Umberto goes to the Spring Steam Gala

The day had finally arrived. Umberto's countdown calendar was full, which meant zero sleeps to go, and that made him VERY HAPPY indeed. We were off for our long awaited weekend in England (well, 43 sleeps had felt like a very long wait to Umbi), and most importantly we were going on Steam Trains!!!

Now, travelling "home" to Norfolk from Stansted airport means passing Cambridge and that's handy because Umbi's brother Filippo is at university there. We arrived just a few minutes before he sailed in by bike, fresh from a lecture.

When Fil had left for Cambridge last October we'd been concerned about how the "loss" of his brother would affect Umbi; but we shouldn't have worried. Interestingly it was Filippo who felt the wrench most deeply. Umbi by contrast, despite adoring his older brother, flourished in the space that his absence created, and over the Autumn term while Fil was away, I witnessed him fast-forwarding from the "kid brother" into the sixteen year old young man he'd been needing to become, but had been impeded from doing so by the deep-rooted and long-standing Big Brother/Little Brother dynamic which existed between them. 

Fil took us on a tour of his college ....

.... and his room.

Then he scoffed a pork shank I just happened to have in my bag .....

... and we said "Goodbye", knowing we'd be together again in Italy very soon for the holidays.

Filippo is studying Arabic (among other things) and he went off to Jordan alone during Easter. He had the most wonderful uplifting experiences during his trip and was greeted with a warm "old world" welcome from the Jordanians everywhere he went. He was bowled over by their disinterested generosity and was touched by their genuine pleasure on discovering he could speak their language. 

These are just a few selfies he took there while visiting Petra 

Getting there at six in the morning meant he had it all to himself

Yep, I'd have my amazed face on too with a backdrop like that

Lastly, this bedouin boy's esthetic sense was offended by the way Fil had arranged his kuffiyah, and he begged to be allowed to "make beautiful"!

Anyway, back to Umberto and his passion for steam locomotives

We made an early start and were among the first enthusiasts on the platform at Holt Station, ready for the North Norfolk Railway Spring Steam Gala.

"All aboard!"

(actually the Guard told me they don't say "all aboard" in England - but I can't remember what they do say. Sorry!)

Tickets please?

The line which is generally closed to main-line train traffic runs from Holt, through Weybourne to Sheringham

We got off at Weybourne Station to toast ourselves before the fire in the cosy waiting room

.... and I nipped into the Ladies, where some entertaining, informative and functional vintage adverts were displayed

Then we were off again - to the seaside town of Sheringham

Everyone working on the railway from ticket collectors to guards, engineers to carpenters; the staff manning the tea rooms and shop; and cleaners, signalmen, firemen and engine-drivers are all volunteers.

There were big black engines ...

A blue engine with a bowler hatted Fireman

Steam which enveloped us in seconds ....

.... and a whistle too piercing for two ears to bear!

There was a small green engine. 

Umbi told me it was "Emily"! (fans of Thomas the Tank Engine will confirm he's right)

 

And here's another Thomas character. Toby's coach, "Henrietta"! 

Travelling outside on this carriage was the highlight of the day for Umberto....

 

.... and I was charmed and fascinated by it too! It wasn't large, (in the picture below I'm in First Class and I'm photographing Umberto through the wooden divider as he stands in Third Class), so depending on which end you occupied you either travelled First or Third class. First Class was comfortable but rather staid with its two padded benches running along the sides; whereas Third Class had standing room only ... AND A BAR!!! Now, that would have been my kind of party

It was a day of  Spring daffodils and Spring showers

A family day 

(yes I really was there, and so was Grandma too)

There was biting cold and sleet; but there was also sunshine

For Umberto it was 

"The Perfect Day"

This blog is pro-autism.

Thank you, 

Sally xx

Challenge Accepted, Pecora Nera!

Why the Black Sheep?

I'll tell you!

So, this is the story. There I was a few days ago having a mosey around some of my favourite blogger's goings-on, and I discover that The Englishman in Italy, or Pecora Nera ("black sheep" to his friends) had been having a spot of beaurocratic bother. "Well, nothing to write home about there", I thought, "we are in Italy after all". But his particular bother this time had to do with obtaining Italian Citizenship. I kindly left him a comment offering to find out all I could on the subject from the "Girls" at my bookclub that evening. 

Well, the news from the "Girls" was so overwhelmingly positive, (in that both he and I are entitled to dual citizenship with all the attendant benefits) that I hot-footed it back over to his blog to fill him in; and I casually suggested we apply for citizenship together to see which county (regione), Piemonte which is where he is, or Veneto where I live, is first to issue us with citizenship.

Blimey! I tell you, that man is recklessly speedy on the uptake, and I find I have been officially challenged to The Italian Citizenship Race ... I only realised what had happened when some of his readers popped over to my blog to introduce themselves as fans of the opposition!!!

Of course I gathered up the gauntlet!

My 16 year old son Umberto said, "Don't worry Mum, the best man will win and I think that's you!!!"

Actually he's autistic so he didn't say that at all. What really happened was, I burst into the kitchen and barked - "Umbi, draw a lovely picture of Mum eating mutton hamburgers. Oh, and put a scared looking black sheep in the picture too!!!"

Of course once I'd heard I was at loggerheads with Pecora Nera, I'd hoofed it over there to suss out the opposition. WOW. That is one well-loved Black Sheep! No sooner had he published news of a Race, than his numerous Fans had turned out in force to cheer him on!

(On the wall in the background you can see the progress of Umbi's Countdown to Steam calendar)

Never mind Sal, I cheered myself. PN hasn't the promotional/artistic benefits of Umbi behind him!!! 

 "Umberto, do your worst!"

Careful PN! You see me here? Serenely confident of success; flaming "red" locks flowing; replete with silver earrings and a couple of raw mutton hamburgers, poised on my shoulders to sate my hunger (whenever I should opt to renounce my vegetarianism)

Be scared PN ... be very scared!!!

This blog is pro-autism.

Thank you, Sally xx

I feel it's time to separate my posts published in English and Italian. So I'll keep sarsaparillasal for posts in English, and I'll create a blog "twin" where I'll publish duplicate posts in Italian. 

Ho deciso di creare un Blog "gemello" dove si può trovare tutti gli stessi post, ma pubblicati in Italiano.

Linked to Englishman in Italy &
Brilliant Blog Posts

An Outing to the Snow

It's THAT time of year again for Umberto's swimming team, and yesterday was their annual trip to have fun in the snow, together with "athletes" from other areas around Verona. Two coaches brought us up to Conca dei Parpari in the National Park of Lessinia, just north of Verona. A programme of various activities  had been arranged for the day in order to cater for all abilities. 

As the coach climbed up through mountain pastures which were completely bare of snow, I kept my fingers crossed that the recent rain would have at least dusted the top with some snow. This winter has been very cold but very dry too, and that's never good news for the winter sports resorts.  

But we were in luck, and Umberto was so overjoyed he went wading off into a snow drift as soon as he jumped off the coach. We had to haul him out and my first job there was "unfilling" his boots with snow.

This is the view of Monte Baldo from my window this morning. At this time of year the snow line would normally be much lower.

The higher peak in the distance behind Monte Baldo is more thickly covered and marks the beginning of the Dolomites mountain range.

Umberto began with sledging

And when he was throroughly wet from veering off piste and into fresh snow, he gave up his sledge and let some of his friends have a turn

This lovely little lady is in Umbi's swimming group and was at the Christmas party he hosted for his friends from the team. She chatted enthusiastically to me on the coach journey, telling me that spinach is her favourite food and that only that morning she had gained 2kg; a fact which would have had me reaching for a large, comforting gin and tonic and a Mars bar. But not her!!! Her happiness is infectious.

After the effort of whizzing down the mountain and running back up for more, Umberto had a relaxing sit down to catch his breath .... 

... and was soon joined by a deaf and dumb boy who instigated a bit of "mountaineering".

Umberto had never met his new friend before (I never did learn his name) but their connection didn't require conventional introductions - or any words at all! 

Next it was Umbi's turn to be pulled on a sledge by this saint of an Alaskan Malamute

It was only later when I looked at these pictures that it was clear to me that the dog's owner must have taken one look at my large and very solid son, and had kindly decided her dog could do with a hand in pulling this particular load.

And lastly Umberto tried cross-country skiing.

There are some excellent ski resorts very close to Verona, and Umberto's older brother and sister could already ski before they started school. But I just couldn't ever trust Umberto to ski safely, so he never learnt downhill skiing.

His Instructor Angela was kind, patient, and pretty - always a winning combination

Although it unnerved him when he almost lost his balance ... 

... he seemed to be a "natural".

For the Nth time Umberto proved that his abilities should NEVER be underestimated. So often Umbi doesn't have the opportunity to try some mental or physical activity because it is deemed inappropriate in advance. It's a mistake we all make; his educators and his family - myself included.  

I'm ashamed to say I had regretted having signed Umbi up for this outing. I'd really wanted some time to be completely alone, and Umberto's Dad had offered to have Umbi for this weekend - so the trip to the mountains "ate" half of my precious time off. 

The photo above is my very first selfie. And the happiness you see in that "selfish" Mother's smile is genuine. How silly I would have been to miss out on this lovely day.

And genuine too, is Umberto's sense of triumph at having tried and enjoyed a new sport.

Thank you gorgeous boy, for your wonderful company!

This blog is Pro-Autism.

Thank you, Sallyxx