This morning, thanks to the recent change to daylight savings time, we all overslept and I had to drive Julius to school.
Good thing, this way I got to see the photos taken last month of the party they had and indeed, Julius was wearing his costume proudly.
Our little copycat likes his Miro t-shirt so much that he had to copy it …
It is mirrored since he kept wearing it while drawing. So he got all the detail just by looking down.
Maybe he becomes an artist one day … or one of these people who fake originals … or the copy boy at Kinko’s … one never knows.
I gave Julius my camera to run around and take pictures … and besides photographing all kinds of inanimate objects in the house and pages from his books … he had most fun turning the camera around, make a face, click and then quickly check the result on the LCD … here are some of the results:
So we just got back from our weekend trip to the mountains and I will write more in detail later, but here is already a short-ish video …
I have way more footage … So I might sit down and do a director’s cut, but that might be too much for the average internet user’s attention span … so .. as a first impression of Julius discovering the fun of sledding (rodeln in German) all by himself:
(vimeo seems to have some issues atm .. so here a youtube link)
(late edit:) As usual I did not get to keep my promise to write more in detail (in time, and keep having the eery feeling I have actually written about it), but now, from memory, some details:
The place we stayed for the night was: Hotel L’espoir, nice little place with friendly cats and friendly hosts, cozy, but I think it would get soon a bit to small for us (as Julius keeps growing), I think breakfast was included, but nothing memorable, but as there is not much shopping around, very helpful to start the day.
Best thing is this sledding area we found were for a 10€ deposit you get a nice sled and can use the magic carpets to go up. Parking for this is around N 45 49.244 E 7 41.448 (might get very crowded early on)
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After a so-so dinner last night @ Agriturismo Goïl (very basic, but good, but loud, at least cheap) we had a really fantastic dinner tonight at “Le Cadran Solaire“. A very cozy place, a bit tricky to find since it is off the street.
Today was end of the skiing season for this particular area and by afternoon you could feel that everyone had left … so our trusty host Jarno at Hotel l’Espoir made reservations for us .. and it turned out we were the only guests all evening. |
Guido, who we believe to be the owner / master chef was very nice, made some very quick, delicious pasta for Julius who was already on the brink of falling asleep (as he was out and about all day and did not want to nap). And then he made us some fantastic food, beautifully presented: For Ritsu: Carpaccio on julienne fennel with frutti di bosco (mixed berries) and a very unique balsamico vinegar. I had lardo and moncetta (special coldcuts of the region) with honey and sweet chestnuts. Then Ritsu had interestingly poached eggs with asparagus and I had the largest duck breast a l’orange I have ever seen.
The portions were extremely generous and tasty … and although we were full we just had to see what dessert is like and share a semifreddo (which came very freddo, but Guido apologized for that) with amaretto and caramel flavor … and it was just heavenly … Julius was sleeping all through this after he had nearly finished his pasta.
Click for detail and captions.
The total damage was 85€ (including a bottle of Arneîs wine, and he did not charge for Julius’ food or coperto, so, what is rare in Italy, we tipped)
This place will be one of the reasons why we have to return to Atagnod.
Le Cadran Solaire
Rue De La Laiterie, 4
Antagnod – Ayas
(Valle D’Aosta)
Today was birthday party at Alessia’s and when I came to pick Julius up he had nothing better to do than being smooched by the birthday girl for his present …
I only got 2 pictures from the event … but this face is so … ‘I am a Nacken boy’ …
When I went supermarket shopping with Ritsu on Tuesday she found some evil pastry filled with cream and strawberries are popping up dirt cheap left and right …
When Julius came back from school today he immediately asked for the cat … calling him by the name we have come up with ‘Sammy’ … and indeed .. the cat was in the backyard and was obviously happy to see us .. he just hates the part when I take him and carry him all the way up to our apartment … unfortunately there is no other way for him to come in …
But once he is settled he explores and Julius draws pictures of him .. and then I let him go when I think that a potty accident might be imminent …
It had been a while since we dared dragging Julius with us to IKEA … and we had actually planned to go there on Tuesday, without kiddo … but Julius had the fantastic idea to play his mini e-piano at 6 AM on a Sunday and thus wake up the whole family …
But before I let that ruin the day, I remembered that IKEA opens at 9 AM on sundays and that we could possibly beat the usual mad house. And we were rewarded with early Sunday morning traffic and a superb parking spot right at the exit doors.
This time the store was just one huge playground for Julius. Overall he behaved well, but on occasion some staff people shushed him off the beds or stopped him from jumping on the sofas. He was also a bit too adventurous when it came to exploring and ‘how far do I dare leave mom & pop’ .. but he always showed up again and by now I trust that if he really got lost, he can turn to someone who can use the speaker system.
The second half (downstairs) he enjoyed the ride on the shopping cart, while we scored some nice new things, like a new carpet for the living room, new desk chair for Ritsu and other bits and pieces … I fear by now half of our furniture comes via Sweden (well, China mainly) but the stuff is pretty ok if you don’t plan on leaving it to your grand children some day.
Enjoy the pictures, this time the thumbnails will not only get you a bigger picture but also reveal the whole shot.
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Ritsu just got back from a 10 day trip to Thailand and we went to pick her up … surely this transition time (new place, mama gone) was tricky for Julius, but he was all over his mama when she came through the security door!
I got Julius to tell me about his day on camera (usually he is more aware about the cam and shuts down)
Note the mix of English and Italian (I clearly steer him to tell me the story in Italian) .. and yes, I do think he is behind in his language development compared to kids his age … but then again, he gets bombarded with 4 languages. And he manages to make his point. I also love his very Italian use of hand gestures.
He also talks about rabbits (coniglio) and dinosaurs (dinosauri) .. he has yet to get the she/her, he /his thing .. I am not sure at times how gender aware he is yet … or if he is, how much he knows that he has to reflect that in language … but we are getting there
We managed to lure the cat in again … though he was not even that interested in food … but he was happy to sit with Julius and got comfortable enough to start cleaning .. the problem remains that there is no litterbox and no easy access for the cat … and he is not always around .. so I am still considering getting our own small cat once we have figured out the how and what … but so far, Julius is enjoying the company.
Yesterday we went to meet Julius’ girlfriend Ogarit again (has been a while) and since we were without Ritsu we all fit into one car and Ogarit’s dad Kamal introduced us the close-by village of Villarbasse. Only 30 minutes away from Turin and you already feel like you are out in the country.
We took a 1 hour walk and let the kids run around and then had great lunch at ‘Trattoria Vineria Italia‘. One of those places where you pay a basic fee (30€ per adult, 5€ per kid, drinks included) don’t expect to see a written menu and get food left and right. They were fully booked (and they do ‘reservation only’) but Kamal had called ahead. We were down in the basement with a big birthday party, which made things pretty loud.
Food: some sliced ham for the kids to start with before they would empty the breadbasket.
Platter with 4 appetizers: some egg thing with fonduta sauce, a tarte with onions from Tropea (which are very light and sweet) a piece of grilled pepper with some cream cheese and a tad of fig jam and then a sweet & sour zuchini salad with extra sweet balsamico goop and a bit of strawbery … my favourite
The 2 primi were rather bland … a potato based pasta (gnochettini) with crema di zuccha (pumpkin) .. but why did it look green not yellow? … Julius ate all his .. but Ogarit did not like it. And then a yellow saffron risotto with lardo .. was ok .. rice felt a bit too al dente.
The secondi were some meat with more onions and also pieces of this cheeese you are supposed to do in the oven … they had like 6 different kinds of making them (i.e. with ham and potatoes) but we shared one, again with those tropea onions .. and then one with pear and walnut ..
For dessert we got a triple platter of applestrudel (tasted very Austrian, but good), chocolate pudding (boring) and a slice of pana cotta (nice)
I got a funny / weird comment from the waitress when I declined the coffee offer … her saying that all foreigners are so wild about the Italian coffee and that they always order the wrong one .. and that German coffee is just ‘dirty water’.
Would I go back? I was a bit sad about the primi … and it was just too loud … but that was because of the big party .. I am very curious to see the street level dining area .. it is very weird to have lunch in a window less basement and then step out into the sun after 3 hours. They also do theme nights and often it is all about fish. So, I really would like to do that some time.
The kids behaved overall very well … and were very happy when one of the very busy waitress ladies lectured them about their behaviour and that they could have some pens and paper, if they behaved now .. and from then on they were drawing very nicely. Or sat in the middle of the doorway the poor waitresses had to go through … Julius even met up with the chef when he made his rounds.
Afterwards we did another long walk / stroll / hike into the woods and fields and the kids just loved it … they were running around and when they thought nobody was looking they engaged in imaginative role play … Julius was the principe (prince) and Ogarit the principessa (princess) and they were defending themselves from threats like dragons or monsters (me) with ‘palla di fuoco’ (fireball) …
The weather was beautiful and I found out that Julius speaks more Italian than I had thought and that he is also pretty good at keeping his balance … he managed to walk this wall without any help and without falling down.
Our new fun thing to do while we wait for Julius pick up. We play ball!
One of the very nice features of the new place is the mountain view!
This very prominent mountain back there, looks like a pyramid, that’s Monte Viso.
… I am somehow not getting it .. maybe the appeal is bigger when one can also use it on a mobile device, which so far is not possible on my mobile phone here in Italy (maybe on some expensive contract)… but what I see online … I am just not getting Twitter … and Jon Stewart / Sam Bee summarized my exact thoughts in their usual hillarious fashion:
Yep, there will be a lot of ‘firsts’ in the coming weeks … But sure enough we had to initiate our bath ritual, and while the tiles in this new bathroom are a severe fashion crime, the tub itself seems longer than our old one and somehow Julius insisted on taking the bath with Papa.
We have been wondering about getting (a) cat(s) at the new place, once we would have confirmed with neighbors that we had reliable cat-sitters … but this morning already started with the sound of some probably stray, one eyed cat on the balcony below … hours later the cat somehow made it to our door and of course I let him / her in.
And sure enough Julius was very excited (and I have now idea why he is wearing his xmas hat)
I keep wondering about names for this cat … Sammy Davis Jr. & Peter Falk come to mind.
The next 3 photos are special as it was Julius who took them, while a more distracting cat was running around.
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