Greece, Ireland and Portugal have received them, Spain may be next, Italy waits in the wings and I could do with one but no one has made any offers! I refer, of course, to bailouts.
But just a moment - maybe Sicily has the answer to the eurozone's woes: If counting out minute amounts of money in gigantic denominations will make you feel better, if the thought of handing over some of your hard-earned cash in bureau de change commission renders you misty-eyed with nostalgia, if you are a eurozone finance minister in need of cheering up or you are not Christine Lagarde, or if, like me, you have simply lost all grip on financial reality, the Sicilian town of Siculiana in Agrigento Province is the place for you! There, from now until the 30th September, you can make your purchases using the good old lira!
6 comments:
Ah, nostalgia all over my body! I never felt richer than when I held un miliardo di lire!
How come?
Is that province one of those legal anomalies where Euro-crap doesn't apply..?
I have to say I always thought Britain would have been better off joining the Euro. That crap about the Queen not appearing on notes WAS crap. Doesn't every country get one side of each note to itself... or is that just coins?
Whatever: we could have insisted we got our way on this and it wouldn't have mattered. A Euro is a Euro.
When Bulgaria joins, the notes will have script in 3 alphabets. Very cosmopolitan!
Pat...don't know how else to contact you. There is an article in today's Wall Street Journal that might interest you. Mentions Modica:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304803104576427833900075322.html
Hi, Rosaria. I can imagine! Hi, Gleds. No, they've got permission to do it for a short time in the hope of attracting visitors, that's all. I'm a euro fan too! Thank you so much, Patricia - I love the article and I know Rosy Bar!
I've still got some lire squirrelled away against the day when Italy crashes out of the Euro.
Or, perhaps more likely, the day when Germany leaves the Euro and the lire will then be worth more!!
All I need to do now is plan the trip to Sicily I guess. Now, then - train to London, Eurostar to Paris, Lo Stendhal to Milan, day in Milan (shopping!), 2330 night train to Palermo...
Yup, seems quite feasible!
Hi, WY. Good to know you have made thorough preparations!
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