The flat, on the third floor of a 1900s block just off Viale Angelico (it means Angelic Avenue) was warm and smelled of wax, clementines, simmering broth and fabric softener. Everyone arrived at noon and put their coats on the spare bed. Conversation and laughter filled the room as family members and two friends (some of whom hadn’t seen each other since the previous Christmas) swapped stories about their journey and the pleasure of parking when half of Rome is […]
Rachel
Last weekend, my sister-in-law, Kate, was chopping parsley at a friend’s kitchen table, a place we both know well. The parsley was from my mum’s garden, a huge bunch that seemed even greener against the white table. There were lots of people about, adults and children, either doing things in the kitchen or tearing around shrieking. So the table, which is right in the middle of a relatively small kitchen, was getting bashed – I imagine her chair was, too. […]
A few summers ago, on the way back from a morning on the beach in southern Sicily, we stopped to get pizza for lunch. I remember this for several reasons. Because as I got out of the car, the Y strap pulled out of the base of my blue flip-flop – a little thing with an enormous effect. Because, while I was waiting in front of the pizza cabinet still thinking about my foot, a tray of just-baked things the […]
