning, some quite rude. Ah, I'm feeling quite nostalgic.

Perhaps the bandy legs are more of a southern thing Bellanonna My husband's family were from the north. He used to be tall and black haired. We used to enjoy watching the card players most of all, the amount of cards slammed down on the table during a game of Scopa and the gestures involved is highly entertaining.

Ah, scopa. We used to play that. Haven't seen those cards for years.

I've got a set somewhere and tried learning once but it seemed awfully complicated (I never got much beyond Rummy!)

Perhaps the bandy legs are from Sicily only? of course you used to see it here ( not for ages though) hence the old saying 'he couldn't stop a pig in a passage' so let's hope Montalbano never has to capture a runaway porker.

Italians always seem to be enjoying life don't they? Makes British men look miserable.

I must admit I never noticed the bandy legs. Those eyes did it for me.

On both the young and the older montalbanos, Lully. I found Luca zingaretti, the first Montalbano, very charismatic despite his baldness. Loved the younger one too. I gather the house at Marinella is run as a guest house now, but I'd find it rather sad without the original occupant(s) and would expect to see him on the balcony with a glass of wine and his mobile, or emerging from the sea, dripping wet after his daily swim. Ahhh, a girl can just fantasise ........

I'll come to Garda with you, Roses. You can't undertake a task like that all on your own.

We went to his house in Punta Secca (the name of the real location) and there he was (Luca Z) - in his swimming trunks. on the balcony - and the crew ready to start filiming. Pure fluke- we watched from across the square as they filmed the scene last Summer.

Our villa was inland from the famous old brick factory and tower- and we visited all the sites and towns last Summer. Can't wait to go back.

Off to Taormina next week- can't wait- but no Montalbano up there. I'll check for bandy legs though, on your behalf ;)

Well, what a thrill Granjura. Punta Secca always seems to be remarkably bereft of traffic, even parked cars. I suppose they have to park somewhere else during filming, but it does make the whole thing a bit un-Italian. A real treat to see Zingaretti. I know Camilleri has written the final book so one day we will hopefully see whether he and Livia make it to the altar, or to whatever location they choose to tie the long-awaited knot. I heard in an Italian restaurant today that the latest series has been filmed. Can't wait.
I think bandy legs are probably no more common there than here, and have to disagree with an earlier comment linking bandiness with womanising. Goodness, Mimi would be very bow-legged in that case !

As sais, it was pure fluke... so made even more enjoyable. We had lunch at the street café around the corner- and that was brilliant.

We still do not understand why it was Zigaretti being filmed- when new Montalbano has already taken over??? Perhaps the last book.
Ragusa, Modica, Noto and Scicli were amazing- we had lunch one day at the restaurant right opposite the Police Station. June was fabulous, as there were hardly any tourists and the wild flowers were out of this world.

Can't wait for Taormina next week- and Palermo and back to Cefalù later this year.