Day 85

Sat by the poolside listening to The Waterboys (I've just realised how funny that is!); thank you daddy for fixating it in my head the other day, I couldn't not buy it on iTunes once you put it into my head, although I know it doesn't sound as good as when you play it for me, it makes me smile just the same! 
Rome has been getting colder and more autumnal over the last week. There are still leaves on trees, but there are more on the ground than there have been, so I haven't entirely missed out on autumn, even if it isn't nearly as beautiful as it will have been at home. The shops are just beginning to put up decorations - the classic being faux pine branches and cones with lights around the arch doorways, and lights strung along between buildings in the streets. It all feels very Italian but homely all at once! I know I'm going to miss going into the shops and hearing Christmas songs though. Not the classics, but all the chart toppers over the years! It's strange, I'd never considered that the rest of the world wouldn't take Christmas number ones seriously, or that they wouldn't be the same everywhere, but when discussing it with Clare the other evening it dawned on me that so many ones I love are by British artists or have only topped the Christmas charts in the UK..I think I may need to give her an evening of going through them; I can't cope with her only having heard Band Aid 30, and even then just because of One Direction!! I am looking forward to December in Rome though, it's nice wrapping up warm and I've heard that there'll be a big market in Piazza Navona, where I'm sure far too much money will be spent..! 
(I've now listened to The Whole of the Moon four times in a row. I will know all of the lyrics by the time M gets out of the water!) 
I really am falling in love with Rome. You can wander for hours and just grab pizza or coffee and carry on, and nobody knows you here, so on any given day you can behave like a tourist or a local depending on how you feel. The people who recognise you are the ones that see you on a daily basis, and they're always so friendly and happy to see you; the coffee shop I've been going to since the start has now started giving me large cappuccinos for the same price as a normal. I probably don't need the extra caffeine and will more than likely end up being addicted to it by the end of my time here. Add to that my newfound love of Coke Zero (I've got it bad for Coke Zero!) and it's just a crazy mix! I do try not to have it all every day though, so I might avoid it!
(This is the sixth time I've put it on now..."I pictured a rainbow.."!)
The family and I are getting on like a house on fire, we feel comfortable teasing each other and being sarcastic and talking about anything and everything, and I feel as though I understand the way the kids' brains work, so that's made things a little easier too! 
Ciao!

Massive Picture Update!

Santa Marinella 

The boating lake in the park

Walked down to the street

I've never seen so many! They do it every evening over the river

There's a zoo! I saw my first bear! No, this isn't a bear, sorry. 

My phone was on the table. This Happened.

One thing I love about Italy is the abundance of seafood!

A beautiful double rainbow with the last remains of smoke from the Frecce Tricolori

This is just to show the scale of the birthday party!

The apple cake (with expertly made crumble topping, might I add)

Day 73 (wow, when did that happen?!)

I guess I should get around to actually writing a blog post shouldn't I? Well, I have 20 minutes free now, so I'll see what I can do! Remember I mentioned a while ago that I had a cold? It only really went away last week, and then this weekend I came down with something else (who knows what) and now I have something of a cold, something of an upset stomach, but I've decided to ignore it today because I'm not spending another day eating plain porridge and rice. Nope, not happening! 
It was F's 6th birthday last week, and schools were closed all over Rome because of "extreme weather conditions" (ie, heavy rain all day; seriously, it's like the UK when faced with a dusting of snow!) so Susanna (the previous au pair) came over and me and her baked a cake while F had a play date. It was a very yummy German cinnamon apple cake, that tasted just as nice in the process of being made as it did when finished! His party was on Saturday, and that was a very busy affair, the scale of which I have never seen before - there were at least 100 people at the holiday house, and we were very glad to have such a beautiful day so everyone could mill around in the garden. And as if one Italian birthday party on Saturday wasn't enough, when I got back to the apartment in Rome (at around 5/6ish; the party had started at 10:30) I walked up to Clare's for her twins' 6th birthday party! I must have been mad, and it definitely showed, because at one point I was singing along to Frozen with their 3 year old sister, and her host mum asked me (jokingly of course) what I'd taken to have so much energy!! When everyone had gone home from that party, Clare and I went on a gelato run. Whenever we go to her gelato place (it's called Latte and it's by far the best) I choose two flavours and then get the person serving to choose the third, mostly because I can never decide, but also because they suggest things I wouldn't normally consider. So with my usual combination of marscapone e gentilini and something chocolatey, I had pineapple and basil sorbet which was very surprising, and very delicious! (Also, for all those who live in Neath, the Latte gelato from there is very nearly the same as Cresci's ice cream, but not quite). 
It's Maddie's last week here in Rome this week, so the three of us are going out for dinner tomorrow evening, and I'm really looking forward to it; mostly because it's an excuse to dress up nice, but also because we haven't all been out together in so long! 
I'd like to thank everyone who's sent me a card or letter in the past weeks, it means so much to me that people take the time out to write to me, and it's always exciting receiving something unexpectedly! Also, to all those asking after me because I haven't been blogging - thank you for caring too, it's just sometimes life gets in the way or feels to boring, or I simply cannot be bothered doing it..but now that I have today, I've been reminded how much I actually enjoy writing, so maybe that'll be enough to keep me updating more regularly!
Ciao!!