February 11, 2026

Torino, Italia

On Nonni duty. I got up and helped with the girls, at least until 07:00. Then I woke Mary up as she goes on duty at 08:00. Tizana got the dressed and ready for the day. Between 08:00 and 08:30 she entertained the girls while I got things ready to take Luisa to school.

At 08:40 I packed Luisa into the stroller and we headed out to school. We stopped along the way and got her a Chocolate brioche. I had the foresight to bring a facecloth just in case! We got to school just after it had gone 09:15. Poor Luisa had a melt down and didn’t want to go to school. I sat with her for a little while and then turned her over to her teacher.

I know, bad nonno! I returned to the house. Changed into clean clothes. I had put on yesterday's things as not to wake Mary this morning. I took the opportunity to relax a bit. About 11:00 Mary asked me what was for lunch. ??? Ok, this is abnormal. What do you want? Steak!

So I pulled out my phone and made a reservation at Il Mannarino. It is a butcher shop between 09:00 and 12:00, then a restaurant between 12:00 and 15:00, and at 15:00 it returns to being a butcher shop. I have written about them before. After three tries I finally had a reservation that we were going to keep.

We arrive at the shops just as it had gone 11:50. We told them we had a reservation for lunch. They told us we would have to wait 10 minutes as they weren’t ready yet. No, problem. At noon he called us back to the register and after I showed him the reservation on Google, he agreed we had a reservation.

We ordered bistecca alla Fiorentina for two, oven roasted potatoes, and a half liter of red wine. The waitress said we would need something to tie us over while we waited for our steak to cook. So, we added an order of the Abruzzo arrosticini (lamb meat skewers). Small cubes of lamb, about a centimeter or two, on a skewer and roasted. Excellent.

After lunch I walked Mary to the hairdresser for her appointment. We were as usual very early, and here they closed for lunch and do not open early. So, we walked me part way back to the house and then she did a loop around the block to arrive on time.

Back at the house, I climbed into bed and took a well-deserved nap. My leg is continuing to bother me. I used some of the Voltaren Gel and it helped. I did manage to get an hour plus sleep. When I woke up I texted Mary and let her know I was up and could let her back in. I checked what we had for dinner, and asked her to pick up some pasta, farfallle, and some more eggs for breakfast. She was nice and got me some table grapes as well.

Gloria returned with the girls a little before 18:00. As soon as they got back I began cooking dinner. Chicken alla Milanese, farfalle, and some zucchini that Gloria had cooked at lunch time. I cooked dinner, cut it into bit size pieces, and put out their plates. Luisa didn’t like my chicken, Amadea liked everything.

After dinner Mary took them into the playroom while I cleaned up the kitchen. Tizana arrived just before 19:00. It was time for baths and getting ready for bed. The girls have had a big day out with Gloria and they were tired. We only did dinner with them and we are tired.

Once the girls were down, we sat in the living room and rested. It wasn’t long before we were also ready for bed.

Short, clam day. Hope for three more.

Buonanotte a Ciao,

Enrico e Maria