Ex-pats with fixer-uppers in sunnier climes. Cruisers fixing their boats in exotic ports. A key word in the new language: find the DIY store. American friends look for the hardware shop. In Spain it's the ferreteria (universally known as the ferret by Brits building their illicit homes in the Andalusian hills), in France, the bricolage. And in Italy it's the ferremente.
Or in the way of the western world, your key destination is known by the global brand - B&Q (thanks, Ellen!), or Homebase. On our wanderings so far, the French chain Leroy Merlin has been pre-eminent. Want some clips for boathooks, sandpaper and paint brushes, inox washers or sanitary hose? Don't want to pay inflated chandlery prices? Find a ferremente, and the larger the better.
Here in Ostia there are a few small ferremente, mostly focused on the car-owner, but a good one near the Panorama supermarket. They're helpful and even have English speaking staff, but are inevitably limited in stock and charge slightly higher prices. So, where's the nearest biggie?
The answer is in Fiumicino, which has, besides a canal, a fishing port and an airport, a large collection of retail parks and shopping malls. A free bus runs three or four times a day from Ostia and back. You catch it outside the pharmacy four doors from the aforesaid ferret. (Timetable available from the marina office.) It drops you outside a large covered shopping centre, with all the usual names inside. This mall also include a huge supermarket, which dwarfs anything in Ostia, very useful for large scale victualling.
From the bus-stop, turn away from the mall and cross the railway on the covered bridge. On the far side, catch a bus for Maccarese. You will see Leroy Merlin and Decathlon appearing through the foliage of roads like a distant dream. Suddenly, the bus roars up alongside the retail park you need; ring the bell or it will sweep you off to some unknown flat-lands beyond our ken.
In this retail park, there's a huge Leroy Merlin, various sports shops, and a very satisfactory pizzeria. We made a successful trip with Linda and Mike, returning heavily laden with electrical tape, a new drill and all sorts of other goodies. A well-caught ferret.