Our incredible adventure - the movie

A few weeks after we arrived home, I had a bit of spare time as I was waiting to get a new job, so I made this video to share our experiences we went through to all who are interested.

During our travels, as well as plenty of photo's I also took plenty of vidoes; all so I could make this film.

I've been meaning to upload this for a long time - but it's been kinda crazy since I got back home (new blog soon will explain why), but here it finally is, enjoy!

The end of one adventure, the start of another

Homeward bound - soaking up the beautiful views of vineyards while I still can

As I write this, I'm about to head home and it's made me reflect on all that's happened in these 5 crazy months we've been away. They've been eventful, up and down,amazing and unforgettable. So much has happened that I could yabber on for eternity,so instead a top 10 would be a better idea:

10. Dinner with the over 50's and a local mayor at a Buddhist         temple in My Tho, Vietnam

9. Bodyboarding on Kuta beach, Bali

8. Laying eyes upon Hoi An for the first time and feeling like we'd stepped back in time

7. Getting down with the monkeys at the Monkey temple in Ubud, Bali

6. Seeing the ruins of Pompeii

5. Stepping out into the San Siro - a legendary stadium I've always wanted to see

4. The first couple of weeks in Piedmont soaking up everything that life in northern Italy had to offer

3. Cruising on a junkboat, kayaking, climbing hills and caving in Ha long bay, Vietnam

2. The giant water fight that is Songkran

1. Watching the sunrise at Angkor Wat

There's so much more that could go in the list too - it's been that kind of journey.

Thanks

Claire posing with Virginia, Davide and Corrado - Adelaide was running around somewhere!

Firstly thanks go to the amazing Scarsi/Di Bilio family that have taken us in these last couple of months. They've been so accommodating, so understanding, so kind and so much fun to be around. They've really made us feel like we couldn't have got luckier this summer.

Claire with Evanne during the week long Canale festival

Thanks go to the friends we've met along the way - whether they're the many nationalities we met in south east Asia or a friend we've known for longer and were lucky enough to catch up with on the road. Thanks also go to the other au pair we've met this summer in Piedmont, Evanne - I feel we've all got quite close these last 9 weeks and it's been great getting to know you.

Final thoughts

A couple of months back, I considered the words from my first blog and whether I'd changed as a person. At that time I couldn't answer the question - which said to me that I hadn't. Now, as I stand on the precipice of going home I realise that I'm farther removed from that person who left England in March than I'd realised. I used to wait until my colleagues would leave their desks at work just so I could go up to the window unseen, lay my hand against the glass and get lost in thought about what was out there, where my life was truly headed and what I really wanted from it all.

Landing in Ho Chi Minh city was a real step into the unknown..

I know now that I've been there, to the real unknown. I've seen the things I didn't know existed and I've felt things I never knew I could. I've learnt more about the world, about life, I've learnt more about my own way of living and myself than I ever could at home and I'm eternally grateful for that.

When you see so much of the world, you start to think about what "wonderment" remains in the parts that you haven't seen. In that moment you soon begin to see that it's in the every day things that make up your life.  It's a feeling I doubt many people can fully appreciate unless they step outside that comfort zone into the brave new world, but when you do experience it for real - and I mean REALLY feel it - you know it's a feeling you A) can never forget and B) never allow to diminish again, as you know that now you have that feeling, that your life is more complete, more full of purpose than it's ever been.

So yes, I have changed, I've changed for the better. I've memories that I'll feast upon in my mind for a lifetime and that's more real, more precious than anything you can buy/be given in this life.
I know that my life from now on will be forever richer in spirit than it's ever been thanks to the things I've seen and experienced and that I've stepped right outside that comfort zone, I've travelled to the other side of the world, I've lived off the beaten track, I've done things not every person you'll meet will've done, I've memories that are unique to me, and above all else.... I'm happy with all of it, the good, the bad, even the strange, because no-one will ever take what I've been through from me.

I'm happy to go home and start over again with my amazing wife, to build a new home, a better home and to see all of the people I hold dear and to do the things I truly love to do. I can't wait to get started, just like I couldn't wait to go on this adventure, because I realise it's just another type of adventure I'm heading out on and I can't wait to figure out the rest of it out for myself along the way because I'll never stop staring at the horizon, wondering what's next.

Life is always ahead of you, in front of you, behind you. Life is good, so long as you have the right attitude and I'm never going to stop living it the way I want now that I've started.

Here's to the next adventure....

Turin - truly underestimated

We've been based just an hour away from Turin since June, so we've had the chance to visit the city a couple of times.

The city was the first capital of the united Italy and was where the Savoy (royal family) resided. As a result, the streets are well organised, clean and the city has an almost Parisien feel to it.
The old Savoy palace is in the heart of the city and is the focal point for one of the main Piazzas, but just around the corner you can also find plenty of culture.

Delve into the porticos and as well as a world renowned opera house, you can find beautiful old cafes - where I highly recommend a cafe con panna (coffee with cream) - along with gelaterias and quaint restaurants.

The galleria subalpina - a beautiful arcade

Just beyond this you'll find a stunning old arcade that houses antique bookshops, restaurants and even an old style cinema - it's a beautiful place that gives a real sense of late 19th/early 20th century.

Turin is one of the biggest cities in Italy, yet it's only the 8th most visited, but for those who do come to this hidden gem, you'll find that you can saunter around without the feeling of claustrophobia that places like Rome and Florence can give you with their swathes of tourists.

There's plenty to see too - we visited the oldest Egyptian museum in the world (someone debated this with me, but it was the museums words not mine!), which houses a very large and impressive collection, well worth a visit. There's also a civil war museum and the car museum - cars are central to Turin as here it's all about Fiat as this is where the factory is and always has been. In fact, not only is the Fiat factory famous for having the training scenes from the original 'Italian job' film shot on its rooftop racetrack, but I also found out that even Juventus (the famous football team - more on them later) are steeped in history linked to Fiat as they've traditionally been owned by the Fiat owners.

The Mole

Other than a piazza that boasts itself as one of the largest in the world, the city's main tourist attraction is the Mole - a big building with a pointed top that was completed at the same time as the Eiffel tower. You can see the Mole from nearly everywhere in Turin and inside it hosts a really impressive and fascinating cinema museum - we both loved it inside as it is a tribute to the history, the evolution, the art, the glamour and the wonder of cinema. This was one of my favourite museums of all.

The cinema museum inside the Mole

The people of Turin remind me of Milan - not surprising as they're only a couple of hours from each other - in that they're well dressed but casual and look like quite a few are well-to-do professionals (in the centre anyway). Further away from the center and we experienced some crazy driving on the roads as well as people literally parking their cars in the middle of the road! There's plenty to the culture, character and make up to this city.

Another footballing pilgramage - this time to the Biancaneri

Another thing I wanted to visit whilst here was one of the best and famous football teams in Europe - Juventus.

Turin has 2 teams; Juventus and Torino. Torino were massive in the old days, but they suffered a near identical disaster to the Man Utd Busby babes when their team went down on a plane in the alps and the club never recovered, whereas Juventus (derived from the Latin word for youth) overtook them and never looked back.

Juve have a proud history of success - with 32 league titles they well supported and are far ahead of all other Italian teams in terms of league titles. They've also had some of the best players in the world wear their famous black and white stripes (copied from Notts county no less), with my personal favourites being Zinedine Zidane and Alessandro Del Piero.

So I was happy to cross another big team off my list when I visited as not only did I do a stadium tour but we visited their museum too. The whole stadium and museum are just a couple of years old as they knocked down the old stadium that was "too big" and had a bad atmosphere due to a running track and built a smaller purpose built stadium in its place. As a result, the stadium doesn't have the same wow factor as others - it has some big supports that are coloured in the Italian flag, but otherwise it's nowhere near as impressive as say, the san siro. Also it doesn't look big from outside as it almost merges into the ground, whereas most stadiums rise up like some sort of footballing cathedral.

Inside the Juventus stadium

The museum was fantastic though, way bigger than Milan's and there was so much to it. There were all sorts of things to see, learn and interact with plus an immersive experience of the way things are done at Juve. I doubt I'll see a better football museum - then again it is brand new!

Then it was onto the tour and I was surprised at the size of the group - about 30 of us of differing nationality. The old foundations of the Stade Delle Alpi can still be seen outside and give you an idea of how big it was compared to the new stadium, but inside things are neat, plush and well thought out.

There's a lot of simplicity in places, clearly they don't focus too much on luxury, but there are nice touches. Inside the stadium itself and I was impressed, not bowled over, but impressed nonetheless, it's only now a 41,000 capacity and therefore I thought it might be bigger considering the history of the club, but they fill out this stadium all the time and you get to hear soundclips of the match day atmosphere and that must be amazing to hear. Either way, all of these new surroundings are clearly working as they've won the title in each of the 3 years the stadium's been open!

Once again, I'd rather I visited to see a match but coming out of season I'm glad to at least tour the place and it further whets my appetite to visit the most famous football stadiums in the world (well, Europe).

So in all, Turin is city that has plenty to see and is often overlooked, but with plenty to offer, if you ever get a chance it's well worth a visit.

Piedmont part 2

As I write this it's 2 weeks until we get on a plane home to the UK, home, normality, friends and family.

Claire with Virginia, Davide and Corrado at the opening of a wine pub

Since my last post we've spent our time immersed into life here in northern Italy whilst looking after the kids throughout the week. We haven't just been sat around either, we've visited quaint towns, festivals, museums, planetariums, exhibitions, waterparks, opening of a wine pub, birthday parties to name but just a few. We've spent a lot of time at the pool, a lot of time replacing the words to songs with "bum" (Corrado's favourite pastime) and we've spent a lot of time eating amazing homecooked Italian meals. All the while we've both been sorting jobs for our return as well as doing what we can to stay fit -  although having pasta every day makes that harder!

The pool at grandma's (nonna's) house

We've learnt about local history, local customs, local languages (yes they speak their own language here in piedmont alongside Italian, but it's dying out) to which I can say "I'm full", "you're crazy" and "shut up" in Piedmontese - all the basics!

I love some of the quirky things here; like the casualness, like the attitudes between the north and the south, like when it threatens to rain you can hear cannons thundering in many directions, that shoot gas balls into the air to attempt to break up any hail in the clouds as hail can be damaging to the very precious grape vines that are abundant here. The friendliness from people in the town and neighbouring city has also been a great experience as it's made it feel like a delightful world you hear of but never actually see with your own eyes.

I've also fallen in love with the sweet wines here, having not previously been a fan of white wine, I can now say that moscato d'asti is a new firm favourite of mine. Plus there have been so many speciality liquors that I've tried that I couldn't begin to remember them all!

We've had some great times here and have also met some great people other than the family that have been present throughout - such as Evanne, the American au pair that's staying with Virginia's sister in Canale. We've had some great chats with her at the pool and over beers. Her mum came to visit for over a week at one point too and we also met the au pair Virginia has had twice before as she visited with her boyfriend, so there's been lots of new faces and stories shared.

Claire playing war with Corrado

We've learnt some great tricks along the way to keep the kids entertained and also to keep them from bouncing off the walls - especially Corrado! - which I feel is all great stuff to have in the bank for when we one day have kids (which I can say with certainty won't be yet!).

The pizza party

Davide hard at work with Gianpieri "supervising"

Last Saturday in particular was quite special because Davide (the father who is due to open his own pizzeria at some point over the next year) put on a pizza party for us and a whole host of guests. Everything was made from scratch and made in a wood fired oven they had out in the courtyard. The pizza party lasted all evening and in total he made nearly 50 pizzas with more than half being consumed by only just over 20 people - of which the neighbours came out in force for it.

Funnier still was when the neighbour Gianpieri (a lovely old man) was supervising Davide and giving advice - which was funny giving that Davide was an absolute maestro at pizza making and certainly didn't need help!

One he made in particular blew me away - salsicce e gorgonzola (sausage and gorgonzola) and I was able to say that once again, the best pizza I've ever had has once again been surpassed!!
Also amazing was Davide's knowledge of what I said was my previous favourite, I simply mentioned the pizzeria in Naples that's been operating since 1870 and appeared in a film and he said "ah pizzeria Di Michele" - a true master of pizza indeed!

The wine really flowed throughout the night, with Gianpieri gracing us with bottles of Barolo from 1970 & 1965, to which we felt truly honoured! (I think the '65 was on the turn though personally....) and eventually we ate so much pizza that I told Virginia I didn't want to see another pizza for months. Lo and behold though, for breakfast we were offered a portion of sweet pizza with nutella and pear and it was too irresistible to ignore so I was straight back on the wagon again before heading out for a really long run.... before coming home to lunch and more pizza! Ah well, only a few more weeks so as Corrado taught me "cesina frega!" (who cares).

Nearing the end of our great adventure

So with just a couple of weeks left, our thoughts are shifting more and more towards home and what lays in store for us and our future, but it's also seen me take the chance to reminisce about the last 5 or so months of travelling; all the amazing things we've done and places we've been and it's really put things in perspective and shown me how much this has been everything I wanted it to be.

Of course I've had conflicting feelings too - sometimes feeling guilty about being homesick and feeling like I'm just going back to live the same life as before - but upon contemplation and "figuring it out for myself" I see that I have changed throughout these crazy, non stop 5 months and that even if I may not change too much about the way I live my life I will have a new perspective on things, new motivation and more appreciation for what I've got.  And these things are priceless to a persons soul.

Life in Piedmont

The welcome wagon

View from Santo Stefano Roero

We arrived into Asti on the train to be picked up by Virginia - who's family we were to be staying with for the summer - and we were both nervous as this was a whole new experience entirely, even if we had got to know Virginia from email and Skype conversations.

All of the nerves were melted away as soon as we met her though and before we knew it we were at the grandparents house meeting more of the family: grandparents, aunties, cousins, nephews etc! The grandparents is a real open house where people come and go at any time, food offered constantly, pool available for everyone and we instantly got the vibe how close the family were. It was a surreal introduction as Claire and I looked at each other with a look as if to say 'this is amazing!'.

At the same time we got our first introductions to the two kids we would be looking after: Adelaide who is 10 and Corrado who's about to turn 6. Corrado gave us a glimpse of what was to come with his introduction as he was running around chasing his cousins by the pool completely naked! As I was to find out, that was typical Corrado.

Adelaide and I at the local folk festival

Adelaide speaks fantastic English and is great to get on with, she also has the touch of theatrics about her which can make things very entertaining.

A good way to keep me quiet... and Corrado!

As for Corrado, he understands quite a bit of what you say but he barely speaks English. He's obsessed by all things army and he's such a bundle of energy. I know I was a bit of a terror as a kid and as such I see I have a few similarities with him - which Claire said she could also see when we were pulling faces at each other and running around the house playing war.

The first few days were a bit of a whirlwind as Virginia was off work to show us around the area, in which time we visited local towns, old castles, art exhibitions and more. We loved every minute of it, but the few seconds we had to sit down each day were welcome as we were so tired from it all!

They really like to keep busy here, which is great as although the towns are quite small, there always seems to be something going on at one of them nearby. The place has a plethora of interesting sights to see and historical facts that seem to be overlooked by all but these proud Piedmontese. We've both learnt so much about Italy's history since being here and there's still so much more to learn such as details of the Savoy dynasty, to the world famous local Barolo wines.

As for looking after the kids, we started off mainly looking after Adelaide as Corrado still had a couple of weeks of school left. During the days we would visit places, do some sketches, play outside etc and have a great time before often (weather permitting) heading to the grandparents "Nonna Chia's" for the afternoon to lark about in the pool where there'd often be cousins around too.

Soon afterwards, Corrado became a more permanent fixture in our full days, which did up the ante - considering there's two of us, we were still challenged! But we've improved over time and things are a lot easier when the sun's out as your entertainment options increase dramatically.

On one of our first weekends we took the chance to visit nearby Turin, which I will talk about in a later blog post as it'll be the first of a few trips...

Getting back to "fitness base zero"

We both felt that our diet hadn't been the best on our travels as sometimes a combination of options and budget mean you don't eat as well as you should, however this was being put back in place here as every meal we were eating felt like a culinary delight that was also a lot healthier than we'd had before! Even though Virginia didn't feel she is a master chef by any means, we loved her recipes nonetheless - from the pasta's to the mozzarella in carriages to the homemade pizzas.

My own "preseason" training!

This was all really good as I felt eating better was one part of my plan to get fit again - these months on the road have left me feeling lethargic and sloth-like, so having time to run regularly on quiet country roads was just the incentive I needed to put my training plan into action. A few weeks in and I'm already more energetic and feeling better about myself, but I've got a long way to go before I feel I'm anywhere near my old race standard.

The last 5 weeks of our adventure

So in all, it's been a fantastic few weeks in northern Italy, with plenty of great memories, meals and drinks that I'll never forget, my favourite of all so far being strawberries from the next door neighbour soaked in moscato d'asti - I nearly slipped into a pleasure coma.

As I write this we have about 5 weeks left until we return to the UK and on the one hand we are making sure that we are making the most of our remaining time here and on the other hand we are also preparing ourselves for our return home, to a whole new chapter with no defined path.

It's a weird and contradictive feeling to both look forward to going home and realising I should be savouring every last moment until then, but then again that's a big lesson I've already learnt - realising how much I like the UK after all: yes, the old "grass isn't always greener on the other side" saying, but sometimes you have to experience how that grass feels on your bare feet to fully learn that lesson.

Even stranger that talking to Virginia and Davide - who both lived in London for a while - they experienced exactly the same emotions on their travels and by the time they returned to Italy, they really felt like they appreciated once again their way of life - something that for some people, people who have that urge to travel, cannot get unless they see what else is out there in this big wide world of ours with their own eyes first.

In the meantime, we've 5 more weeks of shenanigans with the kids, amazing Italian foods and stunning scenery to enjoy, so ciao for now!

Friends, food and football in Milan

The Duomo

Arriving into Milan was significant because not only were we meeting up with Claire's 2 best friends for the whole of our 5 day stay, but this was also the last stop on our travels before we headed to Santo Stefano Roero in Piedmont to be au pairs for the summer.

We arrived a few hours before Jess and Sophie so we scoped out the immediate vicinity and at the paninoteca a few doors down I had one of the best paninis of my life filled with bundles of salami and Tabasco sauce.

We'd both been looking forward to seeing them, but understandably Claire was beyond excited, so when the reunion happened my prediction that there'd be tears came true.

In the evening we headed straight for the center of Milan and to see the Duomo lit up, the famous galleria Vittorio Emmanuelle II shopping mall before heading for giant portions of pizza and wine. The rest of the night was spent back at the B&B on our balcony drinking far too much wine (well, me and Sophie anyway!). It was so great for us all to catch up and also so surreal to have such good friends with us in a new place.

We all decided that during our 5 day stay we would see the major sights of the city, but otherwise we'd be more than happy just to hang out - especially as this was a much needed holiday for Jess and Sophie.

The second day we headed over to castello sforza and stopped just in front if it when we saw there were a whole load of stalls selling speciality beers, wines, sangria and foods from around the globe - all of which were music to our ears. As well as this, just outside the castle is a great big fountain that became a regular stop for us during the stay as it was a great place to dip your feet, enjoy the cool spray and people watch in the 30+ degree heat.
We then headed into the castle and the park beyond it, before heading for more gelato - in fact Jess pretty much became addicted to the stuff and who could blame her!

On the way back, the girls bought cards from a stand so we could play at night over wine on the balcony - but once we got them out later that evening we realised they were not normal cards at all! The cards were only 40 in number and had some strange characters - turns out they are for a popular traditional Italian card game called 'scopa' - of which we have since learnt how to play and really enjoy. Determined to play cards regardless, we figured out a system to use the cards to play 'uno' and so it was that 'scuno' was born!!

We repeated this sequence of fountain, food, drinks, park again on one of the other days, this time having a picnic in the park whilst there was a race going on for runners and their dogs, to which I was very jealous:
a) not to be taking part
b) for not having a dog

It was such a great time as we really got to just hang out and enjoy each others company, with one of the days allowing for the girls to hang out and go shopping whilst I went on my own trip for the morning:

My pilgrimage to the San Siro

Not the prettiest outside but the San Siro is spectacular inside

So I planned one morning to head out on my own to see something I've always wanted to see since I was a kid. As a kid I grew up spending my Sundays watching Italian football on tv as it was on channel 4 and during that time I grew a fondness for both Milan teams. Now I was in Milan I had the chance to visit their stadium which is one of the most famous and impressive in the world - the San Siro.

Heading to it via a combination of metro and bus, I felt like a kid again as I was so excited to be going, something that brought back memories of my first ever football game which just happened to be at the old Wembley of all places. The best stadiums of today are the modern equivalent of the Colosseum - it's where all the action happens and where the eyes of the world are focused and I certainly want to visit as many of my favourite stadiums as possible as each one is unique.

Unfortunately the season had already finished so I couldn't go see a game which is always the best experience, but I still didn't want to pass up the chance for a tour of the stadium and museum.

Just a few of the many famous names that adorn the museum

The museum was smaller than I was expecting but did cover the things I'd expected such as all of the trophies won by the two teams and a walk back in time with all of the most famous players that have played for AC Milan and Inter Milan.

AC Milan changing room

Inter's changing room

Inside the stadium we visited the two teams changing rooms and whilst AC Milan's was plush (not as plush as southamptons I might add), I was really surprised at the contrast with Inter's; while AC had individual bucket seats, screens etc, Inter had just a basic bench and a tiny artwork on the wall as well as their badge. I really expected more but then that's supposed to be Inter's style.

The amazing inside of the San Siro

Then it was time to enter the stadium to the pitch itself and I was blown away by its size and how unique it is. I took a few moments to imagine a match going on and enjoyed the calm of the stadium (even if there were 20 other people on the tour and a team of workers setting the stadium up for a one direction concert).

Before I left I had to ask some Germans for an obligatory photo before leaving very, very happy and with a new resolution to visit more stadiums around Europe.

I returned to the center of the city to find the girls enjoying shopping before we headed for coffee & cream, paninis and more gelato. It was a great day for all!

End of one journey, start of another

A couple of days later we waved goodbye to our friends once again as we headed to the train station having had a great last few days of travelling. Milan was good to us and a great place to hang out in.

As we got on our train we not only headed away from Milan, but away from the travelling part of our journey as we were now off to the Piedmont region an hour away to be au pairs for the rest of the summer. We were ready to begin this new challenge as we were ready to be based in one place again for a period of time rather than a fleeting moment and we were excited about getting stuck into life in the Italian countryside with a family that were happy to take us in with welcome arms...

Discovering original bolognese in Bologna

This was the shortest train journey yet - just half an hour from Florence. Luckily Claire - so often the navigator throughout our travels - had found the way to the hotel by combination of bus and walking.

After the usual dumping of the bags, we headed in to town to have a look around and see if we could sample some bolognese from the region it comes from.

Bologna itself is a university town and has the oldest university in the world. The rest of the place is full of quaint piazzas and walkways under never ending porticoes.

Bolognese from Bologna!

We did sample bolognese both evenings we were there - but both times we didn't have with spaghetti as the traditional way is to have with tortellini, which is shorter, thicker and flat. When the dishes came, I was surprised that we didn't get more sauce as it was quite lacking - but yet again, the traditional way is to have with very little sauce. All of that aside though, both dishes were really, really good and I was very satisfied!

One of the many beautiful walkways that you can find in the heart of the city

On the second day we meandered around, getting a coffee here, a gelato there, before heading up the tower in the center. It was only a few Euros to enter and was much higher than we'd realised from the bottom!

View atop the tower of the city

View from the bottom - quite a climb!

There are two towers next to each other, one smaller and very unbalanced! But you can only enter the tall one anyway. Inside the climb can be daunting if you look down but the views of the city at the top were magnificent. As well as the views of the city you could see into the surrounding hills. After some time admiring the view we headed back down the tower, which was scarier than coming up!

So our stay in Bologna was short and relatively uneventful, yet it was a worthy inclusion in our travel itinerary as the architecture is so easy on the eyes.

Next we head by train to Milan for the last stop on the travel part of our journey before we head to Piedmont to au pair for the summer, but first in Milan we have sights to see and Claire's two best friends to hang out with!