Week Three - More Set Up

The week of January 14th 2015 - Gathering supplies

We have got the girls settled in at school. They all needed IPads for school as well as the more traditional notebooks etc. George and Lexie are ecstatic to have an IPad of their own. No more begging Phoebe for a turn!

The drive to school continues to inspire.

My name is now on the hire car contract, so look out Italy! I now drop Justin at work and managed to drive home with an old fashioned map as I don't have European GPS on my phone.

I made it to the local Vimercate market on Friday. I managed to buy some fruit and veggies, and the piece of meat below. It could be veal, taste will tell.

I will attempt purchasing fish next week. It looks very fresh.

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Week Two - Set Up

The week of January 7th 2015 - School Commenced

On the Tuesday before school commenced, we drove to Lake Como to meet Justin's friend GP and his family, Anna and Andrea. For people new to the country, it was very cold up there! Well worth the biting wind chill factor, the views were superb.

We caught a funicular railway partway up a small mountain, and walked the rest to see this lighthouse.

There are beautiful old villas at the top.

And a great view as well as a lighthouse.

Our house is in Vimercate, and the girls school is in Verdano Al Lambro, a suburb next to Monza. This means a 20 minute drive, partly through the beautiful Monza Park. This is their first day of School at The International School of Milan.

There is only a uniform requirement for sport

We only have one hire car, so we have both been driving the girls to school, then Justin drops me home then heads for work.

 

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Week One - Arrival

The week of December 31st 2014 - Lexie's Birthday

When I was younger, I travelled to Europe, but never felt the need to work overseas. Thus it came as a small shock when Justin's work approached him with an offer to spend two years, sorting out the operations for their European businesses. After some consideration, we accepted. So begins the Shumack family adventure.

Packing up a house for five people is nobody's idea of fun, but great for discovering lost items!

We had been fortunate to secure a lovely old villa in Vimercate to rent. The garden is a standout.

Lexie's Birthday was a quiet one from necessity. Our flight over had been extended by six hours due to fog in Dubai. We refuelled in Bahrain then went back to Dubai to wait for the afternoon flight to Milan. People flying to Copenhagen and other less common destinations had to spend the night there.

We were completely shattered and fell into bed. The majority of her birthday was spent in the IKEA store in Carugate getting chairs, tables, beds and linen to enable us to function in the house until our shipped furniture arrived. We did squeeze a walk in to let the kids experience the snow on the ground.

We were still so tired, we were asleep well before midnight. I woke later and heard the fireworks. We will compensate next New Years Eve for the lack of celebration this year.

My birthday passed quietly, it was nice to open gifts from family we had carried with us on the flight.

Welcome to Italy!

 

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