Back to Holland

Christmas holiday time is over, sooner than I was used to. The 6th of January is a bank holiday in Italy, so it is common habit to make holidays last until that date. But in the Netherlands it is not :(

I enjoyed my Italian holidays. I enjoyed much less the Italian weather. Many say Italy is the country of the sun. Obviously those people have never been to Italy in autumn and winter. It was terribly cold, it rained most of the time, and one day (29th December, I think) it snowed. The biggest snowfall in twenty years.

note the snow covering the roofs and the lawn

So, on 1st January I woke up with a cold, cough and fever. But my plane tickets were not refundable, so I travelled back to Amsterdam nevertheless. The day after the fever, cough and cold were even worse, therefore I stayed home all day.

As soon as I recovered, I introduced my neighbours and my colleagues to the joys and delights of panettone and pandoro. They are two typical Italian Christmas cakes, almost impossible to find in other times of the year. Everyone appreciated.

After that, two Italian friends of mine came to Amsterdam at two different times (holidays last longer in Italy, lucky them), and I introduced them to the joys and delights of poffertjes and oliebollen (two Dutch cakes. The amount of sugar, oil and butter in them makes them absolutely unsuitable for people on a diet and those who care about their health. That's why I like them).