We seem to have three different options for weekends in Italy.
1. A weekend away, exploring and discovering together. Driving, walking and delighting in the new surroundings. Often finding a place to picnic or a lovely place for a local trattoria meal. Photographing ruins or mountains or the spectacle of life. Wandering off the main road to follow a brown sign for a tourism site.
2. Very quiet weekends holed up in our apartment escaping the world. Sleeping, cooking, reading and chatting. Some housework, a movie and time away from what can be the overwhelming reality of living in another culture.
3. Weekends when we don’t seem to have much planned but seem to be on the road all weekend. Shopping in amongst the chaos, Sunday morning markets followed by traditional lunch with family. More driving through erratic traffic. Squeezing in errands to keep the fridge stocked and tick things off the to-do-list. Looking for the breaks in the weather and hoping that the sun doesn’t set before we get home.
With Miss S attending school six days a week, weekends are no longer two guaranteed long days of rest and relaxation. Instead, they’ve morphed into this extra precious time when we decide to occasionally keep her out of school knowing she’ll learn more with us than she will sitting in a room.
And when you think about it a childhood is only made up of so many weekends. They are to be treasured and indulged. For soon enough they’ll be gone with only the memories left behind.
You must log in to post a comment.