Life at 247-1

We had a late lunch at the Markets, the German Hot Dogs were very big but very delicious and Jamie finished one and a half on his own. After living in Italy it was very interesting to see how the markets and the shops in Melbourne were so similar to those of Italy, not surprising if you consider that we have the second largest Italian population outside of Italy. All the varieties of cheese and hams, so tempting....couldn't resist buying some cheese to take home.

Funny that this soft toy Poh Poh brought home from Canal City looks somewhat like Markie or maybe Markie looks like it?!

Our lucky day, Jiiji and Baaba agreed to take care of the boys so Wataru and I could go into Tokyo and do some shopping on our own.

We chose to go to Shinjuku, it took us about an hour and a half to get there. We spent some time in Isetan department store browsing the sale items. For lunch we found a really nice Thai restaurant and had great authentic food. Something that would have been too spicy for the kids.

At a nearby shopping centre called Fululu, we took the boys to see a 'Kamen Rider' show. It was very cold in the courtyard but that didn't stop the people from gathering around.

Yes, another new hobby of Wataru's - Kayakking! After being invited several times by a friend he finally bought his own kayak! Now the problem is where and how we are going to store it?? Wataru's solution (for the time being?!) is to place it between the bungalow and the house on some racks. So he went to the hardware store and bought some wood to make his own racks...

Since leaving Italy Wataru and I had been desperately searching for the perfect espresso....unfortunately we couldn't find anything close to what we had tasted in Italy so we bought ourselves a Nespresso machine. Small and compact and with hardly any maintenance required we can now enjoy our espresso at home!

We spent the morning saying our goodbyes to our friends at the local supermarket and post office, thanking them for all their kindness.

Especially Giusi at the post office who helped us with sending all our boxes to Japan.

One of our souvenirs from Florence, a soccer game for the boys, Calciobalilla. Daddy finally got around to putting it together for them and they were soon absorbed in their matches.

An early morning view of the streets around Florence's Duomo.

Following on from dropping Jamie off at school every morning, Markie and I then walk to the morning market at Madama Cristina and the local supermarket there.

All the staff at Supermercato Diperdi love Markie and are always giving him and Jamie small pressies. There's Mimmo and Emanuela,