Primary Menu

Italy, a love story
Travel
Food
Stories
Rachael Martin
Italy, a food story
Cooking Classes
Online talks

NORTHERN ITALIAN DIARIES

NORTHERN ITALIAN DIARIES

BRINGING ITALY TO YOUR HOME

Tag: Italy with kids

Up in the mountains with kids

February 14, 2017.Reading time 5 minutes.

How to climb up mountains with the kids and enjoy it

Tags

Alta Moda AostaValley Bologna Florence Great Saint Bernard's Pass GreatSaintBernardValley Italian haute couture Italy with kids Lake Como Passo dello Spluga Recipes Rome Saint-Rhémy-en-Bosses The Italian Breakfast Via Francigena

follow me on social media

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
LinkedIn

Instagram

Lockdown indulgence post scrambling round in the cupboards because you know you have some left but can’t remember where you hid them.

Went to the supermarket early this morning. Bought cake. @italianhomecooking here’s one I bought earlier - not bad for a supermarket buy!

March 7th, first lunch of the year on the balcony. “Mum, it’s cold.” “Put a fleece on and pretend you’re in the mountains.”

Spring is here. First Sunday of the new lockdown amidst talks of further restrictions and government meetings - and the sun’s out. My kid asked me this morning, “Mum, when are we going back to school?” Not yet sweetheart, not yet. Picture of pink primrose because I love them so much. Focus on the moment, as really that is all we have.

Won’t be going anywhere this weekend now we’re in semi lockdown which with the kids at home and not being able to leave our village feels like lockdown anyway. In the meantime, noticed this and found it so beautiful.

Joan Didion wrote about how it’s best to keep on nodding terms with who we used to be. I found this the other day when I had to look for something in the garage and came across a box of old photos. Thirteen year old me at the Berlin Wall in the 1980s. I’d gone to stay with my mother’s friend who lived there. She worked and so when she was at work I spent my time being taken around by her eighteen year old son and his friends which was a really big deal for a thirteen year old girl, smoking cigarettes out of the bathroom window and reading the juicy bits from her Jackie Collins’ novels. She also took me to nightclubs and would point out local film stars and other people who were famous in some way, and then there was the whole fascination with where I was and what it all meant. I have a child who has exactly the same look in his eyes, same attitude, same wanting to run through his teenage years and with a constant thirst for more than what is around him. We become the parents or we know we are, we feel we are, and then there are the moments we know that to be absolutely true.

The theory is quit while you’re ahead. Have few expectations and it will all be just fine. (Schools closed today, more restrictions.) Telling myself I will not lose it or kick off and especially not with one kid while the other kid’s microphone is on. (Been there, done that, and relevant kid’s friend told the teacher it was me.) San Remo (famous Italian music festival) blaring out on the tv although no one’s actually listening to it - debating who’s cooking on what day - you, mum - BUT 8th March mum’s on strike anyway especially as she can’t go march anywhere 😭 so get planning kiddo - who got what in which test - guess what this and that teacher said today - oh and Dante Alligatore è un figo 😎 Dante Alighieri is a dude. Focus on the little bits and dance to San Remo 💃

And crocuses. Last year it was cyclamens, this year it’s crocuses. In times of stress, plant things, and on that note I am off to get tulips. The day the schools closed, I bought bulbs. That’s the hope and the promise of better days.

You when things couldn’t arrive at a better time? This. A huge thank you to @museflashmedia and @joannemallon. Change your life in 5 minutes a day. Was part of the journalists’ retreat I did in February where I had so much fun cooking up a tart’s spaghetti, but just arrived today as post is slow, customs and all. News has just broken that from midnight tonight all schools will close in Lombardy as it moves into a ‘reinforced orange zone.’ (Yellow - orange - red zones with red being most severed restrictions.) Where I live we already have numbers for a red zone apparently and indeed we could be a red zone from Monday which means that all shops, restaurants etc will close too. A year ago on 7 March we went into lockdown in Lombardy and 14 other provinces, although the schools had already closed on 24 February. Today 4 March the same is happening again. Slightly different restrictions but the essence is the same. Hold tight and here we go (and absolutely no flippancy there just sheer determined resilience)... and I shall be reading this every day!

Recent posts

Eating pizzoccheri in Valchiavenna
why valchiavenna will always have a place in my heart
Cooking up a tart’s spaghetti online cookery class
Spaghetti and sauce: a workshop for kids
casarecce with romanesco cauliflower

Search site for…

Search

Follow NORTHERN ITALIAN DIARIES on WordPress.com

Follow Blog via Email

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Email Address:

Privacy policy

Read privacy policy

Blog at WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy