Of my list of things I need to do, I have been running.
Thank goodness for my baby jogger, even if it is only trailworthy and not roadworthy.
It means we have made good friends with Parco Della Favorita which is less than 2km from where we live. It's basically a park right next to the athletics stadium, and under the beautiful Monte Pelegrino, which I also love to run up, going along the pilgrim route, but not with the buggy !
Here is something about it!
So most mornings me and Gabriel have been heading off to the park and running along the shady trails that run alongside the mountain. Great for the jogger as it works well on trails, but shudders horrendously on road. If I ever get round to writing a review on this jogger, I will say something!!
Anway, we manage to run/walk close to 10km most days. If Gabriel happens to fall asleep at the opportune time, then I can do some situps or step ups in the park, as a subsitute for hills.
Although I don't run fast wtih the jogger, I am still never the less pushing about 15kgs of baby [at a guess, I must way him some time!] and I think about 10kgs of jogger, so its good core training in itself!
So at least I can say, I have found a place in Palermo that I can get to without a car, which I can sort of connect with and be in. I love mountains, nature , trees and open spaces, and it ticks those boxes. So that is good. Gabriel likes it too, and if I start walking, a little voice pipes up saying 'run mommy run!'. Naturally, as you do, we often stop in the park on the bright fresh green grass [one of the few places in Palermo where they water the grass so that it is green] so that Gabriel can do his running!
So that is where I am with my list of things. The rest, well, I am a bit stuck.
Maybe by writing this blog, I will find my way a bit more. I feel quite sad about it, but hey ho... it's all in the running!
OK, Here are some pics!!
The first are from the Stra-il-Bompietro race which was last weekend. It was a little 10-ish km urban trail, and there were about 40 something runners, because there was a lot of other stuff going on on that day in Sicily. It was quite a lot of fun. I am not doing a lot of races these days so it was nice to do one, even if it was just a little one. But it was the trail community so it was especially nice! I was first lady, of a very few ladies and 13th overall. Normally I am not bothered by times and position, but sometimes it is fun if it is an absolute suprise. It was actually a 2 lap race and I never realised. After the 1st lap, I thought I was finished and then I had another lap to go! [as you can surmise, my Italian is NOT coming along in leaps and bounds at all]
Then for Maurizios birthday, we went to his friend Sophia's lovely guesthouse le case di cardellino
about an hour and a half out of Palermo. It is set right in the mountains and is surrounded by absolute beauty, including the parco delle madonie
They definitely have the best food in Sicily, in my experience so far, and it is just the most homely welcoming place you could go. It feels like going to be in a family.
As it happens, there were some other little people there close to Gabriels age so he had a great time and totally latched onto Francesco who is 8 and who just took Gabriel right under his wing.
Among others, here are some pics of the kids sitting on the rock just before they all left. There were about 3 families who came together with their kids. All together there were also 3 dogs, to Gabriels delight: Frida [our dog], ChiCho [Sophia's dog] and Pacco [one of the guest's dogs]
I also had a great run down into the valley and then up through the park, almost reaching the town of Sclafani right on the top of a mountain! on the road but nice.
and now some pics from Le Case di Cardellino
Then finally, here are some pics from the place where me and Gabriel go!
Not the most profound blog post you ever did read, what can I say!
Maybe next time, I will make a list of Stranieri blogs - foreigners in Sicily and Italy. It might help!
1 comment:
Beautiful!!!
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