TestaRossa

Here you can but only if you throw up too much!!

I've heard of MD but I'm a bit old for that kind of thing! I never liked cider - always drank gin or vodka in my yoof or wine. Vodka and orange was the drink of choice. When Steve had his 21st everyone knew we both drank Vodka and orange. There were around 200 people at his party.....They were buying for both of us....It looked like a table of shots at one point! I'm pretty sure we drank them though! Didn't help the party was in a social club his mum went to, so half the vodkas were doubles!!! I had scrumpy down in Cornwall, the still kind with chunks, and that was okay, but then I don't like apple juice unless it's hot with Grand Marnier in....(new discovery from ski-ing! - they put GM in the mulled wine too, that was interesting...!)

TestaRossa

Indie - did you like the ad on Fb??

ballerina

MD 20/20!!!!! That takes me back!!! I remember when they tried to make Babycham trendy again.. It never took off though did it? I'm trying to remember the Diamond White cocktails... Blastaway.. Was that Diamond White & Castaway? I wasn't a fan of Diamond White either really, I drank Scrumpy Jack (or snakebite & black!)

indiebird

ohhhh yes now Scrumpy Jack was nice and so were pints of Snakebite & Black too..... must admit that I went through a phase of Pernod and Black too at one point. I used to drink Vodka and Orange in the days I used to smoke Benson and Hedges... after having H I couldn't drink Vodka and Orange any more and so moved on to Vodka and Tonic. I'm not really too fussed on what I will or won't drink. I'm not keen on Malibu (only in cakes!!) or Southern Comfort (unfortunate night where too much was consumed) I'm quite partial to Baileys at Christmas these days!!

ballerina

My OH used to make Baileys and Plasmon smoothies for me last summer! yum. Can't remember if they had ice cream in too. They are a meal in themselves though :s
I was never a fan of malibu either, but in my yoof I used to knock back shot after shot of 'acid rain' - malibu, southern comfort and blue curaçao.. yuck. You can imagine the turquiose puke, right?

Lorna at Vicenza

Urgh Malibu ... is that that disgusting coconut flavoured stuff?
Had a few vodka and limes in my yoof.
Used to love having a Ricard in France after a day at work. I have found alcoholic aniseed for about 3 euro in cheapo supermarket.
Never seen Southern Comfort here apart from in a specialised booze shop.
An English friend once drove back with about 25 bottles of Cointreau in her car because it was so cheap here compared to the UK.
I love Baileys but don't buy it very often coz I know it won't last long at all.

37100

Gosh, you lot knew how to keep happy. Didn't drink a drop of alcohol in the u.k. Made up for it since though, but I still only rarely drink spirits.

angeli

Did use to have recipe for Bailey's, could probably find, as it contained dairy products it had to be kept in the fridge and drunk within a couple of days... Has anyone seen custard creams anywhere...Mutt (and I do mean 4 legged veriety) enjoys 2 a day.....friends post from england but they dont travel well...

Lorna at Vicenza

Sorry - never seen any custard creams. Only English biscuits I've ever seen here are digestives.
Of all the things to get posted from home ... you ask for custard creams

angeli

Digestives just dont hit the spot like a custard cream biscuit and a bowl of tea !!!!

TestaRossa

If you have an Asian food shop look out for their version! Do you remember lemon puff biscuits? Well they are like that but they have a strawberry filling instead! My kids love them! Much better than custard creams.....

37100 - you NEVER drank in the UK?! Must be one of the very few on that island! But then everyone else probably made up for you!

Serious Note: Does anyone think it is getting worse? I actually wonder if it is. When I was a teen/early 20's the problem was drink driving, but because you had to drive to get home you wouldn't be completely bladdered. Everyone did it until the new draconian laws came in. So you didn't see the girls in the gutters and the lads fighting because they were trying to get home without killing themselves! Don't get me wrong, I think the DD laws are right and proper, but I do wonder if the fact you now have to get a taxi means people drink even more. Just one opinion....

Lorna at Vicenza

I think it's getting worse and I think kids are drinking and getting drunk at much younger ages as well. Drink driving was never a problem where I grew up. We walked to one of the local pubs and walked home again and when we went into town there was a late bus service called the night-rider or we shared a taxi home. Everyone I knew always had a pound in their pockets that was for the taxi or the bus. If you didn't have a pocket you kept the pound in your shoe and never spent it. We never went out with the sole intention to get totally plastered either. I think the drinks were more standard drinks too if that doesn't sound stupid. I know you can get as pissed on beer as you can on cocktails but none of those alcopop things and other bottled drinks existed then. We drank cider, white wine and soda or white wine and lemonade (bigger glasses - wouldn't mix it now) and if we could afford it sometimes a vodka or gin in a nightclub. We were scared of the big bouncers too and wouldn't have dreamed of being cheeky or answering back. When I went to town I took my passport with me as the bouncers nearly always stopped me to ask my age. I've seen some documentaries recently about drink in the UK and some of those awful girls get through a bottle of vodka together before even leaving the house.

37100

Nope, never drank a drop. We didn't really start until we moved to Verona and hubby's employers had an office at the Fiera di Verona. One of the big fairs is the wine one and all his clients gave us a glass of wine. Even just a polite sip mounted up after 8hrs. Never looked back since. Banned hubby from taking the car after the first year though.

As for drinking in the u.k. Even my 2 sons think it is OTT in the and neither of them is a saint drink wise. The tales they tell to their Italian friends doesn't paint a very good picture of the uk youth.

TestaRossa

I think in the UK a lot of it is also the holier than thou attitude of UK parents, do as I say, not as I do. Kids here, although I personally think drinking to excess is on the increase here, are introduced to it much earlier. Already they ask us in restaurants if Alex is having wine, yes he looks like a 16 year old here but that wouldn't happen for another 2 to 3 years in the UK. Kids are given a bit from a young age, they see adults drinking at meals etc, it isn't something you go to a place they are excluded from to do. Already we are building kids up by making drinking mysterious and exotic so when they are old enough or look it, off they go and drink to make up for lost time! Surely governments must have someone that realises the prohibited is always tantalising! Must admit smoking never, ever attracted me or my OH. We took in so much second hand from our parents it put us off for life....Whether our kids will feel the same I don't know. I don't think Alex will but Antonia might - too many of her friends parents do and there is still that exoticism attached to it here I feel. I can only educate...

dina1965

We spent a few days in Rome last month and I was happy to see that my 13yr was shocked when he saw kids his age walking around in the evening with a cigarette in one hand and a beer in another. At least living in a smaller city means that kids are less exposed to this kind of behaviour. I think that teaching by the example you set at home is probably the best way to educate - at least I'm hoping it is. In the UK kids see their parents going to pubs, aren't allowed in and, as Testarossa says, they think it's something "special" that they're missing out on. Italians drink wine during meals and spirits after a meal ... if you see someone drinking a beer (let alone my old favourite rum/coke) before lunch in a bar you automatically assume he is an alcholic !