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 