It rhymes in Italian (somewhat) as opposed to English and sounds so much better.
Mosquitoes; living in Florida I am no stranger to these little winged vampires but here in Italy they are much more vicious than their America cousins. Although I wrote about them while in Firenze 7 years ago, I feel they deserve another rant since they seem to be especially brutal this year.
I haven’t felt them land or bite, but sometime later when the bumps begin to appear and begin to itch, I know I have been fed upon by those tiny blood sucking bitches (only females mosquitoes bite). More often than not the bite seems small and innocuous at the start but within a day it has grown into a HUGE welt, blister, or knot. I guess depending type of mosquito that bites me determines the after affect since I have several different reactions even when bitten on the same outing. For days I am trying every wives tale I can remember to stop the incessant itching: lavender, tea tree oil, hot water, ice; with no real relief.
Our cousin, Elda, recommended I purchase a particular brand of bug spray but unfortunately I forgot to write it down and didn’t pick it up on our last trip grocery shopping in Terni. We met a wonderful Australian couple, (a doctor and nurse) who shared a little of their Autan brand tropical bug spray and an after-bite lotion that works rather well (the same brand Elda recommended). Next time we go to the supermercato I will stock up on both. Until then I will stretch what I have, cover up as much as I can and hope those little fiends find someone else to have for dinner.