Today Hamish turned 5. Not every day you can say you spent your 5th birthday in Italy…unless you’re Italian, of course. The day started slowly. Hamish didn’t wake up until nearly 830am, which was lovely for all of us. He unwrapped some gifts from Australia (Aunty and Grandparents), one big box of Italian Lego (Cogo) from the owner of the apartment we are renting and a mini soccer ball and Italian national team soccer shirt from us.

Our plan was to take him to the park (a walk of about 2km), have a play, kick the soccer ball around, have lunch and walk home. Well, he was over the walking after about 5 minutes and from then on, we heard many cries of ‘are we there yet’ and ‘how long is soon’ (in response to us saying, we will be there soon). In all fairness, it was warm and humid and he had dressed himself in long pants.

He soon brightened up when we got to the park. However, this was short lived when it was time to go and get lunch. Not even the promise of gelato was helping. He yelled and kicked and carried on like a 4 year old! The day was going downhill faster than the Italian traffic. We managed to get him into a cafe where he was entertained by the free range pigeons walking around the table.

Once back at home, he settled down to an afternoon movie with Jess (Chicken Run) whilst Rod and I did a bit more exploring in town. His request for his favourite ‘Orange Soup’ (soup made from all orange vegetables) was granted along with grissini for dipping.

A delicious chocolate torte, tasting ever so slightly of alcohol, followed up as birthday cake. And as I write this, he is sleeping soundly.