Hello From Treviso With Gifts!

Hello there from Treviso,

I hope you are all well and strong and, more than everything, positive. Today is my day 46 of staying at home. There is a limit to how many books I can read and how many films I can watch, so I have taken a deep breath and have decided to try and finally finish this book of mine with which I have had a definite love/hate relationship for a long time. It’s a crazy mix of cooking, interior design (which was my profession for three decades), and bits of my unconventional life in 9 countries. For example, as normal people you certainly have had dogs and cats as pets, I had a much-loved cheetah named Franco, loads of monkeys, even an ostrich and, for a while a baby lion which became too big to keep. All these animals were orphans that would have died if someone like my family hadn’t given them shelter and love and lived free in my home and my garden. Franco used to sleep at the foot of my bed. The title of this book, it sounds so strange to even refer to this mish-mash of memories as a book, will be “Raviolis, sofas and a cheetah named Franco”. If I ever manage to finish it, and if by any miracle I find a kind-hearted editor, I will let you know. Stay strong, stay safe, we will beat this monster.

Love from Mamma Maria