Alex Polizzi's Secret Italy

I've just watched a recording of the first episode.  She presents an unusually feminine and touching view of Italy.

Fridays.  Channel 5.  9:00pm (GMT).  Recommended!

Yes it was very good....

I saw the first episode and found it very disappointing - nothing really secret and the continuous use of 'Mamma mia' as her only expression of delight/wonder/astonishment etc was unbelievably grating - she needs to extend her vocabulary! Personally I think the series on Venice and then the whole of Italy with Francesco da Mosta made by the BBC some years ago is far superior - but each to their own of course.

Francesco da Mosta's BBC series were superb. Very hard to beat!

I too found the constant use of "mama mia!" annoying. I dont think I have ever heard an Italian use that phrase in all my 20+ years of visiting Italy. I'm still recording the series though.

My daughter says it quite a lot and she's only 4!! It does make me laugh.

Admin wrote:My daughter says it quite a lot and she's only 4!! It does make me laugh.

Thanks admin, makes me laugh too...

A cute 4 year old saying 'Mamma mia' is lovely but someone with an Italian background and who says she has been going to Italy for 40+ years should perhaps have a more expansive vocabulary ......?!!
I'll continue to watch though in the hope that someone tells her to stop repeating that phrase and she actually finds something 'secret'. Not holding my breath though.

Hazy wrote:A cute 4 year old saying 'Mamma mia' is lovely but someone with an Italian background and who says she has been going to Italy for 40+ years should perhaps have a more expansive vocabulary ......?!!I'll continue to watch though in the hope that someone tells her to stop repeating that phrase and she actually finds something 'secret'. Not holding my breath though.

Perhaps you just have far too much experience of Italy Hazy...

Only 4 'Mamma mia's' tonight by my calculations; a big improvement!   Also she was much more 'Secret' by going well off the usual tourist beaten track

Incidentally a couple of years ago I showed our neighbour Sylvana, who is now 84 years old, around Casa Ghiro.  As we entered one restored room after another she would stop and look around her and exclaim 'Mamma mia' - which was, I suppose, only appropriate as her mother had actually been born in the house!

Well I enjoyed that one too.... See ya clock is looking right Ghiro!

Personally I don't have a problem with the 'Mamma mia' exclamation...surely no worse than Gordon Ramseys repatition of the f word !

Angela Fuller wrote:Personally I don't have a problem with the 'Mamma mia' exclamation...surely no worse than Gordon Ramseys repatition of the f word !

Can't agree more. Amazing to me is how I can be ever so slightly put off the lovely woman knowing more about her and someone pointing out her repetition. I can't recall any of the words but people are often on the radio (actually, yes that's one of them "actually") and they repeat the word over and over again, almost every other word, which is actually very annoying. Actually I've been repeating myself because of it.....  Seriously though, perhaps it's because to me it's still a foreign language and I'm too busy trying to translate what she is saying and tend to ignore the superfluous words I know reasonably well?

It's funny how particular phrases catch on and then are so over used that you dont know how anyone can bear to repeat them. In house viewing programmes they always want one that "ticks all the boxes". On the weather report they have to say "spits and spots of rain". I do admit that I repeat myself all the time in Italy  as when I've successfully managed a conversation in Italian I tend to try it out on everyone!

I thought the programme was rubbish. Know Rome like the back of my hand and the programme was all Alex Alex Alex - interesting to note the lack of empathy with her mum. Felt I was watching Bridget Jones and her personal problems. We switched to Larry Lamb with no expectations and enjoyed it much more

FBower wrote:I thought the programme was rubbish. Know Rome like the back of my hand and the programme was all Alex Alex Alex - interesting to note the lack of empathy with her mum. Felt I was watching Bridget Jones and her personal problems. We switched to Larry Lamb with no expectations and enjoyed it much more

... for me there lies the answer as to why I like a lot of these programs. I don't know Rome at all, indeed I know little of Italy, hence a lot of it is new to me. The other thing being that although I love the idea of seeing all these places and hearing about the history, I don't want to put up with the hassle of travelling to visit them. Hopefully for others in the UK that enjoy such things it will encourage them to visit Italy with lots of Euro to spend!