Lily goes to Italy

Paris and Beyond

2005-02-25T01:20:00.000+01:00

Finally, after 16 years of waiting....I have been to Paris! For those who dont know the story, my first trip to Paris ended before it began back in 1988 thanks to a dodgy english travel agent who failed to advise us that we needed a visa for France (in his defence, they had only just changed the rules) but I never got to go to Paris and I've never trusted travel agents since to get things right.

But we made it to Paris and had a fantastic albeit rather cold time. We stayed in a little apartment in St Germain on the Left Bank which was within walking distance to the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame. We were so impressed with our apartment (thanks to Rafi at www.yellowstay.com) - it even had a view of the Eiffel Tower from our bedroom...and you cant ask for more than that.

Our View!

Our View at NIght!

We started each day with a lovely french breakfast - fresh croissants and pan-au-chocolat from the boulangerie, 30 seconds down the road, washed down with yummy hot chocolates.

Lily in the smallest lift in Paris

On our first day we took a wander over to the Eiffel Tower - it was amazing to see it up close. But we decided not to go up as it was a really windy day

On our way to the Eiffel Tower

The dome on L'Hotel des Invalides

The next day, we walked through the streets of St Germain de Pres to the Seine and the famous Pont Neuf, on our way to Notre Dame.

Dad at Pont Neuf

Notre Dame

One of the Rose windows in Notre Dame

The famous flying buttresses at the rear of Notre Dame

Notre Dame gargoyle

After a quick lunch of fresh crepes (yum) we wandered up to the Louvre to find it was closed on Tuesdays so it was onto the metro to go home - we love the metro!

The next day dawned with lovely blue skies so we decided to head up to Montmartre to see the Basilica de Sacre Coeur

The classic metro stop at Montmartre

On the slide at Montmartre

The view from Sacre Coeur, worth climbing all those steps for

A Lilycam view of Sacre Coeur

Our last day was devoted to seeing the Louvre. We loved the I.M. Pei pyramid - we thought it was a wonderful addition to the classic old building. Having read the Da Vinci Code on the flight over, it was fun to see some of the original artworks mentioned and reconstruct things

The Louvre

Lilycam at the Louvre

The chalice and the blade ;-)

After a while, Lily went off to sleep and we had time to slowly make our way through - it would take months to see everything properly but we saw some of the highlights.

Another version of Amore and Psyche

Diana the Huntress

Winged Victory

Venus de Milo

The crowds looking at La Joconde - the Mona Lisa

The lady herself!

We sadly said goodbye to Paris after 5 days and made our way back to London. We were really happy with our cheap Easyjet flight

Lily liked Easyjet's baggage allowance policy!

After a long drive from Luton airport we stayed the night with Ursula, Tony and Xavier. It was great to catch up with our old friends and Lily and Xavier got on really well

Xavier and Lily - kindred spirits in pj's!

So after a few days with Great Grandma Joan we are heading home again - Dad is looking forward to getting home to his web design and development and Expat France forum, Mum is ready to go back to Italy and Lily doesnt seem to care where we are so long as there are quack-quacks and woof-woofs. Wish us luck for the flight home as Lily is cutting her eye-teeth!!

Cote d'Azur

2005-02-15T17:22:00.000+01:00

We left Italy and went in search of the sun in the south of France. We spent a lovely couple of days in Nice and Monaco.

Things got off to a good start with a carousel ride for Lily and Dad on this beautiful 100 year old carousel.

Mum loved the pebble beach - no sand - yay!!

Old Nice

Not every moment can be a Kodak moment

On our second day we took a bus trip to Monaco - first we went up to the castle - but sadly neither Princess Stephanie nor any of her lovers were there to greet us!

Lucky those cannonballs were all welded together - someone was in a cheeky mood!

We were really excited to visit the Musee Oceanographique - the famous aquarium established by Prince Albert I and that Jacques Cousteau later directed. It sits right on the cliff and pumps salt water from 180 feet below up to the tanks

The Musee

Hey ugly!

Whale skeletons

View from the rooftop of the Musee

After the Musee we took a walk along the port and admired the yachts, then wandered off along to Monte Carlo in search of the Casino.

Last time Dad was this close to a cactus in Monaco, he ignored his mother's advice not to touch it and there were terrible consequences for days afterwards as all the spines worked their way out. Fortunately he has learned his lesson.

The Monte Carlo casino - Mum resisted the lure to bet the remaining spending money

Thrown out of the High Rollers' room at only 19 months.

Our last day at Nice was a gorgeous 15 degrees and sunny. We missed the start of the Nice Carneval but popped down to the beach to see some brave swimmers take a midwinter dip.

That water didnt look any colder than Byron Bay in January to me

Jupiter float

So we say goodbye to Nice and Monaco - we will miss the Salade Nicoise, the Bouillabaisse, our great two star hotel and the winter sun but we wont miss all those dog poos!

Arrivederci Italy

2005-02-08T16:22:00.000+01:00

This will be our last italian blog. Tomorrow, we will say goodbye to our wonderful italian family who have taken us under their wings and become such good friends. It seems like I have known them all for a very long time. I will miss Italy more than I would have imagined. I really feel at home and yet it is time to leave. I dont feel like such a stranger any more even though my italian is still very limited. We have got the hang of the little things that seemed rather daunting at first - driving and directions, the fact that in some cafes you pay at the counter for your food and then take the receipt to the bar, that you need to weigh your fruit and put a sticker on it in the fruit and veg section of the supermarket instead of plonking it down unmarked at the cash register like I did my first night here. Now I can order un etto di proscuitto cotto (100 grams) with confidence or try and answer the dozens of people who have asked me questions about Lily while we've been here. Mostly they are older ladies or young girls, but today a young man asked me how old she was and when I replied he pointed at his girlfriend and said something that I think meant he was ready for a baby! I cant imagine a 25 year old Aussie guy saying this to me!

But family is so important here and I feel like I have become such a part of this wonderful extended family. We have been very generously welcomed by the family at Rastignano. We are so grateful to Nonna Maru for making us so welcome and letting us stay for so long. We hope we havent been too noisy! Lily will miss her nightly trips downstairs to see la Nonna and all the little things she likes to play with in Nonna's home. Many thanks to Toci and Sergio for the many delicious meals and happy afternoons spent at their home and to Susy and Sissi and their wonderful families for making us so welcome - I cant wait to send Susy some photos of MY pizzas after all her cooking lessons. And this trip would not have gone nearly as smoothly had it not been for Nonno Piero and every thing he has done for us - grazie mille. It has been wonderful to see your new home at the convent and a delight to meet Lily's new Nonna Silvana. Can you tell I just dont want to leave? I'm already thinking about what we'll do on our next trip here!

Just before we went to Venice, we had Sunday lunch with Toci and Sergio as we often do. Sergio made Zuppa di Fagioli (bean soup) and I made it myself when we returned from Venice. Its a very easy soup to make and the beans give it such a wonderful rich colour. My recipe was a little different with a few less beans and a few extra vegies for Lily but I thought I would share the recipe as I know it is a soup I will be making again and again.

Zuppa di Fagioli

I used two 400 gram tins of fagioli borlotti (borlotti beans) but Sergio used three. You could use fresh beans but, of course, you'd have to soak them. I strained and washed the beans and put aside half a tin. Then I mushed up the 1 1/2 tins with a fork. To this, I added some chunks of garlic (I used 4 cloves but Sergio used 7 or 8 I think and next time I will probably use 6 - it could have stood a touch more garlic) and lots of parsley - about 3 cups (and of course, it has to be italian parsley - the flat leaf kind). Then I mushed all of this up with the bamix, adding about half a cup of water to mix it. Then I put in some tomato passata (the tall jars of crushed tomato). I used the chunky kind and put in about 1/2 the jar - I think this was a little too much so I'd probably put in about 1/3 next time. Then I added the rest of the beans, 2 cans of water, one sliced carrot and some sliced celery - Lily's favourite vegies at the moment. Sergio tells me you can also add potato. About half way through cooking, I decided it wasnt salty enough so I added a big chunk of grana (parmegiano reggiano) to give it some extra flavour instead of salt. When it was almost done I added some fresh pasta and cooked it for another 10 minutes or so - Sergio tells me that traditionally you put in a kind of pasta that is cut into all different sorts of shapes and sizes - I think its called maltagliati - at least that's what I think I put in. I cooked it for as long as Lily was asleep which was about 1 1/2 hours and then we ate it because we were all too hungry to wait for it to cook any longer. This is what it looked like the next day when I had scandalously watered it down a little to make it go far enough for a second day's lunch (I probably wouldnt do that again either!). Sergio also said that when you eat it, you should break up bread and add it to your bowl - it makes it even thicker but very very tasty.

And so we say arriverderci to our family, to Bologna and to Italy. I hope it will not be too long before we see you all again.

Lily and Martina - her favourite cousin

Of course, the upside of all this is tomorrow we are going to FRANCE!

Venezia Carnevale

2005-02-03T16:01:00.000+01:00

Our trip to Venice got off to a rather slow start - for the first time ever I managed to get us on the wrong train. So after a 3 hour round trip to Rimini, we left Bologna bound for Venice and the Carnevale. Our arrival was rather more splendid though - you know how most train stations often land you in a rather ugly but functional part of town? Well, not Venice...this is the view that greeted us as we walked out the front door of the train station ...straight onto the Canal Grande

We hopped onto the vaporetto number 1 and took a beautiful twilight ride on the Grand Canal up to our stop to find our hotel. We had been offered an upgrade to an apartment and discovered when we arrived that our hotel was closed for renovations. Not to worry as we were delighted to have our own space to spread out in and to cook meals

These beams were so old they had been propped up many times over the years

We woke the next morning to find we even had canal views out of our back windows - a rather small canal - but a canal none-the-less

Lily checks out the views

Our apartment was tucked away in a quiet street that adjoined a small square.

One thing we loved about Venice was the lack of cars. All cars, trucks and scooters are banned, meaning Lily could walk around the streets and campos (squares) in peace - we just had to make sure she didnt fall into any canals!

The canal at the end of our street - Calle del Albanesi

On our first morning, we took a traghetto across to the fish markets on the other side of the Grand Canal - there has been a market on this site for over 1000 years. A traghetto is like the poor man's gondola - and at 50 cents, it made a terrific cheap substitute for a 75 euro gondola ride. But traghettos are no nonsense - you get on, pay your fare and stand with all the other passengers (well, Lily and I sat but Dav stood like a local!). There are two gondoliers (not sure what you call a traghetto operator) - one at each end and they quickly crossed the Grand Canal, turning in the middle and dodging all the other craft - vaporetti (larger ferry type boats that carry many passengers), gondolas, water taxis, barges delivery goods and other small boats.

But most of our time was spent wandering the streets and squares along either side of the Grand Canal - it was easy to find our way as the main tourist stretches are quite busy (although often narrow streets) that wind down towards St Mark's, lined with souvenirs and other shops. It was also fun to get off the tourist track and get lost

Lost in Venice - how wonderful!

A nice wide street all to ourselves

A quiet spot for a quick snack

On the way to St Marks we crossed the Ponte de Rialto - also lined with jewellery shops, I think it gives the Ponte Vecchio a run for its money

Lily and Dad on the Ponte de Rialto

Finally we made it to the Piazza San Marco, a beautiful old square with even more pidgeons than tourists and with the Basilica de San Marco, the wonderful domed basilica

For us, we found the highlight of our stay around St Mark's. Many of the Carnevale activities, like masked balls, theatre and opera are at night and weren't an option for us, but during the day, many people wander around St Mark's square in costume, silently, graciously allowing the tourists to rush around in a frenzy taking their photos. Here were a few of our favourites

I dont know where these ladies came from...but I could just picture them sitting around a cup of tea somewhere when one of them says "Girls, I've got the best idea for our costumes for Carnevale next year...its going to be fluourescent blue and we'll have these silver pingpong balls on our heads and ....."

Just near St Marks was the famous Ponte dei Sosperi (The Bridge of Sighs), apparently named as because of the sighs made by the prisoners as they crossed it on their way to the prison

Lily and Dad and the Ponte dei Sosperi

We took a ride up the belltower at St Marks for some gorgeous views of the city

On our last day we took the vaporetto number 1 all the way up the Grand Canal - it was magical and the best way to see the beautiful buildings lining the canal.

Looking towards the Ponte de Rialto

This time it was really hard to leave...harder even than Florence - what a beautiful city...and now for a couple of photos of our little Venetian darling

Well, someone didnt mind leaving so much!

A Room With A View

2005-01-21T16:48:00.000+01:00

Now there's a view that even Lucy Honeychurch would have been pleased with. Actually the next photo shows the view from our hotel window but even though it was the Mercato Centrale outside our window rather than the Duomo, Firenze was non the less magical for it.

We arrived on a cold rainy afternoon and stepped out for some quick sightseeing after checking into our 1 star hotel. Like all good tourists in Florence we made our way to the Duomo, the main cathedral with the beautiful dome. Lily loves churches as there's nothing for her to get into strife with and we just let her play around on the floor while we are looking at things

The next morning we set off early for a day of galleries. Our first stop was the open air sculpture gallery, Loggia della Signoria which has many beautiful sculptures including this one of Perseus holding the head of Medusa.

Perseus

Then it was on to the Galleria degli Uffizi, home to the Medici family's magnificent art collection including our favourites, Botticelli's Birth of Venus and Allegory of Spring.

Lily preferred sculpture to the paintings (which she found a bit intimidating, ie there was a fair bit of crying and whining "boo boo") and she was happy wandering up and down the lengthy corridors of the Uffizi lined with numerous scupltures. One of my favourites was a copy of Amore e Psiche (two little angels kissing) - I must find out more about this story.

We got a fantastic view of the Ponte Vecchio from the Uffizzi - the 14th century bridge, home to many jewellery stores and the only one of Florence's bridges to survive the WW2 bombings. We had a wander over it but resisted buying anything!

After the Ponte Vecchio, with Lily falling off to sleep in her stroller (aahh!), we had a quick lunch in a bar and then wandered down to the Piazza di Santa Croce - a beautiful square that as well as having a lovely Basilica, has a special meaning for us. Jan and Piero were living in Florence when David was conceived and Jan used to work in a little shop selling gloves just near the Piazza. She also loved the Basilica and so did we. Lily had fun walking around the 15th century cloisters

David in the Piazza di Santa Croce

Our next stop was the Galleria dell'Accademia - home to Michelangelo's David - just magnificent!

No officer, I wasnt really taking a photo...I was just checking that my camera wasnt broken!

Our last day in Florence got off to a good start thanks to Mum getting up at 3.30am to complain to the management that our heating had gone off - at least they got it going again and we all got fantastic hot showers the next morning. This was our first stay in a 1 star hotel and it was pretty good (except for the heating problem) as the staff were very friendly - even the night clerk who got the fright of his life when I walked around reception at 3.30am and woke him from his nighttime slumber on the floor behind the desk! It was also my first experience of staying in a hotel that is just one floor of a larger building, with other hotels on the different floors. I kept wondering what the 3 star hotel on the first floor had that we did not!

Our room complete with beautiful terrazzo floors.

With a gorgeous sunny day for our last day and a happy toddler, we decided to skip the galleries and walk over one of the bridges to the other side of the Arno (Oltrano) to get up high and find that view. On the way, we had a ride on a merry-go-round in the Piazza della Repubblica and made a wish at the statue of the Cinghiale (wild boar).

After a VERY long walk up lots of hills that felt like they would never end we made it to the Piazzale Michelangelo where we found the best view in Florence

It was a shame that the tourist who kindly took our photo didnt tell us to shove over to the right a bit so we could have seen the Duomo in the photo but there you go! And Lily slept through the whole lot! Later, Piero told us that it was at this spot that Jan told him she was pregnant with Dav and after seeing the bronze copy of Michelangelo's David in the Piazzale, they decided to call him David if he was a boy - we felt really lucky to have made it up to this beautiful place with Lily given that it has a special meaning for all of us.

So we reluctantly left Florence (I could have stayed for weeks) and returned to Bologna, only to find it had snowed in our absence...but more on that another day!

Dozza

2005-01-17T16:27:00.000+01:00

Isnt life funny? I was really disappointed yesterday that we had to put off our trip to Florence for a day because of a rail strike...and yet today we had such a perfect day when we took a trip to a little village called Dozza. Perched on a hilltop overlooking a valley of vineyards and orchards, Dozza is a medieval village within old castle walls. The castle wasnt open but the main attraction for us was the beautiful murals adorning the walls of the houses within the village. Painted by many different artists over recent years and in varying styles, there are paintings on nearly every building in the tiny two street centro.

The entrance to the centro of Dozza

The castle - we were sad to see the moat was empty!

We escaped the cold (I'm sure it was only about 1 degree) and had lunch in la Piccola Osteria del Borgo - a place that would surely be packed with tourists in the summer but today there was just us, the owners and a table full of old men playing cards. A lunch of Zuppa di Ceci (chickpea soup) and home made Tagliatelle alla Prosciutto warmed us up quickly.

Framed tarot cards in la Piccola Osteria del Borgo

So tomorrow we really are off to Florence...

A week at home

2005-01-16T11:33:00.000+01:00

Well, it has been a quiet week for us while Dav does lots of work before we head off on another trip. It has also been a very foggy week. Emilia-Romagna is in the Po Valley and fog is common at this time of year. Here is our normal view off our verandah looking out onto the horse stables.

And here is the fog we have woken up to this week

It has been fun trying to entertain our big 19 month old girl indoors for most of the day but we have a great collection of toys and books here and hide and seek is always a winner.

Lily's favourite spot, in her red chair next to her table of toys

She's finally learnt to climb onto the lounge

If all else fails, play hairdressers!

Lily also loves to visit her Nonna and stands at our door in the evening saying "Nonna, Nonna." In fact, it has been a big week for Lily as she has started to join some words together - like "bath Dada", "book Dada" and "go Dada" - do you see a common theme here??

We have had a couple of nice trips out including one to our favourite bar, "Bar Arena" where they are incredibly tolerant of our meagre italian - I even managed to order the equivalent of a Babycino for Lily.

Life has been a lot easier since we mastered the italian word for straw!

We are off to Florence tomorrow - talk to you soon!

Skiing in the Dolomites

2005-01-09T18:44:00.000+01:00

The next stage of our travels took us to The Alto Adige region of Northern Italy in the Italian Dolomites (also known as SüdTirol in German). This passage is written by Dad as this was a 'not to be missed' part of our holidays in Europe because of the skiing. Our friend Benta (who has two girls) kindly invited us to share her chalet accommodation for two nights in Valdaora (Olang in German). The following two nights were spent in the next village called Rasen, as the week of 6th January (Epiphany) is very busy.

Rasen

Even though we had been warned that we would have to brush up on our German before travelling to this part of Italy, the prevalence of the language was surprising. Penny appreciated the authentic Gulasch and Strüdel. We also tried traditional dishes such as Speck (salt-and-cold-smoked cured ham) and Knödel (bread or potato dumplings).

Only the best skiers wear jeans!

You may be wondering why there are no photos of daddy skiing, well daddy was so keen to get down the slopes there wasn't much time for tourism.

The skiing at Plan de Corones (Kronplatz) in the Dolomites was by far the best skiing I have done, the shameless number of runs, the oversupply of restaurants scattered over the mountainside and the quality and efficiency of the lifts was incredible.

Our friend Benta helped fast track the process of hiring skis and organising ski lift passes maximising my skiing time!

Lily tasting some snow

One of the most delicious runs was a black run called Sylvester a mid range black run with a restrained amount of danger. The Hernnegg run however was a nail biting descent even for someone who leaned how to ski at the age of seven :)

We always knew that daddy would hijack this stage of the holiday, and I can understand why Penny exclaimed that after a while, a non skier feels like they are at a club they do not belong to. Penny enjoyed the trip up to the top of the mountain in the gondola, but there is not much to do if you are a non skier who has to take care of a toddler who is not particularly interested in snow!

So far, for me, this has been the highlight of the trip. The two full days of skiing I managed to squeeze in were magic. Even though I have not skied regularly since the age of thrirteen, regular running and rollerblading in Australia paid off and allowed my legs to survive the punishing (exquisite) ordeal of skiing one the most picturesque locations on Earth - the Italian Dolomites.

Plan de Corones

Our last day at the convent of St Thomas on Lake Garda

The weather is very foggy and cold we decided to follow a random little mountain road which ended in a very serendipitous event - the inauguration of a small church called Madonna Di Supina by the Bishop of Brescia - Giulio Sanguineti . A very modest mountain church that had taken seven years to restore.

Lago di Garda

2005-01-02T16:46:00.000+01:00

For the past few days we have woken to the sounds of chanting and church bells. We are staying in the Convento di San Tommaso at Villa on Lake Garda. The convent is home to Lily's grandparents, Piero and Silvana and also Bruno, Fiorenzo and Roberto, the 3 other members of the Centre Europeen de Rencontre et de Ressourcement which is based here.

We are the only guests in the Convent at the moment. Our room is in the deserted east wing, next to the prayer room, where the members of the community have their morning prayers which are finished with a chant - a lovely sound to wake up to. The convent is nestled in the hills above the villages of Villa and Gargnano on Lake Garda, surrounded by snow capped mountains. It is next to the church of San Tommaso, of which the community act as caretakers. Bruno and Fiorenzo, who are Franciscan friars, say Mass there and the community is responsible for ringing the church bells by hand. What a lovely sound they make (and to get there...you go through the secret underground passage from the convent!).

San Tommaso

We even have our own bellringer in the making. Here is Lily ringing the dinner bell to call the community together for meals. A bit of a problem really, as she likes to do it so much she wants to ring it every time she walks past!

The picturesque village of Villa has a little piazza and a marina with gorgeous homes that sit right next to the lake. The tiny cobbled main street gets so narrow, you think the car is going to get stuck - luckily we are driving Maru's little cinquecento. A few minutes further on is Gargnano - a little bigger but not as attractive according to NonnoPiero, who like all good citizens of Villa shows a natural bias against Gargnano!

Villa

Villa

Gargnano

Lily and her grandparents

On New Years Eve, we joined the community and their guests for a special dinner followed by an informal vigil in the Church at 11pm. The guests were delighted to see Lily attending the service even though she was asleep in her sling for almost all of it. Lily woke just at midnight and we slipped outside for a minute to lull her back to sleep and to sneak a peek at the fireworks going off at villages all along both sides of the lake. It was the first New Year's Eve I have seen in at church but there was something very peaceful about it, especially given all of the tragedy in the world of late.

And so we will be leaving this place of peace tomorrow. The beauty of having no plans on a holiday, is that we are able to change our minds many times about what we are doing next. We've decided (well, probably decided!) not to go to Venice next week but to leave that for early February when Carnivale is on. So, tomorrow we are going to the Dolomites - we're not sure how long for, we'll work that out when we get there.

And now some more photos of Lily...

Oh, and a few people have asked me how my italian is coming along. Well, very slowly would probably be an accurate description. At first, I was a little disappointed as I had really hoped to learn a lot of italian while here. But funnily enough, its my french that is improving. You see, NonnaMaru doesnt speak much english and as Dav's italian is also not so good (albeit, a lot better than mine), he and Maru have always spoken french together. So I have also tried to commuciate with Maru in french - although I tend to just speak a gibberish mess of french with a few italian and spanish words thrown in here and there. Most of the rest of the family speaks very good english. Here at the convent, as many of the community are originally from Belgium, everyone has been speaking french too, as it is the one langauge that we all understand - well, I understand a fair bit of it. (I tell you, it just makes you realize how multi-lingual people are in Europe). So Lily now also understands a french word - un bisou which means a little kiss. If you say "un bisou for Nonno", Lily blows him a kiss!

Ok, one more photo...

Buon Natale

2004-12-27T13:43:00.000+01:00

Our first Italian Christmas was just perfect - full of family, fun and food - just the way I like it!

We opened some presents at home - I thought Dav would make us wait till Epiphany but I think he took pity on me. Everyone here seems to open their presents at Christmas - I thought we would be waiting till January 6 like Dav did as a child in Switzerland but, hey, I'm not complaining!

Lily's favourite place - the fireplace

Lunch got off to a late start as all of the family except us and NonnaMaru had been up till 4am talking and opening presents after Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. But it was well worth waiting for as we got to eat the special tortellini which Sergio had cooked.

We first ate it served in broth - it doesnt show it well but you should have seen the steam coming off all these bowls!

Then we ate more tortellini, this time cooked in cream - delicious! The main courses followed next - lots of vegetable dishes, tiny breadcrumbed meatballs called polpi that were served with green peas in a tomato sauce, and sausages (without skin) served with lentils - all very yummy.

For dessert, there was panettone, of course, lots of chocolates and we brought a Buche de Noel.

But for me I think the highlight came after, when Giovanni brought out his guitar and the whole family sat around and sang songs. Believe me, "O Come all ye faithful" sounds really good in italian. It was also lovely to hear some traditional italian songs and really great to hear the whole family joining in.

Here is a lovely shot of most of the family

And a couple of special ones of Lily

Eating grissini like a true italian toddler

Buon Natale everyone.... we're off to the Convent at Lake Garda in a day or two so I'll post some photos then.

Pizza Party

2004-12-27T11:37:00.000+01:00

We were invited to a pizza party at Dav's cousin Susy's and her husband Giovanni's to celebrate the end of the school year for their teenagers Martina and Lele. Martina and Lily have become special friends. Susy taught me how to make the pizza. First we made the dough, kneaded it a bit and let it stand for an hour.

Then we had to stretch it to fit the pans. I have no idea how they do it in the shops twirling it around their heads but I managed to get it the right shape!

Then came tomato pulp (you know the stuff that comes in the tall jars), oregano and salt.

Lily had to approve the final product before it went in the oven.

After it cooked till it was almost done, Giovanni added the cheese - mozzarella to the one with tomato and oregano to make margherita and provolone to one with tomato and capers. We also made one "white" pizza - plain base without tomato but with fresh rosemary sprinkled on it. And one with german sausage for the kids.

And the finished product was delicious!

The white pizza was eaten with a soft cheese called robiola and with salumi (cold meats) - yum! Thanks to all the family for a fun night and special thanks to Martina for taking care of Lily - it gave me a nice break.

OK, so now I can make tortellini, pizza, ragu and polenta - I just need to learn how to make authentic minestrone, tiramisu, risotto and.....just as well we've got another two months!

Tortellini and other treats

2004-12-20T13:59:00.000+01:00

We have been spending some time with David's Aunt Toci and Uncle Sergio who live next door with their enormous dog Phil (everyone seems to have a dog here - and not some pooncy little white dog like we are used to at New Farm, but a huge German Sheperd or the like). I know I will leave here with fond memories of sitting around the kitchen table watching Toci and Sergio cook together.

It is wonderful to see some of their family traditions. Christmas is the only time of year that they eat tortellini and they make it themselves in the weeks before. We were invited to a tortellini making session, of which there are a number, as they make about 5 kilos. We watched Sergio pour a mound of flour and then make a well and break eggs into it.

He gently stirred them with a fork gradually working in the flour to make a dough which he kneaded for about ten minutes. He rolled out a small portion very thinly, wielding the longest rolling pin I have ever seen, with expert one-handed precision, all the while telling stories and laughing.

To make the tortellini, he cut tiny one inch squares on which he placed the filling - a mixture of pork, prosciutto, grana and herbs. It took me a couple of tries to get the hang of closing the tortellini around my index finger, but my effort was pronounced a success! I thought it looked quite belly button like - tortellini is said to be made in the shape of the navel of Venus.

We are yet to taste the finished product - which is served in broth - maybe at Christmas...

Yesterday, we were invited to Sunday lunch (il pranzo), again cooked by Sergio. The primo piatti was polenta topped with ragu (bolognese sauce) and grana - delicious! Lily loved it too. The secundo piatti was mozzarella caprese (fresh mozzarella, tomatos, oregano, pepper and olive oil), a mixed vegetable dish of brocolli, cauliflower and brussel sprouts (coincidentally, Lily's favourite vegies) and baked tomatos, halved and topped with breadcrumbs, olive oil, garlic and parsley. Of course, there was also some beautiful prosciutto and caffe later.

Sergio has a robust sense of humour. It has become a bit of a joke when he says "but we are simple people". That's what the food was - not fussy or overdone - just simple and delicious.

And because her father thinks she looks really cute, here is yet another photo of Lily!

In Bologna

2004-12-17T15:03:00.000+01:00

We flew into Milan and after battling the metro at peak hour with 9 (yes NINE!) pieces of luggage we made it to our hotel. We stayed overnight and then lugged all our stuff back to the train station and took the Eurostar to Bologna. We were met by NonnoPiero who chaffeured us back to our appartmento above NonnaMaru's house at Rastignano, about half an hour south of Bologna.

Maru's house in Rastignano

Lily has taken to italian life with gusto - she loves the proscuitto (more about that another day) and the grana (what we Aussies know as parmesan). Our little home is very comfortable - a bit like the beach cottage - with many bits and pieces left by the occupants over the years. We've been able to make a very comfortable bed for the three of us out of a double and a single bed!

Dad at work

My kitchen

The living area - see the orange bed in the alcove - that lumpy thing on it is Lily having her nap

After spending waaay too much time organizing our internet connection (many many thanks to Piero and Silvana) we got to do a bit of sightseeing - including walking through the medieval centre of Bologna under the porticos and a trip up to the Basilica Santuario dello Madonna di San Luca - a church perched right on the top of a hill overlooking Bologna which is home to a religious icon. You can walk the whole way up from the centre of Bologna under the porticos - maybe another day.

In Plaza Maggiore

Walking up the hill at Rastignano

San Luca

San Luca

Il Pranzo (lunch) at Vitos at San Luca

Now that we are all connected Dav is catching up on some work and Lily and I will venture out on our own....stay tuned!

We're Off!!

2004-12-17T14:54:00.000+01:00

We had a fantastic flight! Many thanks to Mum for suggesting we stay over in Singapore - it was a great way to rest before doing the next leg. Lily boobed and slept most of the way to the UK.

We stayed for a week with Great Grandma Joan in Lambourne - it was 0.5 degrees the day we arrived - brrrr!