We had fun catching up with all our Italian relatives in Torino over the Easter weekend. We flew there last Thursday as Daddy had a meeting with Fiat on Friday. That meeting got bumped to Tuesday instead so Daddy could work from home which meant time on the computer and phone off and on all day while Frunty and I enjoyed the nearby markets.

I love Italian markets. They are so full of beautiful, fresh produce. Tons of fresh fruit and strawberries galore this time of year. We ate strawberries everyday at least after one meal if not two. The cheese stalls are amazing and there are also many stalls with beautiful, cotton products like undergarments for children and adults. Of course, tons of leather and in particular, shoes. Visiting the markets is definitely a highlight of visiting Torino.

We enjoyed seeing many relatives and one very big treat was the fact that we were given an apartment and car all to ourselves. So we had a chance to re-cup between parties and that was particularly great for me as I need a bit more rest and quiet time than usual. And Frunty also loves some time to just play quietly with his toys and so this downtime made our holiday much more enjoyable.

The apartment building we stayed at was also wonderful because of the beautiful marble stairs that I could use for exercise. They were deep and wide so I had no problem going up and down safely and did so two mornings for 30 minutes each time. Here we have very narrow, steep stairs and I feel like I have to tiptoe up them sometimes. I will check out my friend's nearby apartment to see if her stairs are better and then go there. (My Asian pre-natal team has encouraged me to do 30 minutes of stairs a day!)

Another highlight was discovering the giant "kinder eggs" which I had never seen before as this was my first ever Easter in Italy and just watching Frunty open his and the other kids too, was so much fun. Wrapped in a crinkly, silvery paper come these big, chocolate Easter eggs about the size of a human head! Once you open the silvery paper and crack the egg with your fists, you find inside a toy! Frunty got a motorcycle (which he told Gramma and Grampa all about that evening on the phone), a car with a track and other fun stuff. It kept him busy on the flight home too. I will have to include a picture or two so you can see what I am talking about.

I am happy to say that I completed all my plane travel before the Tiny Baby is born without any problems. No one asked me for my medical letter (attestation) permitting me to travel which is a requirement here in Belgium at any stage of pregnancy and which I got my neighbour to write the day before Egypt. (it was a Saturday and my own doctor unavailable.) Better to be safe than sorry. In Egypt, they did ask me how many months pregnant I was and believed my answer which was true, by the by! Anyway, I now will spend the rest of my pregnancy securely on the ground!

We had a busy day today with a doctor's visit in the morning and Frunty enjoying a "stage" at the Little Gym in the afternoon while I went to do errands.