The most important thing for all of us to do now to stop the spread of coronavirus is to stay at home. Here’s the official advice from the NHS explaining that in detail. COVID-19 testing I’ve actually been at home and keeping away from people as much as possible since the start of March, when […]
Applying for Italian citizenship – part 4
Last time I wrote about this (in Applying for Italian citizenship – part 3) I’d just sent off the documents to register our marriage and our daughter’s birth with the Italian Consulate in London. The next step was to register our son’s adoption, and it’s not possible to do that by post. For this stage, […]
A day in the life of a travel blogger’s dog*
Name: Bluebell Age: 10 years Breed: Whippet What’s your morning routine? I try to remain lying on my bed for as long as possible in the mornings. It’s a very cosy place, and I see no reason to move from it unless absolutely necessary. When I’m ready to get up, I go to the […]
Applying for Italian citizenship – part 3
So, I thought that it was about time that I updated you on my family’s progress towards getting Italian citizenship. At the moment my husband’s Italian and British, while our two children (one of whom is adopted) and I are British. Because of Brexit, and because we’d like to still be European, we’re trying to […]
Applying for Italian citizenship – part 2
So, a while back I wrote about how, and why, I’ve decided to try to apply for Italian citizenship for me and our kids (you can read that post here). My husband was born in London to Italian parents and is therefore both Italian and British. Hopefully our birth daughter, our adopted son and I […]
The one with the dog attack
If you own a dog, please read this. So this weekend is apparently one of the sunniest on record. I’d love to be out enjoying the fine weather, but I can’t. I’m inside with the doors closed, sitting on the floor next to my gentle, beautiful dog. She’s lying on her side, eyes half shut, […]
Happy New Year – and thank you
I need to tell you something. I haven’t been able to write anything here recently because I’ve not had the time or the head space to be able to do so, and I’m very sorry about that. I want to explain why. A couple of weeks before Christmas my fit and healthy dad had a […]
How to have a vintage family slide show
For the last decade or so, my cousins, siblings and I have been getting together all of our extended family (on my dad’s side) for lunch at one of our houses every two or three years. There are now 28 of us, ranging from my parents, uncle and aunt, who are all in their seventies, […]
Stena Line ferry to Holland
I wasn’t particularly looking forward to our ferry crossing to Holland. But I’m surprised to say that the seven hours and 15 minutes which I spent on board the Stena Brittanica ferry from Harwich were actually relaxing and enjoyable. Duinrell I was driving to Holland to stay at Duinrell holiday park (I’ll be writing about […]
Athens: random acts of kindness
Saturday I’m on my own, struggling to carry my suitcase down a flight of steps to a Metro station in Athens one October evening. I’ve been in the Greek capital since Wednesday for the the TBEX travel blogger conference and now I’m going to meet my husband and kids who’ve just arrived in the city. A Greek man […]
