Lorna at Vicenza

kids don't get free medicines - the doctors visit is free but if you get a prescription you'll pay for it. You don't pay a general fixed prescription price but the actual price of the medicines - so - antibiotics are more expensive than a topical cream for a rash for example.
Get as many over the counter stuff as you might need - but check expirary dates. No point buying a cough syrup that runs out before your child is old enough to take it. General baby baby stuff though like Bonjela (for teething) nappy creams - antiseptic cream and baby calpol are all good buys - even baby vicks bath stuff - for those first sniffles.

jdr

I marvel at the difference in the Euro countries, in Spain you can buy almost anything over the counter in a chemist,
As an example my father in law lost his three lots of prescription tablets on the way over and didn`t even know what they were called. A call to his doctor and got the names, took the list into the chemist and got a supply of the lot for about 7 euros.

kathrynverona

I've got a couple of litres of asda cough mixture, vitamins, medi-sed (excellent pain killer and unblocks noses for colds - life saver for my two), vicks, metanium (industrial miraculous nappy rash cream for blisters/sores), sudocream (over here it costs around€7 for a tiny tube of naff stuff), ibuprofen, paracetomol, the list is endless for kids stuff. everything here is soooooooo expensive, I can honestly say that I haven't bought a single item of clothing here in 3 years.The medicine is super expensive too and they seem to prescribe antibiotics for the smallest thing.
I' m seriously considering opening a childrens shop over here, if asda can sell a t-shirt for £1 and still make a profit then there must be some serious cash to be made over here.

Lorna at Vicenza

all too true - I thought about setting up a market stall exclusively for kids stuff - not just clothes but stationary too and cheap scribbling pads and jumbo pens and that lovely glitter and creative stuff you can get very cheaply in UK - but knowing my luck I'd be shut down the first month for not paying enough tax - not having the right kind of licence or not paying import tax or whatever whatever whatever. If there is a way round it there is surely huge profits to be made. On a quick trip to the UK last year by myself for just 3 days i filled a suitcase with ibuprofen and school stationary, Asda kids underwear and sold it on to some mums I know here. I only added 30 or 50 cents or sometimes 1 euro to the stuff but they thought they were getting a great bargain (10 pencils for 75 cents) (ibuprofen for 1 euro) etc. and I made a little bit of profit - it paid for my cheap flight anyway !!!!

TestaRossa

I'm talking about Calpol, kids Neurofen and that essential standby, Medised, which aren't necessarily available in the same forms or for the same prices here. Medised in particular is almost impossible to find in an Italian form as it has an anti-histamine decongestant in it which also acts as a sedative and many of my friends with Italian OH's say they would not like it! It's great for bad teething nights and when coughs and colds stop them sleeping though.

On the other side you get great cough medicines for kids here that just aren't available in the UK and ear drops with anti-biotics in which seem to work in minutes for earache, so it's swings and roundabouts!

Re: the market stall idea - don't you have weekly markets where you are? We have the Cascine market every Tuesday morning here and then many stallholders travel to other markets in Tuscany. You can buy kids tops from €2 and all the stationery and stuff you are talking about really cheaply. I've had Lelli Kelly sandals for less than €20 and fake Crocs for €6. All new as well although second-hand stalls are on the market too but they stand out as they look like jumble sale stalls and most stuff is about a €1!! We get Levi and Miss Sixty stalls as well - all genuine stuff at rock bottom prices.

Oh, and 99c stores too!

Lorna at Vicenza

I live basically at the foot of the mountains in what I would describe as a village rather than a town - even though it does have its own Municipio. There is a weekly market but the cheaper clothes stalls are the Chinese and the only track suit I bought there for my daughter (still cost 12 euro though) fell apart at the seams after two washes. No stationary stalls or books - just an expensive cartoleria. Never seen any levi or Miss sixty in thiss area at all - not even in the two larger towns nearby. Oviesse doesn't seem too bad but that's in the city over 30 kilometers away and still not as cheap or practical wash and wear stuff as Asda and Tesco and Next stuff when it's on sale.

TestaRossa

It still amazes me, in a good way, how diverse Italy is. Even in the British countryside you were still never more than an hour away from a large shop or out of town site. Here, you can be 2 hours from Milan or Florence and it really is the back of beyond! Although this can be frustrating, I also think it is part of the charm (says she from within the city walls of Florence !)

I really can't think of anywhere in the UK where this would be possible. Maybe the far coast of Wales or the Highlands?

P.S. have I mentioned TopShop now deliver to Italy?

ianitaly

Ciao,
I`m originally from Chester and after some spells in Holland and Germany have lived in Veneto for nearly 8 years.
I really miss "The Sunday Telegraph" delivered so I can spend those sunday mornings catching up on the saturdays sporting events.(if I`m not playing golf)
I noticed no-one has mentioned missing great breakfast cereals such as "Shreddies" and "Shredded Wheat" mmmmmmmmmmmm.

ballerina

shredded wheat?? it is just small bundles of hay! Don't mind Weetabix though and it seems to be getting ever more popular here too amongst all the variations of cocopops.

TestaRossa

I like the shreddies with raisins in the middle. Otherwise they just remind me of loofahs!

Jonnie-falafel

Asda can only do this by "externalising" costs. This means that somewhere down the line that someone else is subsidising that shirt and it's usually someone in the developing world. All British supermarkets do it and it even affects UK industries some of which are on the verge of extinction because such practices (e.g. Dairy farming). Some of the worst practices of British supermarkets are outlawed in France & Spain where it's recognised that loss leading just harms producers. I could add a litany of other complaints regarding supermarkets, but this probably isn't the forum to do it.

Lorna at Vicenza

I know what you are saying and I know too that I am probably supporting the slave trade somewhere along the line once a year .........
but given the choice of paying 3 euro for a four year old's single pair of underpants or getting a pack of 7 for £2.50 in a Brit supermarket then sorry I go with the latter. I'm not rich enough to afford Italian prices all the time.

And going off thread again ..... I noticed today on Italian news that yet another secret and hidden Chinese slave shop clothes factory here has been discovered and closed down ... and all so that they put "made in Italy" labels on the clothes.

Lorna at Vicenza

and going back on thread - I'm from West Yorkshire which could explain the "thrifty" part of me - and my father grew up in a poor but happy Irish family in Cork - which could explain why I talk so much - even if I have to write it down - lol.