In the beginning....

Wowww!!! The journey has finally begun…but in many ways it began much before our arrival. For me this journey probably first began on a European holiday that Nick and I had in 2003. Ironically our first stop was Firenze (Toscana) which is just 45min down the road from Lucca. I wanted time to stand still when we were in Firenze…..life could not have been sweeter and I knew it.  But time did go on, and we continued to have many other wonderful moments across Italia over the next few weeks Italia was well established as my most desired dream destination of residence.

So much has changed in my personal life since that first trip in 2003, the most prolific being that of the tragic loss of my husband and the addition of 3 beautiful children. Each of these events in my life deserve blogs of their own,  and may be visited from time to time in this blog but will not be the focus.  However, I have to state that my husband Nick was an inspirational man who was such a big influence in my life, his motivation and inspiration continues to influence my outlook on life and continues to be an inspiration today, for this I am eternally grateful. 

The flight......All three children were surprisingly good during the flight, nothing an abundance of lollipops and tictacs couldn't solve.  Our first stop was Roma (after Dubai) where we stayed at a motel to attempt recuperation  post the flight, then Sunday morning we were Lucca bound, after a not so recuperating recuperation :-) However, the excitement was well and truely overwhelming and the magic of simply being here was more than enough for me to continue on with Gusto.

Lucca bound.....We met our land lady Paola just on the outskirts of Lucca, she was a little delayed as she had just baked a loaf of gluten free bread, packed us an assortment of home made olive oil (organic), tomato sugo (still hot in the jar) and an abundance of other gluten free groceries - all a welcoming gift!!!  I hadn't even arrived to the city and I knew that my whole plan was the right decision. 

The apartment.... so much more beautiful than i could have ever anticipated... the location, the architecture, the textures, the smell, the view, perfetto!!! 

The city... I was worried that their was not many typical playgrounds around but you quickly see that for children, this city is a playground, with statues and fountains, tunnels and piazzas in abundance, it is a feast of fun for them. Our first afternoon here we heard a band approaching, and looked out the window and a procession was approaching. Directly under our window were local people in period costume, musicians and people carrying crossbows - we soon realised their was a local crossbow competition pending just a few blocks away from our apartment. So, just like in a dream, we floated down stairs and followed the procession, picking up gelati for all along the way.... Spencie said "Mum real Roman emperors!!!" It was a blast of a first day and I was literally on cloud nine at that moment. The sweetness of life filling me to the brim :-)

Grocery's... We did our first grocery shop yesterday and Spencie said "Mum are you buying everything in this shop?" ... granted... I did by five varieties of cheese and four varieties of salame and prosciutto, I literally felt like crying I was like a pig in mud in that supermarket - i promise next time i go back I will definitely take a picture of the deli section. 

 Today Tuesday the 19th July....Today the 18th July.... It is 4.30am and i have been attempting to put Malachy back to sleep - the jet lag seems to be affecting him the worst, poor little fellow.  Gabby and Spencer seem to be adjusted to the new time already and we are only two days in - thank god for small graces!! Still much to be done, so I will definitely keep you posted with our goings on :-)

Ciao my beautiful friends and family xxx