Out of Sicily for now …

This month I've been travelling home to Australia to visit family and friends. It's been a strange visit, somewhat rushed, bittersweet and filled with a terrible sense of reverse culture shock. I don't think I've ever felt so tired or disoriented than after going from a deep Sicilian winter into the middle of a warm…

Going home: an expat’s internal conflict

Every time I go home for a visit I get terribly excited, start making lists of what I want to do, who I need to see and what I should buy so I can make the most of my three months in Australia (as my Italian husband travels on a short tourist visa- I’m sure…

A Christmas song going around in my head

I love how children are so easily infected with the Christmas spirit. My son has prepared for his Christmas play at school over the past couple of weeks, spontaneously bursting into song and looking forward to speaking his part at the microphone. He even made me download some songs, so we have been ‘jingle bell…

The humble Panettone

I grew up eating Panettone, every Christmas, at my Sicilian grandparents place it was traditional fare to cut slices, for afternoon tea, of this gigantic aromatic Christmas cake filled with sultanas, dried lemon and orange zest. Every year that Panettone deceived me with it’s light and fluffy appearance, I’d bite into it’s tall and slender…

Not quite a Del Borrello: reflections on an overgrown family tree

"Chieti mare" by Original uploader was Idéfix at nl.wikipedia - Originally from nl.wikipedia; description page is/was here.. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.   I have my surname thanks to my father, who is the dearest Del Borrello in my life, he is the sweetest man I know, always happy, accepting and tolerant…

Quirky questions about life in Italy

Today I want to tackle your questions about living in Italy full-time. To be honest I haven’t been asked many questions so I got my virtual and real Facebook friends to send me some random ones, which I’ll answer below.   Maryann asks: How is the plumbing and the water? Well, the average Italian bathroom…

W​hat to do With 10 Days in Western Australia

Today we have a lovely guest post by Jessica from The Turquoise Compass   After spending 6 weeks on Australia's East Coast, I couldn't leave without getting a taste of the West Coast as well. With only 3 months in Australia (relatively speaking), I can't do it all (even though I want to), so I…