#23: Buon Natale from Italy
Ciao Nonni,
A very big Buon Natale to you from Italia!
After weeks of build up, we've finally experienced our first Italian Christmas. And it did not disappoint.
Our Christmas Day started with our traditional special occasion breakfast of bacon and egg rolls. We even managed to find some actual bacon, which was not that easy in the land of beautiful pancetta. And then for breakfast dessert (!) we had panettone. All washed down with copious amounts of coffee from the moka pot on the stove. Heaven.
The bambini had fun absolutely shredding the wrapping paper off their presents from Babbo Natale - literally Christmas Dad. Or the much more saucy slash creepy translation of Christmas Daddy. True to her recent form of correcting our Italian accents, Raffy had endless fun with David when he kept mistakenly calling him Boba Natale.
Leo's favourite present was an auto della polizia (police car) that makes all sorts of headache-inducing siren noises when pushed around. Funnily enough, that one has already 'disappeared' for a little break. Raffy had a great time with the globe she received - she can now plot our flight path from Melbourne to Italy (via Singapore and London).
Lunch was a mixed effort between dishes we made at home, and food we bought that was prepared by one of our favourite restaurants nearby. The menu was mixed salumi e formaggi for antipasti, tortellini in brodo for primi (my only non-negotiable), roast beef and turkey with potatoes and other vegetables for secondi, and mixed berries and gelato for dolci. Plus cocktails, prosecco and wine. We were joined by one of our brilliant new Lucca friends and her daughter who is Raffy's age.
It was overall a fabulous few hours, with far too much food. I definitely got a bit overly excited by the tortellini, to the extent that I couldn't even really manage much of the rest of the meal. No matter, we went round two on Boxing Day (Giorno di Santo Stefano) with the arrival of my also-brilliant oldest* friend Laura and her family. They stayed with us for a few very enjoyable days and just left this morning.
Leo definitely met his match in the giant baby stakes with the arrival of Angus. Three months his senior, and far more chatty. Together they broke hearts all over Lucca. Two of the blondest and most robust under-twos you've ever seen! The local nonne couldn't cope.
Overall, we felt very loved and lucky. There's no doubt that we missed our families back home, but we enjoyed a more relaxed pace of Christmas than past years which was also nice. And as always, I had the best time showing off our fabulous hometown to new visitors.
The other major milestone we've reached this week is six months since we left Australia. I can't actually believe how quickly it has gone. For sure there have been a few lows, but they are nothing in comparison to the soaring highs.
The friends we've met, the experiences we've had, and the challenges we've successfully overcome have been more than I ever could have hoped for. We are truly fortunate to have been able to embark on this crazy adventure.
Baci e abbracci!
Kate
P.S. Stand by for the results of my totally non-scientific and non-comprehensive quest to find the best panettone in Italy. Next week!
*Oldest by duration of friendship, not actual age. Just to clarify…
