Back home...to Puglia!

Well, the festive period is now well and truly over. Boo! Only another 360 days or so to go before I can once again gorge on mince pies and chocolate log. Until then though, I will have to 'make do' with smooth Italian espresso, creamy buffalo mozzarella and delicious pizza. How on earth will I cope? ;)

As I touched down in Rome yesterday, I realised that, piano piano, Italy is really starting to feel like a home to me. The UK will always be my country of origin, the place where I grew up, the place where most of my friends and family are. But it's dawning on me that, after just over 2 years here in Puglia, I'm beginning to feel like I'm coming home when I arrive at an Italian airport, not just at a British one. What about all you other expats out there? Are you going through or have you already been through the same process as me? Or will your country of origin be the only place you'll ever truly call home?

On another note, I'm already thinking about a whole load of lovely blog posts for you, to brighten up your January. Because let's face it, January really is a rubbish month. Yummy pasta and broccoli recipe anyone? Watch this space! :)

Happy New Year!

A big happy new year to you all! I hope you had a great end to the year, and 2013 is already going well for you. I was treated to a pub lunch today, so my year has definitely got off to a great start! Here are a couple of snaps from the past few days here in the UK:

A quick coffee break before the boyfriend cooked a tasty lasagne for my parents and our friends

Delightful dinner party on the 30th

Tequila before midnight on the 31st with some friends

Two wonderful people with whom I had the pleasure of seeing in the new year

Me and my man  (possibly nursing headaches...ahem...) on the 1st of January. Start as you mean to  go on... :)

It's at this time that the inevitable New Year's resolutions come about. Personally, I try not to make them. Mainly because I know full well that, even though I may start well, I hardly ever follow through. Yes, I could say that I want to go to the gym a bit more, but I hate the gym, so that's just not going to happen. And eat less chocolate? Well, then I'd be plain miserable. And nobody wants to read miserable blog posts now do they? In fact, maybe I should be eating more of the stuff....

Saying that though, I do have a few hopes for 2013. Here are just a few of them:

• Continue learning Italian. I need to figure out how to use conditionals at some point...
• Perfect my lasagne. I'm learning, but it's not quite up to Italian standards (ie it's not as good as my boyfriend's version, and that just won't do)
• Get a few more lovely blog followers (that one's down to you dear reader... :D)
• Keep writing. And writing and writing. And just see what happens... ;)
• Keep exploring beautiful Italy. 

What are some of your hopes for 2013? :)

Christmas capers...

Hello folks!

Whether you're spending the festive season in the UK, Italy or somewhere else in the world, I trust you're enjoying yourself, and most importantly, eating LOTS. I certainly am, here at my parents' home in the Midlands.

I spent Christmas day and Boxing day eating, drinking, eating, playing silly board games and eating a bit more. Part of me was eager to see what an actual Italian Christmas day was like, but I've got to be honest... I don't think I would have been happy without the traditional roast dinner and Christmas pudding :D 

Here are a few Christmas snaps for you, taken both in the run up to Christmas (in Italy) and Christmas day here in England.Enjoy!

Is this an Italian or English tree? Clue: look out for the panettone at  the bottom... ;D

An Italian nativity

My terrible wonderful students, playing games

The nativity at the nursery school

Christmas day wine...mmm

so......good....

terrific trifle

and perfect pudding

Boxing day capers

Hope you've all had a good one!

Mmmm...broth!!

As I'm heading home on Friday to spend Christmas with my family in the UK, I shall be missing out on the Italian Christmas day food fest. Instead of panettone I'll be eating Christmas pudding. Instead of pasta, roast potatoes. Instead of a post-feast coffee...well, nothing actually.

So last night, to make sure I had a little taste of something that the Italians (at least, the southern Italians) eat for their Christmas lunch, I enjoyed a nice bowl of brodo and tortellini. Brodo, or broth, is often served with these lovely little pasta parcels on Christmas day. It was warming, filling and yummy.

But although it was tasty, I'm still looking forward to my traditional turkey, parsnips and roast potatoes.... bring on the British food feast!

Christmas gifts...

In case you didn't know, I have a rather small family. No brothers or sisters. A limited number of cousins.

Italian families often have the tendency to be rather large. A few brothers here, 8 or 9 nieces there, about 20 or so aunts and uncles. And my boyfriend's family is no exception.

An 'intimate' family gathering of just the closest members of his family consists of at least 20 people. So you can't even imagine what anything along the lines of an 'extended' family gathering might be like. They all have to remember one name of one English girl. I on the other hand have to remember a great number of names, many of which I forget immediately after hearing them. It can get somewhat confusing/embarrassing.

Large families also mean large numbers of Christmas presents. On Saturday, myself and my man hit the shops and engaged in a spot of power purchasing. By this, I mean that we were quick, efficient and stuck to our budget. Ish. Even though we may have spent a little too much time/money in the toy shop looking at awesome board games and pressing the buttons on all sorts of...anyway. This power purchasing was necessary due to the sheer amount of presents we had to get. This is just a small portion of what we bought:

I've got to say though, that it was a lot of fun. Whizzing around the toy store, picking up monster trucks and baby rattles was rather enjoyable, and something I'm not accustomed to doing due to said small sized family. And afterwards, we rewarded ourselves with large amounts of pizza. A very successful evening indeed.

Although now I'm starting to understand why Italians almost always get their gifts wrapped at the store. The idea of wrapping presents always appeals to me, but I always end up in a sellotaped mess...

How's your Christmas shopping going?? :)

Cosy coats...part due!

In my last post, I was going on about puffa jackets and Michelin men and things like that.

Now however, I'm going to move away from the warm, practical and stylish, to the warm, not so practical and stylish.

Behold, a very much appreciated Christmas gift that I recently received:

Coat: Benetton

Good grief I love yellow. And this is the perfect kind of toned down, understated, mustard yellow that's perfect for winter. Suggestions of colours that may look good with it are very welcome!

Happy Monday!

Cosy coats...part uno!

Seeing as it has been pretty darn chilly here recently, I decided to take the plunge and get myself a nice new coat. I'd had my old coat for about 6 years, so it really was time for a change.

There's a real trend for puffa coats (is that what you call them?!) here, and they always look so lovely and warm, despite the possible Michelin man effect. I shopped around a bit though and found myself this nice, fitted puffa coat. What do you think? And yes, it's very warm indeed!

It's made by new Italian brand Male Female (no I hadn't heard of them either). Their site should be up and running soon: http://www.malefemale.it/

Have a great weekend!

Midweek mini blog!

A little midweek mini blog for you!

I hope you're all having a smashing week so far. It's pretty chilly here in southern Italy, so to warm my cockles (I think that's the first time I've ever used that expression..) I've been replacing my beloved gelato with something equally as yummy but a little hotter! Behold, the Italian hot chocolate:

Yes, it is a little like a chocolate soup, but that's definitely not a bad thing.

My next article for A Prettier Place blog has also been published, so make sure you check it out here.

That's all for now folks. Watch out for my next post, as it may well contain pictures of my very pretty new coat! Remember how I'm a fan of yellow....? ;)

A Puglia Christening

This weekend I had the chance to experience a real Puglia christening.

After the ceremony at one of the (many) local churches, myself and my boyfriend's family headed to a lovely little restaurant in my town for some lunch. I say some lunch. Actually it was probably one of the biggest lunches I have ever had. In my entire life.I almost had to be rolled out of the restaurant.

The food was great, as was the wine and the company. We spent a total of 4 hours eating, drinking and generally being quite merry. Here are a few pics for you!

Yes, the dessert photos are bigger..ahem...

The beautiful boy :)

 As you can see, the food was delicious. Excessive? Yes. But definitely delicious. I've yet to experience a one, but I've heard that this was nothing compared to a traditional southern Italian wedding...

Time to reflect...

One of my favourite phrases is: Life's too short. Do what you enjoy doing. Live your life in the best way possible, because you only get one. 

I also like to proclaim, quite often, that happiness is more important than money. And I think this video explains it much better than I ever could. Go on, watch it!

And then answer this one very important question: What do you desire?

 Buona Domenica!

Yes, I always desire coffee...