A Perfect Day Living in Italy - Romanticising Life on My Little Italian Homestead

For me the perfect day begins with a very gentle wake-up call. So there are no noisy alarms, just the smell of fresh coffee brewing and the sunlight streaming through the blinds. Then it's time to take in the sounds and sights of nature without any distractions. Good morning, it's Saturday today which means I don't have work and instead of just rushing around trying to get everything done I didn't quite finish in the week, I've decided to slow down the pace a little and indulge only in activities that bring me joy. So today's video is going to be what my perfect day living in rural Italy looks like and I'm really excited I get to spend it with you. First of all I'm going to head to one of my favourite markets for a wander around in the sunshine, catch up with some friends and have breakfast in my favourite cafe. So I'm going to hop in the shower and then we can get going. We've just parked up near our favourite cafe and as you can see it's a glorious day and the town is already starting to get busy with people queuing up for their porchetta. This cafe is called Dolci Pensieri and it serves the best fried ciambella I've ever had in my life. Obviously being market day it's been very busy and there's only a tiny version left but it's definitely better than nothing. My friends both ordered a sweet bun filled with ricotta and chocolate which looked delicious as well. It's also very reasonably priced, I got change from a 10 euro note for breakfast for all three of us. It's a very pleasant walk from the cafe to the market especially on a day like this. The market is held every Saturday from 8am to 2pm in the central square called Piazza Luca. You'll find everything here from household goods to local produce and bargain clothes and handbags. There's no shortage of cafes and eateries in the central square and if you love melanzane alla parmigiana like I do then Bar Centrale is the place for you. Although some of these small towns seem somewhat deserted during the week, it's great to see that on market day the locals still come out to support the stall holders. I'm a sucker for snazzy tights so I couldn't resist picking up a few bears from this stall. This is one of my favourite little wine bars, it serves really good snacks and it hosts a language exchange for people wanting to learn either English or Italian. Here we are at my favourite stall, it's still a little bit early to be planting out any veg in case we do get another cold snap but I wanted to enquire as to what will be available and when. I also wanted to treat myself to some flowers and it had to be daffodils with spring just around the corner. I absolutely loved this rotating arrosticini grill. It's nearly lunchtime now and a truly perfect day would involve going to pick some of my own produce to make some lunch but since there's nothing growing at the moment I'm going to do the next best thing and go and do some foraging. A short walk from home there's a wooded area that's the perfect growing environment for wild asparagus so I'm hoping to find some I can pick today for my lunch. Right, this kind of spiky looking plant is what you're looking for and then next to it you'll find growing some lovely asparagus. I didn't pick loads and loads because I wanted to leave some for other foragers too but there's definitely enough here for my lunch. Just want to take a moment here to show you my new kitchen dresser which I'm so happy with because it means I can put all of my Easter things on display. But anyway, I digress, I've always got plenty of eggs and I think they make a perfect accompaniment to asparagus so I'm going to make what used to be one of my granny's favourite dishes. Just poaching my egg here in some slightly vinegared water and I actually only wash my eggs just before I'm about to use them because otherwise it removes the protective layer and you have to keep them in the fridge. Then in the same pan I'm just going to quickly blanch my asparagus. Now it's very fine so it really will need only a few seconds. Yesterday I made some fresh bread so I'm just going to toast a slice of this. I used my own olive oil on the top so in the end the only thing I had to buy was the parmesan which isn't too bad for this time of year really. I spent the afternoon tidying up a little outdoors and then spending some quality time with the animals which of course involved playing them some music. One thing I adore about living in Italy is the culture of having an aperitivo so I decided to pack up a few snacks and drinks to take with us somewhere beautiful. This is the stunning Lago di Penne, a beautifully serene spot with wonderful views over the mountains. Home time and one of the things I love to do when the weather's nice enough and when the grass is still short enough is to have a game of bocce or ball or whatever you call it where you are in the olive grove. I absolutely love going out for supper and in the evening we decided to try out our friend's new restaurant. We shared some small plates accompanied by Bordeaux wines which yes is rather unusual in Abruzzo and we had a wonderful sommelier to talk us through the whole experience. We started with a steak tartare with a wild herb pesto. Then it was on to some jamon iberico. Then we had a fried croquette with spaghetti alla carbonara inside, incredible. Then some sweet breads with asparagus and an asparagus cream. Then some beautiful lamb skewers and finally some fried donuts filled with patisserie cream which we actually had second helpings of, it was so good. For five glasses of wine which we definitely did not finish, a glass of champagne and five different courses of sharing plates we paid 30 euros a head which I think is excellent value for money given the quality of the food and the stunning location. After a quick browse around the winery shop it was time to head home. Thank you so much for spending my perfect day with me and please let me know in the comments what your perfect day would look like too. I'll see you again soon.