There is a song that the kids and I really like to belt out in Italian here. It’s called “Le Piccole Cose”. Josh humors us as we dramatically sing the chorus together. It’s a pretty typical Italian-style rap/love ballad, sung by two of Italy’s favorite pop stars. The gist of the song is that the things that make you the happiest are the little things. (Actually, it is about an angsty successful star who pines for his simpler life…but I am taking liberties here). Although wrapped in a cheezy, Top 40 song, the sentiment couldn’t be more true. Our whole year has been a celebration of the little things.
We are officially a vagabond family once again. This morning we took a train out of Torino, headed for Switzerland. The past week was a whirlwind of goodbyes, packing and visits to our favorite places.
It was amazing and a little heartbreaking to see how sad the kids were at their last days at school. Although they only had a year, they made some great friends and clearly made a huge impact on their respective classes. I shared tears with Noah’s teacher about what a special kid he is. Sylvie’s classmates made her massive posters with sweet messages.
For us, it was a relief to pack up everything we have in Italy into 11 suitcases. We have left nine of them with our friends in Torino, and will scoop them up before our flight back home. It is very satisfying to not have a car, an apartment or a schedule of any sort.
So, now we’ll travel to Zermatt, Switzerland for a week. Then, we’ll be back in Italy to go to Lake Maggiore, the Amalfi coast, and finish with a week on the beaches of Sardinia. For one more month, we get to focus on the little things.