It's all about La Famiglia and doing things together

As your children grow it becomes more and more important to do things as a family. The older the children get the more likely they are to want to spend time on their own or with friends, so getting in that family time becomes a priority. How do we get our family time? We got for walks and we enjoy restaurant meals together.


Living in Nottingham is great for walking, there are so many canals, walkways, parks, and fields to walk through. We've walked from Wollaton Hall into the centre of Nottingham. We've walked along our local canal for miles. Most recently we decided to walk along the River Trent.

From our home we drove to a parking spot that would get us close to the river and got out of the car. It was during half term week and the weather was questionable, we didn't know if we'd get rained or not but decided not to take jackets because it was warm. 









I think togetherness is a very important ingredient to family life. 

Barbara Bush





I've living in Nottinghamshire all my life and I have never walked along the river so there was plenty to see. Every so often we would spy a row-boat on the river, one or two rowers pulling it along. But then we saw a huge row-boat with lots of people. It was obviously a training thing, perhaps a group training for a race?



There were plenty of row-boats about!


Our walk was so peaceful, not because the kids were good (although they weren't bad!) but because we were away from the roads and you could hear birds. It can be difficult to get away from road noise but we were surprised how quiet it was, especially given there was a road running alongside where we were walking. 

One reason we love walking is it gives the boys a chance to get outdoors and they can wander off on their own knowing we're close by if needed. BP, as usual, hurried off ahead and continued his walk about a mile in front of us. I have no idea what he does when he's walking alone but that's what he enjoys. LP stayed fairly close, he enjoyed walking close to the water but was careful to stay far enough away so as not to fall in! 







As we got closer to the city we noticed the riverside get busier. There were boats parked along one side, people sat having picnics and students enjoying the cool water. Some boats sailed along the river, people on board enjoying the sunshine. 

Another reason to love walking is that you always see things you wouldn't have otherwise. During our walk we spotted this...


I think it's a World War Memorial but I'm not sure. We didn't get any closer but from the inscriptions it's a fair guess. If you know different please do let me know in the comments.



From there we continued our walk, BP sometimes walking closer. It was fun seeing so many geese too. I've never heard them make such noise!


Look at the cute goslings!



Another thing we spotted when walking along the river were the markings on the wall. They marked the level of the river at certain points in the past. It was amazing to see that the river could be so deep, covering the path we'd been walking along. The path was even covered as recently as 2000!







After spotting the wall markings I saw this gorgeous rose bush and had to take a photo, it wasn't in anyone's garden and seemed to be growing wild. It was such a lovely sight though, I do love roses.




LP got rather excited when he spotted the Nottingham Forest ground, he plays Fifa on the Xbox and his character is a Nottingham Forest player so he loved that. 



After reaching the football grounds we left the side of the river and headed into the city along the canal. It was less busy but just as quiet until we got closer to the city centre. 

By the time we reached the city centre we were all quite tired and decided we didn't really fancy walking back to the car straight away. We wanted to eat (it was lunchtime) and enjoy a long sit down before heading back.

We decided to try out a restaurant that has been on our list for a while but we haven't tried yet. Prezzo. I knew it was an Italian restaurant, and being a big fan of pasta and pizza (who isn't?!) was looking forward to trying it out. 

Yay! Lunch time!


Prezzo have a great way to enjoy a family meal and it's called La Famiglia, a sharing dish to be enjoyed as a family. There's a choice of Penne Arrabiata, Spaghetti Bolognese, Spaghetti Carbonara or Penne All Rusticana. In order to judge whether or not we liked it we decided to try out a dish we're familiar with; Spaghetti Bolognese.

Ordering was simple, we told the waitress which dish we wanted, added garlic bread and some soft drinks and we were done. There was no agonising over choice or wondering whether we'd made the right choice. It was so easy.

The drinks were brought to the table and we all enjoyed being sat down and having a nice cool Diet Coca-Cola while we waited for our meal. We spent a little time talking about the walk and what we'd seen. 

Me, looking a little red after our long walk.





Drinks! Much needed.


When the dish was brought to the table I couldn't help but laugh at the size of it, it was huge. Obviously it needed to be to feed the four of us but not having seen something like this before I found it amusing. The Hubby was given the serving tools and he looked at them like they were foreign instruments. "What am I meant to do with these?!" he said, laughing. 



We decided that mixing up the dish and then dishing it out was the best way ahead. The Hubby used the tongues to serve the Spaghetti Bolognese and found it a little difficult. I had to laugh at him attempting to not spill anything. He was particular about making sure everyone got enough to eat, being the 'Fair Sharer' of the family. That's where the Hubby and I are a little different, he serves and makes sure everyone has the same, he's meticulous about it. I, on the other hand, am more of an 'Over Sharer'. I make sure everyone else has enough before putting out my own meal. I tell you what though, it was great seeing the Hubby serving. 

Do we mix it, do we try to serve it as it is? Who knows?!



Watching the Hubby serving out the Spaghetti Bolognese added to the family experience of the meal. We all laughed and the boys couldn't wait to get stuck in. 





It wasn't long before there was nothing left on our plates, the pasta disappeared quickly. The bolognese was tasty and the spaghetti was good. I'd be inclined to try another pasta dish if we were to try La Famiglia again. The garlic bread we had with the Spaghetti Bolognese was amazing, the best we've had in a while. All the boys, including the Hubby, said they'd like to try a pizza after enjoying the garlic bread.




After enjoying the Spaghetti Bolognese we chose to have ice-cream for dessert. Ice cream can be pretty average in places but the ice-cream at Prezzo was lovely. In order to try out all the flavours the kids chose chocolate (of course!), I had strawberry, and the Hubby had vanilla. 

Before the kids dug in to their ice-cream I had to try the chocolate... you know, for investigative purposes, obviously. The chocolate ice-cream is very chocolatey, it has chunks of chocolate in it and is rich. I'm not sure I could've finished the entire dish. 




Seeing as the Hubby and I chose different ice-creams and we both had two scoops we decided to swap a scoop so we could both try both flavours. 




The vanilla was lovely, it was good quality ice-cream with a soft vanilla flavour. The strawberry was my favourite with pieces of strawberry in it. Its flavour wasn't too tangy as is often the case with strawberry ice-cream, it was more creamy and coupled with the vanilla ice-cream it was just perfect. Highly recommended. 


Both ice-cream flavours together was excellent. I highly recommend swapping with your partner! 😉


We really enjoyed our family meal at Prezzo, while it was a little daunting in the beginning the whole experience of a sharing bowl was fun and entertaining. I'm sure we'd be better at serving next time as we have more experience now.

The cost of the meal, including 2 garlic bread, 1 Spaghetti Bolognese Famiglia, 4 Diet Cokes, and 4 ice-creams, was £53.81. I think that's a fairly good price for a great family experience. 





After a good dinner one can forgive anybody, even one's own relations.

Oscar Wilde, A Woman of No Importance





What I noticed most about Prezzo was that they were family friendly. A small boy on a different table enjoyed his meal with his father and had no qualms calling out to the waitress to ask her for more drinks. The staff are friendly and happy to help with choices should you need it. 

The boys can't wait to come back to Prezzo, one to try out a different sharing dish and to try out a pizza. That garlic bread has them thinking the pizzas and calzones are going to be amazing!



After filling our bellies and relaxing in Prezzo for a while we were ready to walk back to the car. By the time we got to the car we were all ready for a nap I think, but we headed home having had a brilliant family day.

Sometimes it's the simplest things that can be the most enjoyable, don't you think?

This post is an entry for the BritMums #PrezzoLaFamiglia Challenge, sponsored by Prezzo.

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