Well, we've done it. We've officially (finally) moved to our new apartment. Between the dreaded ZTL, rain, and sickness I would be lying if I said it was anything other than a very unenjoyable experience. The outcome, however, is fantastic.

I have heard from many people that Italians take everything - including the kitchen sink - with them when they move. But we were quite surprised when we realised that the previous tenants even took the light globes and shower curtain railing with them when they vacated the apartment!

While I am still very easily rendered mute in the face of an Italian inquisition, I am at least now able to comprehend a little more of what is being said to me. And by quashing my instinct to panic, I can form monosyllabic responses to most basic questions. 

The spa consisted mostly of indoor and outdoor pools, all heated to a delightful temperature. The main outdoor pool had a swim-up bar, which was packed from the moment the place opened at 10am!

When we first arrived in summer, we were very much lumped in with the hordes of sunburnt and obnoxious tourists. And fair enough too. We didn't know where we were going, we continually walked on the wrong side of people out of habit, and we failed time and time to order and pay correctly in busy bars and gelaterias. In short, we just generally got in the way. 

Last weekend I decided that we needed to go for an adventure. Something to get us out of town and burn some of the kids' endless energy. I researched online and found a gorgeously run-down but still very fun-looking little train in Viareggio. Un trenino.

We've had all sorts of fun experiences this week, including some truly Mambo Italiano moments. We've finally had to run the gauntlet of the local questura (immigration office), we've been negotiating a new rental lease, and we've spent a weekend with friends in Florence.

One of the major points to note about rental cars (and cars in general in Italy) is that this is still a market in which manual transmissions are the standard. Renting or purchasing an automatic is significantly more expensive.

The tale goes that La Befana was approached by the three wise men while they were on their way to greet the baby Jesus. They asked her to show them the way, but she turned them down because she was too busy with her sweeping.

Buon anno! We've officially started a new year in Italy, and I'm very excited about all that 2024 has in store for us…

The bambini had fun absolutely shredding the wrapping paper off their presents from Babbo Natale - literally Christmas Dad. Or the much more saucy slash creepy translation of Christmas Daddy.

Every time we welcome a new family member or friend, it opens my eyes once again to how lucky we are to be here and how perfect this town is for us. Not everything is easy, but it is beautiful - and if that doesn't just sum up the Italian experience, then I don't know what does!

There was a large crowd gathered at the entrance to the piazza right near our house. In the middle of the crowd, next to a large marble colonna, was a fire truck. Interesting.

The Italian customs experience is either non-existent, or the most time consuming and hideously inefficient process possible. In this case it was the former. From tarmac to pick up was about 10 minutes. It caught me quite off guard, as I'd planned to spend the wait time doing some research on the city's driving restrictions and parking options.

Success! I have ticked off another major bureaucratic task on my list. I finally went yesterday to the local hospital and enrolled myself and the bambini in the Italian national health service. 

I have a confession to make. I'm a little bit ashamed, but the reality is undeniable. The longer I spend here, and the more language I learn, the clearer it becomes. I have an Italian speech impediment. 

Christmas preparations have well and truly begun here in Lucca. The city has been strewn with fairy lights on all the main pedestrian streets in the centre, and many of the shops have begun to dress their windows with festive decorations. Most excitingly for me - panettone is everywhere!

So arduous (i.e. Italian) was the enrolment process, that I still didn't even know the night before the term was supposed to start if I had a place, or what time the lessons started. At home I would have given up weeks earlier, but it has been yet another lesson that in Italy, shameless persistence is the only way.

The rain has continued with gusto this week - and although we've been caught out and soaked a couple of times, we have yet to succumb to any major illness. Phew! I have to say though, the obsession with avoiding sickness as a result of being cold is already starting to rub off on us.