Save the date

Dodo, a mutual friend of ours organised his birthday party at "Blue Ice", a night club in Rieti. Well, the dancing queen was there, and Tony Manero could not wait for making her shine on the dance floor.

During the days of Microsoft Messenger we spent hours and hours chatting before our first actual date. Valentine's day was not intentional at all! Together with other 50 people we went out for clubbing the night before, nothing happened between us, but it ended up with a "let's meet tomorrow", and so it was. We decided to go up to Monte Terminillo, over 2,000m surrounded by snow and quiet darkness.

Mauro, Marta's dad, was quite suspicious when I asked if I could fly his daughter out to London as a surprise for her birthday. With his blessing we had a fantastic long weekend in the Big Smoke.
Backstory: I asked Marta to choose between L and B, with no input about the meaning of those letter options, aaaand, scared by the double meaning of B, she said L with no doubt. Trust me, B was standing for Berlin, nothing else.

A couple of years later we settled down in a small apartment in Monte San Giovanni. A few months after we moved in, our family expanded to 17 new cat members.

Daniele's dream to move abroad was still in the air, and try after try finally the chance came in. Excited and scared we took our stuff and flew to Stockholm for our biggest adventure. 6th of June is the Swedish National Day, but we didn't know about it. Stockholm was almost empty, the majority of stores and restaurants were closed, public transport reduced, there we looked at each other and we said: "have we taken the right decision?". Google explained it all.

We spent three and half years in 42 sqm apartment in the city center. Really nothing to object to, the location was the best you can hope for, but the size. You can not feel Swedish until you approach and play with the housing market. So we did, placed a bid and won our home sweet home.

Our trip of a lifetime. Unique, breathtaking, an astonishing adventure which filled our soul. Something that changed our lives forever.

The proposal on top of Diamond Head on 20th of December.

Recipe
A couple of Sabine genes, a handful of Viking culture, a magical Hawaiian night, a sprinkle of Christmas, passion to taste, plenty of love, 8 months over low heat.