A huge thank you to Kelly italianatheart.com, Jasmine questadolcevita.com and Kristie mammaprada.com for inviting me to join #DolceVitaBloggers to write my love letter to Italy for Valentine’s Day
Cara Italia
Ma quanto ti amo!
I first met you in the classroom when I was 12 and immediately liked you for your sing-song intonation and, let’s be honest, for the fact it turns out I already knew some of your words. Pizza, pasta, vino. Hey, already an expert at 12! What a great start!
I liked you so much that I decided to stick with you for A-levels, and then we even left home together to go to University.
Now, going to Uni is normally the death-knell for relationships, but not for us, Cara Italia. Our bond grew stronger every day, especially that year we spent together “studying” Italian in Italy (and also discovering limoncello, Italian boys and how you can live on practically no food and exist on just a diet of booze, fags and inhaling deeply as you walk by a Focacceria).
We returned home closer than ever. (And with a, thankfully short-lived, smoking habit).
Of course, as in all relationships, there are downs as well as ups. We parted ways for several years. I don’t know why we grew apart, I guess life just got in the way. Life and work. And boys. And then a husband. And then kids.
But, one mad crazy day, we found each other again when, on a whim, I decided it would be a great idea for the family to buy a little mountain house in Italy. To introduce you to my wonderful family.
And now we are reunited once more, together forever.
Because of school holidays, and holiday limitations, we can’t be together all the time, but we’ll see each other every Easter, Whit Half Term, the whole of every Summer Holiday and October Half Term. And that will have to do us for now.
And now I’m spreading the love too. I’m sharing you with Northern Husband and our two little children. Your relationship with them is only just beginning, but they already love you so much.
Littlest Angel talks of you every time she smells wood smoke and when she sees cats. (The little hamlet where we have a house has lots of cats. Cats and little old ladies)
Big Boy wonders regularly if he’ll meet the Italian Youth in the park next time and play footie with him again. They couldn’t really communicate with each other at first, so took it in turns to shout out the name of footballers and football teams, both English and Italian. But now he regularly shouts, “Passi a me!” when calling for the ball to be passed to him.
One day, I really hope to be reunited with you full-time, or perhaps for 6 months each year.
But for now, I’ll make do with our little holiday assignations four times a year and dream of the future together.
Of a future with sunshine, homegrown tomatoes, olive harvest and wine, oh yes, there’s wine in the future and it’s Italian wine!
And so, until Easter, I bid you farewell, amore mia!
Un bacio!
Your amica di cuore x
This is part of the February #DolceVitaBloggers Linkup:
#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup – #3 February 2018 – A Love Letter to Italy
(If you liked this, you might also like to know 7 things about me from My Nomination For The Versatile Blogger Award).
20 Comments
I didn’t realise you liked Italy do much…
Where is your house?
Love it! Love it! Love it!
I love everything about it …. apart from football and limoncello and those yucky squishy baba al limoncello.
The house is in a tiny little hamlet in the Lunigiana area of northern Tuscany, close to the border with Emilia Romagna.
Thanks for joining up my dear! I loved reading about your history with Italy, so many people who study abroad here form a forever bond with the country hey? Easter is coming soon!!
Now I just need to push the kids to really fall in love with Italy so hard that they also choose to study Italian. Then I’ll have even more reasons to visit Italy!
This is so interesting! Do you have family in Italy? Where is your little mountain house if you don’t mind me asking? Sounds a bit like our life school times in the UK and holidays in Italy. Thank you for finding us and joining up! xx
I just realised that I didn’t answer your question about where the house is! It’s in a little hamlet in a part of northern Tuscany called Lunigiana. For several years, when we were kids, we used to return to rural Ireland for the whole summer and have such a free life. I guess I’m trying to recreate that for my children…. but with sunshine and gelato!
How wonderful to visit so frequently. You’re very lucky to have that special bond with Italy. 🙂
I know! I’m now counting down the days until we go again. This time, we’re going to spend a few days in Rome then head northwards to the Lunigiana region to the house. I’m really looking forward to taking the kids to Rome for the first time.
Great letter! I love the part about buying a mountain house on a whim! 🙂 I think it’s so great that you are sharing Italy with your family and sharing the love!
Thanks so much for reading and commenting. Let’s hope we got the purchase on a whim right: we’re spending the rest of our holidays there forever now!
What a fun read! I also came back with a short smoking habit the first time I studied abroad in Italy. What a dream it would be to be able to live 6 months of the year in Italy, I hope it comes true one day 🙂
We love that you have a holiday home in Italy! We bet studying there was an amazing experience too! 🙂 We would love to stay there for more than a week one day! <3
Lucy and Kelly xx
http://www.theblossomtwins.com
It is really lovely to be able to go several times a year. Thanks for your comments.
Italy has a way of always pulling you back, doesn’t it?!So wonderful you get to go back often and that you get to share the magic of Bella Italia with your family. I wish I had had the option to study Italian at age 12 in the US…I had to study French until college! Thank you so much for joining #DolceVitaBloggers! I hope you’ll join us again!
This is very sweet, thanks so much for sharing this story! 🙂
I would be very happy to visit Italy on the regular too! A house in the mountains???? Sounds like a dream come true if you ask me! Easter is not far now so enjoy your next trip. Tell Italia I say hi!!!
Love how you are now sharing Italy with your family, and they are beginning their love for it too! Cheers to many happy times in your little oasis in the mountains of Italy!
Thanks for reading. And do come back again soon. I’m posting some more Italian-esque recipes soon which will have you squealing in horror! And a post on how I’m trying to teach my kids Italian.
I love your letter! I had heart-eyes when I read the part when you mentioned your kids saying passi a me and connecting cats and wood smoke with Italy! So sweet <3
They really do love Italy already: we’re heading to Rome for 3 days in the Easter holidays and I’m hoping they’ll love that too. Big Boy want to see Roma play and see the Pope. Littlest Angel wants to eat pizza and ice-cream. (slightly easier requests!) Thanks so much for visiting and commenting.