Tag: hydration

How to drink water like a Roman

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In restaurants, frizzante or gassate.  (If you want to skip the bubbles, order acqua naturale.)

On the streets, from fountains.  No joke.  Unless otherwise labeled, the fountains here all contain potable water.  Same water that runs into your taps at home.  James still talks about the time he saw a little old lady set down her market bags and walk straight into the fountain in front of the Spanish steps to take a few sips of water.  It’s a thing.  Drink up.

If you don’t have a fountain close by (the horror), look for a nasone.  The nasoni are the drinking fountains of Rome.  (Read a little more here if you want back story.)

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The water here is safe and delicious.  We use a Brita at home to try to remove some of the calcium, but the water certainly won’t damage you on a visit.  The kiddos get supplemented with fluorated water, as well as fluoride drops.

Water flows out of the nasoni in perfect fashion to fill up your trusty water bottle.  If you want to use it like a water fountain, no need to crawl underneath.  See that hole on the top of the faucet?  If you cover up the end, the water will shoot out the hole.  #instantRomanstreetcred

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Sometimes water flows out of a nasone all the time.

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Sometimes the nasone doesn’t have enough pressure and nothing comes out.  Womp womp.

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Sometimes the nasone has a knob so YOU can control your own water destiny.

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I can’t say whether nasoni are all over Italy, but I have seen them outside of Rome.  The nasone above was spotted at our trip to Hadrian’s Villa.  The one below–also the fanciest nasone I’ve encountered–we found in Tuscany outside San Gimignano.

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EEEEEEeeagle

So before you come over, particularly if it is a hot weather trip–aka March – November, do yourself a favor and download a nasoni finder app or iMap.  That cold, refreshing water will be the perfect addition to your water bottle.

And if you are feeling really crazy, slurp up some H2O at your nearest fancy fountain.  The other tourists may think you are nuts, but Romans will give you a knowing nod.  (OK, that would be very un-Roman, but they are TOTALLY thinking how cool you are.  Don’t be surprised when they come up to ask for directions because they think you are one of them.)

Just try not to fall in.

Do SAHMs have higher rates of skin cancer?

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And we’re back!  We got back from five nights in Munich last week.  There were definitely some lows (like Henry causing 50 euro of damage at the hotel breakfast), but plenty of fun moments and the Christmas markets were amazing.  You guys will be hearing plenty over the next few weeks, I’m sure.

After a week of meat, sugar, and beer, I’m looking forward to getting back to cooking real food.  This is a bit of an exaggeration, but I almost feel like I haven’t cooked since Thanksgiving.  The holidays are here which makes it tough, but it is time.

I’ve been thinking about this article: How I Gained and Lost 60 Pounds as an Entrepreneur — and So Can You!  Even though I’m not an entrepreneur or working outside the home right now, many points here really resonated.  I try very hard not to, but it is easy to put yourself last.

Overall, I’d say my new lifestyle is less healthy than my old in several ways.  I drink less water.  When sitting at a desk, I had my Nalgene bottle right in front of me and I drank water all day long.  I am excellent at drinking things put right in front of me.  This is a great skill for staying hydrated, a less great one for trying not to get sloppy at a party.  Now because we are on the move, I don’t have water in front of me.  I feel like I take two sips and then we are off to something else and cups just end up all over the house.  It is not ideal.

There is less incidental movement.  Before, I did a good bit of walking on my commute.  I would often walk to lunch.  Even walking around a large office building built in some exercise.  I thought here, we’d be constantly on the go and would really rack up those steps, but it is surprisingly easy not to move far at all.  The grocery store is only a few blocks away.  I have playgrounds steps from the front door.  I want to walk more, but the sidewalks here can really be a pain for the stroller.  And the toddler doesn’t really want to sit in the stroller anyway.

One of the best bonuses about working at home is making your lunch.  It is easy to throw together a real salad or even just grab leftovers without having to lug them to work in a giant Tupperware.  But even though I’m at home, I haven’t been taking advantage.  Lunch is usually a scramble.  An afterthought.  Not good.

I’ve been noticing more freckles.  Freckles I haven’t seen this bright since I was a kid.  Small wonder, I’m spending much more time outside now.  Usually just standing at a playground with the baby strapped to me, but it adds up.  My mom has had precancerous things removed from her skin.  Why am I not doing better?

Looking over this list objectively, I admit that there seem to be easy solutions to many of these issues.  A little more effort.  A little more planning.  But it is easy to get really caught up in the day-to-day kid spiral survival mode and the last thing I want to do is walk across the city or even walk to my kitchen to get a glass of water.  And even typing that sentence, I know it doesn’t make sense, but that is honestly the way it feels sometimes.  I’m tired.  And even though I know that making an effort on some of these things would make me less tired, it is hard to do.

As the Entrepreneur article says, the answer is inevitably to “Plan the work, work the plan.“  I get it.  I need to do this.  I’m working on it.

In the meantime, at the suggestion of my cosmetologist friend here, I have switched to wearing real sunscreen on my face.  SPF 55.  Formulated for babies actually so I think it stinks less.  (I hate smelling like I’m going to the beach all day.)  My Oil of Olay with SPF 15 advertised continuous moisture all day long, but if you read the fine print, stated that you needed to reapply every two hours for sun protection.  Ain’t nobody got time for that!

Anyone have any tips or tricks?  I know, I know, there are no easy solutions.  Grr.