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Jenny bought a new handbag and pair of boots today. The handbag was discovered in a lovely shop called Mandarina Duck (I’ve seen this shop before in Paris and Singapore, but always thought it was a Chinese restaurant) in the very civilised Prati district just north of Vatican City, where we’d gone for our morning stroll. The proximity to the Vatican was quite fitting, as when Jenny finally found a handbag she loved, I knelt down on one knee, made the sign of the cross and thanked the Lord.

The boots were more difficult to find. Not that we had to walk far, they were actually in a shop around eight steps from our apartment’s front door. But when we entered the shop we found no staff. They were eventually located in the back office, hiding from a pigeon that had flown in the front door and got itself into a flap when it became disoriented and trapped in the shop’s window display. I was fascinated, as I’d never seen pigeon-phobia in action before.

“Get it out for them,” Jen whispered, her eyes on the boots she had spotted in that very window display. I moved a few mannequins and reached in tentatively (I mean, I’m an Australian bloke and all that, I wrestle sharks and strangle snakes and dodge leapin’ lizards, but this was a man-eating, Roman bloody pigeon) and surprised myself when I was able to grab it gently from behind, lift it out of its high-fashion prison and release it out the door. You’d think this would be an act worthy of a 10 per cent discount but no, all I got from the boot babes was a cool, “Grazie”…

Here is a pic of Jen’s purchases, casually splayed on the lounge after a day of shopping.

Then again, I’ve done a bit of shopping in the last few days myself. And when I say “a bit”, I actually mean “a bit”. Those who know me well know that I only buy t-shirts at Ben Sherman, mainly due to the fact that the last two times I’ve been shopping for clothes in the last three years, I have been in a Ben Sherman store. I actually bought two more Ben Sherman shirts in London a few days ago, but I’m now the proud owner of three more t-shirts (aka “business shirts”) from a brand called Jack & Jones. Here’s one in a pic – I’m the one in the Batman shirt, Sam’s the one in the Spiderman shirt…

I bought these shirts because Jen, Sam and I were recognised by a local, very gay clothing shop owner. “Ciao,” he squealed as we walked by his shop. “You bought those jeans from here two years ago.” And indeed I had. This man-hungry master of mannequins obviously had a good memory for short, stubby, hairy, part-Lebanese Australians with huge noses, or possibly he just knew a sucker for good t-shirts when he saw one. The problem, of course, was that mummy immediately began referring to said shop owner (let’s call him Bruno) as “Daddy’s boyfriend”. So now, every time we walk past the shop, which is quite often as it’s around 20 metres from our apartment, Sam looks into the shop and, if he sees Bruno, yells out, “There’s DADDY’S BOYFRIEND!”

Anyway, it’s been a fun day. Sam had a big cry after pulling Batman’s leg off whilst waiting for mummy in Mandarina Duck (see Batman and his mates, below), but that’s now fixed, thanks to the wondrous power of Super Glue.

The very good news is that the Christmas Markets in Piazza Navona, about three blocks from our place, are now open. See pic…

And of course,the Christmas Markets have a carousel, which means we now go on a ride with Sam every night. See pics from tonight and last night…

The better news is that we’re all now 100 per cent settled in, literally suited and booted, and I get to dedicate all of my attention to my stunning wife and our awesome little man. And all it took was a handbag, a gay man, a pigeon and a pair of boots.