has anyone got the phone number of mamas trattoria in carisio.
i am going to italy for a holiday by car in april.
i always used this restaurant when in that area.
i am sure there must be plenty of forum members out there that used it as well over the yrs.
it was not really called mamas,just old mama was always there.
the staff were anna and tresa
tresamarried an english guy called brian from somewhere in kent.
he drove for whitetrux i think.
lets hear from all the old italian runners.
I haven’t got the phone number but it has been recently renovated and the food is as good as it ever was. The truck parking is now tramac instead of the dust or mud bowl it used to be, depending on the weather.
i believe mario who used to supravise the parking[excuse spelling]is dead now.
he was a comedian.
a bottle of wine and you could tripel park at the door.
he was the one who shot himself in the foot.
i want to stay there for a couple of nights,just to see if theres any fun anymore in these younger drivers.
icould write a book about carisio.
greg50:
icould write a book about carisio.
Tell us a few stories then. Never been there …yet…but it sounds memorable fun…
Ossie
I’ve been there a couple of times, then again I’ve only done Italy a couple of times 
The last time was running late out of Milan on a Friday evening (which I believe is a common occurance) I got there just in time to have a meal.
After a bowl of soup I plumped for the trout grilled in foil and garnished with tomatoes and goodness know what else. Delicious 
Finished off with some ice cream, the whole lot including a carafe of red came to about 9 € 
Then had 3 bottles of beer in the bar which cost me another 9€ 
Up in the mornig and a cruise up to Reims Champagne services for the weekend. They aint that great but at least they stay open.
greg50:
i want to stay there for a couple of nights,just to see if theres any fun anymore in these younger drivers.
bet if you spent a couple of days there now you’d be lucky to see another brit, never liked the place myself t.b.h - do remember standing in the parking one night (having pulled off the autostrada cos it was just too foggy) and listening to shunt after high speed shunt over the hedge 
i am going back to the 80s.
there was a regular gang of us,both english and irish.
being irish myself ,i was driving for an irish company.
we did a lot around the milan area.
i got there most weeks and knew loads of drivers who stayed there.
there were many companies now closed down.
john dee and a1 some of the bigger uk companies.
i drove for shanahan myself as well as a few others all finished now.
i think now with no customs clearance[a big loss] theres not so much time to enjoy.
most companies will want you to see yourself coming back up the other side of the motorway with the next load.
we used to complain about CC.and how slow it was,but it was our time off…
one old story i remember.
one sat morning there were 5 of us in the yard. as usual there would be a prostitute outside the gate.
this sat morning it was a male pro.
he drove in to us and asked if we wanted buisness.
he had a fiat 600.
we turned our backs to the car and lifted it up to a 45 degree angle,then let go.
the car bounced back down.
the pro did a wheelie to get going,drove out the gate calling us stronso.
i cant translate that.
banned off the topics.
i never saw a fiat 600 to go like it.
Can’t help with modern info Greg. Just asked the wife and we can’t remember a Brian on Whitetrux either. We did stop at Carisio a couple of times, when we couldn’t get to Concorezzo for some reason, and weekended once, taking a room to get out of the cab for a night. Trouble was, all the drivers trooped through to use our shower 
. It was a very nice room though.
Salut, David.
brian was the one i knew best.
he was from maidstone and moved to italy after he married thresea,she worked in the resaurant. a tall young lady with long black hair. a stunner to say the least. there was nothing wrong with brians eyesight.
he was driving for whitrux,i think he went to work for an italian company after that.
the italians paid the right type of money.i had plenty of friends that did do that.
real august holidays and christmas.
these guys dont like to work at these time.
and full pay all the way through.
i do hope someone will come up with that phone number.
regds
I just had a look back through some of my receipts to see if the phone number was printed on them, trouble is I haven’t got any from Carisio to hand it seems and the older ones are stored away.
I remember talking, and sitting at the same table for a meal, to the guy who had married one of the girls who worked there but i can’t even remember his name never mind who he worked for.At the time I talked with him he was working for an Italian company not a UK one though.
I do remember that in the gents there was only one ‘normal’ toilet, the others were spread axles and the normal one always had a queue. I also recall that women had to walk through the gents, past the urinals, to get to the ladies.
I was weekended there one Easter weekend and although the place was closed on the Monday, it closed every Monday, they left the showers open and switched on for the 20 or so drivers who were parked there unable to drive because of the holiday restrictions. They chained up the doors through to the bar area and we could access the showers and toilets from an outside door. Thankfully everyone repaid their kindness by ensuring the place was kept clean.
My only problem with the place was the mosquitoes which were the size of small fighter planes and seemingly immune to every repellent known to mankind. You could hear the big electric zapper mounted near the main door killing them from across the parking area.
My favourite choice on the menu was liver and onions, best I have ever had anywhere in Europe.
you should try to contact r-slicker - he used to live just a short distance from carisio before he was tempted over to the dark side.
the force is strong in him and i’m sure he will have the information you need.
greg50:
brian was the one i knew best.
he was from maidstone and moved to italy after he married thresea,she worked in the resaurant. a tall young lady with long black hair. a stunner to say the least. there was nothing wrong with brians eyesight.
he was driving for whitrux,i think he went to work for an italian company after that.
The only ones we remember (and you’re overtaxing a couple of fogey brains here) that vaguely fit the bill is the one we called ‘Pathfinder’ (an ironic nickname because he was always getting lost) who lived on the Isle of Sheppey and had one of the first F10s, all the rest of us had F89s with a sprinkling of MANs. Also another whose name I don’t remember already lived in Italy when he started for Michael I think. It is possible I suppose that he was there earlier and I had just not met him.
Just a small roll call in case you know some of these:
Billy Broad, a Lancashireman married to Ann who worked on the ferries and they lived in Dover.
Tony Buckle, married to a girl who, he said, was TM at Laser, but who definitely did pull my wife from the sea at Savona after a drunken 40th birthday party.
Stuart, a dark haired bloke who had been a guest of Her Majesty in my home town of Nottingham.
Two Richards, Big and Little. Big Richard was most put out when, by virtue of me sending the wife into Aosta customs in the middle of the night and charming them into stamping without bribing, he then had to cough up or wait in the usual manner. (Before Guy Rope jumps up indignantly here, we did have an allowance for such things and anyway it ensured you got on the beach for the weekend )
Coffee:
I do remember that in the gents there was only one ‘normal’ toilet, the others were spread axles and the normal one always had a queue.
Which is why I never had to queue, preferring the ‘spreads’ to bringing my bum into contact with someone else’s
Salut, David.
if no joy by 2/1/06 i will be going home so will call in and get number. rgds and happy new year to all