With winter creeping into the streets of Sydney and the trees losing their leaves, a European summer in a bit over a month sounds very inviting!
Eight years ago I had my second child Alex, he was a brute of a baby weighing in at a hefty 9 pounds 13 ounces and with shoulders on him large enough to crack my coccyx as he came storming out.
This really wouldn’t be getting a mention on my brand new blog if it wasn’t important. You see the reason I am calling this blog- Italy Take Two, is because 6 weeks after giving birth to Alex, almost eight years ago to the day, the family and I packed our bags and headed off to Italy for 8 months. Exciting as it sounds, carrying a bright pink inflatable ring around the streets of Florence so I could actually sit down wasn’t what I had first anticipated for my European life. The fact that I slept seldom and fed frequently also didn’t help me remember much about our first family trip to Italy, so that fact that we get to have another crack at it is almost unbelievable.
Alex is about to turn 8, Max — our eleven year old son– is half way through finishing his last year at primary school and my husband, Nic is about to have the time of his life as a fellow at Villa I Tatti in Florence, where he will spend a glorious year of research, research and more uninterrupted research for his new idea. I on the other hand will be soaking up (and sitting down without any pink aids!!) the sights and sounds of Florence and taking a year sabbatical from the kitchens of Sydney where I usually spend my time working. I have been cooking professionally for the past 25 years and thought it was about time I tried to do something else or maybe learn a new skill.
This blog is about my family’s year abroad: the food we eat, the food we make, the language we try to speak and the real story of what happens when you uproot a typical Australian family and pop them into a new culture and life for a year….this could get interesting so if you have a spare five minutes, take a read and share your thoughts on the madness we are about to create!
Italy Take Two 
Looking forward to following your adventures in Florence!
OMG! Can’t quite believe it! I remember that pink cushion! Maybe I’ll have to have a kid free hop over there and meet up with you and Sue! What school will the kids go to Italian or International? Where are you looking to live? So exciting!
Great to hear from you Jo!
I think you should defiantly come on over we will be living in Ponte a Mensola and kids will be going to the local Italian school!! Woohoo, hold on to your seats lol x
Wow! What an amazing journey you are going to begin! I am so happy to see you in my feed, and Florence is one of my favorite cities of all times. I have a foodie friend in Parma who has started a business there, if you head that way I will connect you! Safe travels!
Thanks so much, I will defiantly let you know if we head to Parma! It feels great to be back on line again x
So happy for you all that you get to return to Florence. Can’t wait to hear how it goes this time! I’m sure it won’t be the same without us (lol!).
Good luck Baker family. We will really miss you. XX
So I am guessing you wont be available to cater my brother’s 60th birthday (a re-do of Kara’s 30th at Tree Tops) in Feb, Camilla? What exciting times ahead for you and your family. Jack and I have booked an Italian trip for May next year, obviously the place to be. Safe travels
No sorry Lynda, perhaps an Italian feast when I come back 🙂
If you come to Florence let me know, I’ll be there until June 2014!
You had me laughing and squirming with this one Camilla! I can’t imagine how painful Alex’s birth must have been for you! I’ve never had the ‘pleasure’ of childbirth (labour yes, birth no) as my pelvis seems too small so I can’t sympathise but breaking your tailbone sounds horrendous!
You must have had the locals wondering about you while you carried the pink ring around! But I imagine with a newborn to take care of you probably couldn’t have cared!
I can’t wait to hear about your life in Florence. It must be nice to move somewhere you actually want to move to! But still, it’s a big change so I hope it doesn’t cause too much stress for you all.
It’s been fun so far, looking back and seeing things change…..just happy the pink ring has gone lol! A small pelvis sounds good to me 😉