Hope you have a very merry christmas, happy holidays, buone feste, buon natale, auguri…you get the drift!  Christmas day…wow, time has really flown by.  I didn’t get the chance to visit a whole bunch of towns here in Tuscany with Christmas markets as I had imagined.  It’s a pretty big deal in Italy as open air Christmas markets spring up during the holiday season with lots of goodies in pretty much all the major piazzas at one point or another.  Oh well, there will be a next time…however, I was able to visit Florence to check out the cool new street lights and decorations that have been installed.

Florence xmas lights

Some of the shops have lovely holiday setups as well…ooo…this time of year always makes me feel warm and fuzzy.  I guess it’s cool also because Chanel is right there…hehe.

Christmas trees along the street

Another big holiday setup is the nativity scenes.  People create the scene with figurines in their homes for decoration and churches setup large installations for the public as well.  This lovely arrangement was in the Duomo in Florence…ooo…Christmas…such a wonderful time of year!

Nativity scene in Florence Duomo

Posted on December 25, 2009 at 12:16 pm | italy | No comments

So that day trip to San Marino was cancelled because it snowed last weekend in Tuscany.  Why all the shock?  Well, it hasn’t snowed in this manner since 1985 and it normally doesn’t snow ever here.  We just aren’t in the snow zone geographically.  Well, things have changed apparently!  I suppose it can be worrying regarding climate change, but it was really a delightful surprise more than anything else.

Snow Capanne 2009

My first official winter in Italy and it snows, woohoo!  My family spent the weekend playing in the snow and having lots of fun together as well as eating a lot of food.  See the snowman my family made?

Pupazzo di neve

It’s all fantastic, except for the longer-lasting effects of the sudden snowy weather.  Transportation has been severely affected here in Italy, everyone says it’s just much more snowy even in places that expect it.  So of course there are the major delays of trains, cancellation of flights, blocked freeways, utilities going out due to damage, etc.  The list goes on.  We’ve been having a lot of blackouts in our town, highly annoying when I’m working on the computer.  It’s funny though that many folks used the weather as an excuse to skip work and complain about various things.  Oh Italia…

Snowy leaf

Posted on December 24, 2009 at 1:08 am | italy | No comments

Things have been a bit rough lately and I haven’t felt much like blogging my personal thoughts.  However, it’s high time I get back into the groove and share how wonderful living in Tuscany really is…to do it all justice.  The holiday season here in Italy is one of the most pretty and fun times of year.  There are lots of open air holiday markets and the old towns are decorated with lights, each with unique designs.  It’s less a time of consumerism and more a time of family – that’s how I feel as compared to typical American shopping frenzies I’ve experienced.

It’s pretty cool to see how families come together for the holidays and there is ample vacation time for kids and adults alike.  Folks get time off for Christmas, New Years and La Befana – a female Italian folklore character celebrated on January 6th.  More often than not, these holidays are strung together and many get a long vacation just like when we were kids.  Pretty nice setup…it’s always been said the Europeans know how to take it slow.

Tomorrow I am heading out for a day trip to the Republic of San Marino – an independent state within Italy.  Supposedly lovely Christmas markets and such…however, it just started snowing so I wonder if the trip is still on!  I’ll update soon.  For now, I leave you with lovely thoughts of Christmas time cheer, roasting chestnuts and snuggling at home with family.

Posted on December 18, 2009 at 6:13 pm | italy | No comments