Our move down to Verona and Brioches

During the last few weeks in Cerro things calmed down again.  All the vacationers went back home.  Around us the shutters were down as though the cottages had gone to sleep.  There were some nice days but the nights were chilly up in the hills. Remember we had our bombola di gas but it only heated water.  There was no central heating.  Sometimes after the kids were asleep, I would sit in the bathroom wrapped up in a blanket reading.  I would put my feet in the bidet and run the hot water.  Sometimes I had a glass of wine!

The Lessini mountains in the fall.

We moved into our apartment in Verona a few days before school started.  It was fun to reacquaint ourselves with our possessions.  The children were happy to discover the toys they hadn’t seen for four months. Unfortunately, the newly purchased kitchen appliances and cupboards had not yet arrived.

We went to the school that was around the block.  It was a girl’s school called Agli Angeli - the school of the angels!  They admitted only girls from first grade up, but the nursery school was mixed.  We enrolled Marie-Juliette in first grade and Charles in the nursery school.  Then there was shopping for the appropriate colored smock, school supplies and a backpack.  The children probably weren’t as nervous as I was to see my little ones facing new challenges in a new language. 

La scuola Agli Angeli that my angels attended

Behind the school was this enormous park where the children played during recess.  

Since we had no kitchen appliances yet, we had breakfast in the Bar/Cafe in our apartment building.  Everyone was so friendly.  That first week, we had a table in the back.  The kids had hot chocolate and I had a cappuccino.  These were served with brioches. In France a brioche is a slightly sweet roll shaped like a muffin with a topknot.  But the brioches in Verona were shaped like croissants brushed with apricot jam and sugar sprinkles.  We were all addicted.

French brioches.

Italian Brioches!

On Sunday the bar/cafe was closed.  We were planning to go out and hunt down a restaurant.  At about 8 o’clock, there was a knock at our door.  It was the owner of the cafe with a large tray with pitchers of hot chocolate, cappuccini, and fresh rolls and brioches.  He had come in to clean his establishment and had thought of us!  Wasn’t that nice?  I never forgot his kindness.

Remember all this took place 40 years ago.  I checked out our old building on google.  There is a hamburger joint which seems to be a chain.  It's called: Hamburgheria di Eataly!