The saga continues - Episode IV: A New Hope

Patroni Griffi - Ministro della Funzione Pubblica

From today’s La Repubblica: “Stop alla burocrazia. Semplificazione, la promessa di Patroni Griffi: certificati anagrafici in tempo reale. Il provvedimento domani al vaglio del Consiglio dei ministri. Alla vigilia del varo del decreto sulle semplificazioni il ministro per Funzione Pubblica Filippo Patroni Griffi, entra nel dettaglio del provvedimento: lo scambio dei dati tra le amministrazioni per via telematica consentirà di avere in tempi reali alcuni importanti atti di stato civile, dal cambio di residenza alle trascrizioni degli atti di stato civile, come il matrimonio e la nascita”.

There is every indication that our Minister Patroni Griffi is a secret follower of our Blog...

Problem solved

Dear followers, it seems our technical problem has been solved. You should be able to post again your comments now, and we should be able to respond to them.

Please, let us know if you still encounter difficulties in posting or reading comments on the Blog.

The world is small

The world is small. No, we are not talking about Anne, our neighbour at the Dorchester House in DC, who came to visit us for a few days.

We are talking about Anne, who came to visit us for a few days, who - while wandering about Trastevere - accidentally met a friend of her from the US who had not met for more than two years.

The world is small indeed!

Leo and Lauretta

On Youtube as well…

The saga continues...

I presume you probably thought that, with my visit to the urban police station in early December, our ‘change of residency saga’ had happily ended. And so did we.

So you can imagine how we felt when, today, we received the above letter that, in summary, says that our request for changing residency was rejected because, as per urban police’s verification, it resulted we were not living where we declared to.

But what the hell - you would say - didn’t you go to the urban police station? Didn’t you produce evidence of your residency? Didn’t they clear your case?

Yes, yes, yes.

But as in all self-respecting soap operas, as for all successful tv series, you need to find a way to keep the series going.

And so our change of residency saga continues. Until the next episode. Do keep on following us…

Technical problems

Dear followers, we are experiencing a few technical problems in replying to your comments. We have notified Blogger, and we hope the problem will be solved soon.

But do keep on posting your comments (although we can't respond for the moment, we do read them!), and we will respond as soon as the problem is solved. And do let us know if you are also facing similar problems.

Three generations of Marchisio

Blue eyes: courtesy of the Iweins...

Leo e l’asinello

E per i nostalgici, guardatevi questo video (or this one if you speak English).

L’olivo di Leonardo (Leonardo’s olive tree)

Guarda il mare, come quello della mamma e del papà. È giovane, e crescerà…

Frammenti di vacanze - Alassio

Cosa fai lassù??? Vieni giù!!!

La prima pappa di Leo

After pizzas, pasta, and Japanese food, finally a pot of proper baby-food!

Matteo et ses ‘niècettes’

‘Histoires au téléphone’, by Gianni Rodari. A 'must' reading for every child…

Leo et ses cousinettes (2)

Deux mois et demi après le premier rencontre…

Frammenti di vacanze - La Borboule (2)

Frammenti di vacanze - La Borboule

Leo de Gayardon

If it’s true that we can infer someone’s passion (or talent) since he or she is a baby, then we can hazard with a reasonable degree of certainty that Leo will excel in one discipline: base jumping.

Leo had his first jump during the Christmas holidays, not less than from the washing-machine. Landing: on the head. Unharmed.

And if the today's 85 cm will progressively increase to eventually become hundreds of metres, we can then anticipate that, almost certainly, Leo has a promising future as base-jumper…

Frammenti di vacanze - Milano

Questo sì che é un albero di Natale! (mica come quell’altro…)

Leo e zia Chiara

Les M&M's 2012

Leo’s first Christmas

A very happy 2012!

After having covered the roads of half Italy and half France (a respectable Rome-Milan-La Borboule-Alassio-Rome - more than 3,000 km - in 12 days), les M&M’s are back in Rome (and back online).

We’ll post the stories and the pictures of the past couple of weeks in the coming days.

Again, a very happy 2012!

In viaggio

All’Autogrill

Les M&M’s (+L) are currently travelling.

We’ll be back in Rome on January 2^nd.

See you next year!

Good morning Leo, dad is back

Tomorrow I will wake Leo up from his crib. Can’t wait! J

(Greetings from Doha, on my way back home...)

Greetings from Pakistan

View from the Galis, on the way to Kashmir

Beyond those mountains, India…

Viva gli sposi!

It’s not the first time - and unfortunately it won’t be the last - that I miss an event because I am on mission.

And this time, with great great regret, I’ll be missing Fabio and Marieclaire’s ‘pre-wedding’ party.

But I’ll be there with you in spirit - and have already provided my 'blessing' before leaving... ;)

From Pakistan, with love…

Find the mistake (the solution)

A few posts ago we posted this picture suggesting it contains a mistake, and challenging you to find it out (click here if you don’t remember).

Here is the solution: Leo wears his pyjama upside down! (please note the twined feet). How the hell he managed to wear the pyjama upside down remains a mystery…

Bravo à Emily who got it at the first attempt!

Beato tra le donne (Blissful among women)

Eritrean dinner chez Helene et Noli

Who said that bald men do not have their charm?

As like as two peas in a pod

Funny faces

Can’t deny there is a certain resemblance between the two (though, actually, I am more hirsute…)

Er Pizzardone (2)

I forgot to tell you how our residency soap opera ended.

Before I left to Pakistan I passed by the urban police station to prove our residency.

Considering the premises, the thing went all in all quite smoothly. Yes, I had to queue a bit, but when my turn came, everything got solved in less than a minute: “How many rooms does your apartment have? Are you renting or are you owning it?” - and that’s it: our residency was proven.

I couldn’t almost believe it, but the ‘pizzardone’ on duty immediately brought me back to reality: “Sir, I forgot to tell you: you would need to wait 60 days (!)* before your residence is changed and before you can request the documents or certificates you need to the General Registry Office…”

(*) The General Registry Office is probably less than one kilometre far from the police station!

Well, after all what I went through, 60 days seemed to me a trifle. And luckily Leo is French!

1/8 Chinese, but...

Leo: 1/8 Chinese. But (our ancestors forgive us) he seems not to despise Japanese food…

Leo and Jack

Rejoicing over an Inter Milan’s victory?

Not lately…

Desperate ills need desperate remedies

The Unbeatables

The results of the last Staff Survey have been the worst ever. The Survey showed a great degree of mistrust, widespread discontent, and low morale in general among the staff.

And so, what would you do if you want to bolster the spirits of your work force?

[...]

Ps: there is also a table-tennis table…

To Pakistan

About to leave… to Pakistan.

See you in a couple of weeks.

(Ps: I’ll do my best to keep the Blog alive in these two weeks. Please, do also help me in doing the same by posting your comments…)

Discovering a Christmas tree

December means Christmas. And Christmas means Christmas tree.

There is something almost magic in the eyes of a baby that discovers a Christmas tree for the first time…

(Ps: this year the Christmas tree is by far taller than Leo. Let’s check again next year…)

Find the mistake

This picture contains a mistake. Can you find it out?

(Ps: Mathilde immediately detected it).

Hint: mums may have a (slight) comparative advantage over dads…