One year on

One year ago we moved to this amazing place to start new adventures. What a year! We have laughed often, cried sometimes and I think achieved an enormous amount in a short space of time. Our feet don't seem to have touched the ground and we have so much more that we want to get done...bring on year 2!!

I honestly believe we deserve to be proud of ourselves and I wanted to share some of my thoughts after our crazy first year. Here they are in no particular order:

Top 6 things I love about being here

1. Good cappuccino almost anywhere for only a euro.
2. Skiing and sledging in the winter; walking, canoeing, swimming and cycling in the summer.
3. Default blue skies year round (although they have not been quite so 'default' so far this year!)
4. My new English and Italian friends, who have all been so welcoming.
5. The amazing mountain views we see everyday when we look out of the window...
6. Seeing my children blooming in a new culture and language

Top 6 things we miss:

1. Crumpets
2. Decent Tea (our families have been superb at keeping us supplied on various visits!)
3. Cheddar cheese...please cheddar companies start exporting to Italy (more specifically Abruzzo)
4. Friends and family - thank goodness for Skype!!
5. Indian, mexican and chinese food...in this part of Italy you eat Italian, full stop!
6. Porridge!

Top 6 things that frustrate me about being here

1. How beautiful this region is, yet how difficult it is for people to find out about it.
2. How difficult it is to find out information about how things work...and contrary to what others would have you believe, things do work here...just in a somewhat complicated, sometimes illogical fashion!
3. How long everything takes (post office queues, making hospital appointments, paying bills)
4. ...

no...that's it...I honestly can't think of anything else. Must be a good sign don't you think?!!!!!