Carnevale and finally..Spring!

Italy is obsessed with holidays.  It seems like everything centers around one holiday or another – each with its own treats, decorations and traditions.  So after Christmas..comes Carnevale.  Carnevale here is pretty much Halloween at home – except with lots of confetti and parades..and sadly, no awesome candy. Okay, so I guess just the kids dressing up in fun costumes is the same.  My friend Christina and I went to Parma for the weekend before Carnevale, mostly just to see the town and were happily surprised by an awesome parade.  It was a really nice town with beautiful buildings and a beautiful Duomo.  The parade was the best, though, with lots of Smurfs, turtles, princesses, pirates, greasers, animals, etc. and even paintings brought to life very creatively.  We had a great time and I was cleaning confetti off of me even after we returned home.  Oh..and I tried a horse burger and it was actually pretty good..

		Parma & Carnevale VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

I have been busy with school – mostly lots of private students and a few classes.  I had this week free from classes and it was so nice to have a normal schedule and a little free time.  I am tired of 50 hour weeks and working 9 hour days..packed with students all coming back to back.  On Wednesdays I go from intermediate business, GMAT, beginner, SAT math, biology, TOEFL prep and then intermediate English.  It can get tiring and be stressful.  But it’s nice to have work for sure.  And there are only 12 more weeks left (not that I’m counting).  I do love most of my students though; they can be so entertaining and amusing. 

It is finally Spring!!  I have been waiting forever to finally stop wearing boots, coat, tights and a scarf every day.  Finally, the day arrived and I walked to school without tights (although my legs are a scary white), a scarf, and no more brown coat!  It has been a beautiful week.  I know I better enjoy it because it is going to get hot, humid and mosquito-infested soon.  But for now, it is great.  So now it’s everything Easter here – with the huge chocolate eggs, the Colombo cakes, chocolate bunnies and Spring flowers.  This year my goal is to dye some eggs and have an easter egg hunt…and find somewhere to go for the weekend.  And it’s not too early to start planning a great summer vacation, right?

VACATION! Budapest, Vienna, Prague

At the beginning of February, I finally got out of Florence for a real vacation!  It was a very welcome break from being very busy at work.  I flew into Budapest and met Tamarin there.  It was great to see her. We spent two days in Budapest, took the train to Vienna for 2 days there, and then took the train to Prague for another 2 days.  We saw a lot of beautiful and historical things and learned some important history – such as who Sisi is, Maria was a popular name, Budapest was part of the USSR, and a little about all the kings and their constantly changing empires.  The weather was a little cold but we got used to putting on the thermals, the coat, the gloves, scarf and hat every morning and it was worth it to see it in the winter with less people and great ambiance.

		Budapest VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Budapest was by far my favorite city.  It was absolutely enchanting – and a little Disneylike, especially with all the lights at night. We visited the market, the castle, the Parliament, the House of Terror, the Old Bridge, took a Danube cruise, and walked most of the town. It snowed the first day, but that just added to the beauty.  The second day we spend a magnificent afternoon at the Szechenyi thermal baths – with indoor/outdoor baths of various temperature, water jets and sauna. It was heavenly!  
Vienna was our next stop.  It was a town with some pretty architecture and lots of history.  We saw the Schombrunn and Hofburg palaces, learned that Sisi is to Austria what Sound of Music is to Americans, watched the disciples come out of the clock, and saw a concert at the Orangery where Mozart performed. 

		Prague VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Prague was also beautiful – if I hadn’t been to Budapest first I would have been very impressed.  The river with the castle situated on the hill and the wide streets with beautiful buildings and churches and the famous Charles Bridge were great.  We saw an unusual Black light show and ate the best food.  All in all, it was a fantastic vacation!

A New Year! Welcome 2011!

Christmas VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Buon Anno!  It’s amazing that another year has somehow passed in an amazingly short amount of time (I’m sure it was much less than 365 days).  I am looking forward to a new year and to a new opportunity to accomplish good things, learn and experience new things, and enjoy the many things that will come to pass.  (Picture note: not Laura’s house but hers is just as cute, it was Laura’s b-day the 26th, and look how amazing our Christmas table and dinner was).
I had a great Christmas and New Year’s.  For Christmas I visited Laura and her family in Sweden.  They were super nice, as always, and I enjoyed playing with her kids, eating lots of good food, seeing snow every day, learning about and appreciating Swedish traditions, and being with such a great friend that I have known forever.  Thanks a lot Laura – it meant a lot to me to be with good friends at Christmastime and to be so welcome.  I missed my family and missed being able to see them and to be with them but this was a very good second.   

The Koch’s VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

I went into Stockholm one day and braved the cold and snow to visit the Skansen – a park/zoo that has old buildings and is modelled after an old Swedish 1800s town.  It was beautiful and there were lots of Christmas displays.  Some Swedish Christmas traditions – gingerbread cookies (mmmm), pigs, mandarins, stars, candle-lights in every window, gnomes.  Even though it was only light for about 6 hours during the day – with all the Christmas house and window lights and street lights, it almost seemed brighter and night with the glow and reflection off of the snow.  I don’t know – maybe I could live in the snow (it is beautiful and even better when you rarely have to leave the house). 

I flew back to Florence on New Year’s Eve and welcomed in the New Year with friends here.  There were lots of fireworks and firecrackers and a huge mass of people converged at the station to watch and hear the band.  My friend lives right next to the station so we got to watch it all from her balcony and stay safe from all the crazy firework maniacs.  We ate lots of good food, dances and had a good time.
So welcome 2011!  It should be a good year with good friends, travel, teaching, and lots of new things to learn and experience. 

LET IT SNOW!!

Che bella la neve!!  It snowed here in Florence last Friday!  And not just a little bit – it snowed for about 6 hours starting at 1PM.  Even though the paper the day before forecast snow, everyone here obviously didn’t believe the weathermen (they usually are wrong).  But this time they were right – snow and lots of it!!  It was beautiful! I dressed for the weather with my thermals and brought along my camera just in case – and sure enough, it was a sight to see.  It started snowing just as I left school to walk to the bus stop and wait for the bus to the business school on the outskirts of town.  After waiting a while and watching only one bus pass at about 5 mph, I called the secretary and she said they were going to cancel school or we would never be able to get back to the center after class and the students needed to get home as soon as possible.  So I took a stroll around the center and enjoyed the beautiful snow, watching people walking their scooters home or waiting hopefully for a bus that wasn’t going to come, and watching the snowball fights that ensued.  I moved up my last lesson so I finished at 5 – still snowing – and walked home.  Since I usually walk to and from school it was nothing special but it was a little slower going with all the snow coming down pretty hard, plus the occasional stops to enjoy how beautiful Florence is when covered with snow.  The main streets were a mess as everyone was trying to get home somehow, cars were sliding, buses just pulled over and stopped on the side of the road, and lots of people walking.  It’s incredible how a little snow can immobilize an entire city and all of Tuscany!

		SNOW!! VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

      Today is Sunday and there is still snow on the ground.  It snowed about a foot – which seems like a little – but you would think a blizzard hit because everyone is kind of hunkered down and it’s still difficult to get anywhere.  About half the buses are running now but school was cancelled yesterday and tomorrow, our Christmas concert tonight was cancelled and the other branch cancelled church entirely this morning (although we, however, had church as usual with about half the people).  It may seem strange, but it hasn’t snowed like this in at least 5 years, and it has been cold enough that everything has turned to ice (amazingly I only fell once walking home from church today).  There are NO snow plows and few people have chains to drive around – but finally something that the motorinos can’t drive through.  Those who live out in the country and hills are better off staying at home than trying to drive their cars on these roads.  It was warm enough today to melt about half the snow but it will probably just make more ice tonight, although it is supposed to rain.  It is suppsed to warm up in the next couple of days and just rain.  As long as all the airports reopen and I make it to Sweden on Friday (cross your fingers).
It has been a fun weekend – a good reason to stay at home and make 20 dozen sugar, gingerbread and chocolate chip cookies (to give away at church).  It ALMOST made me want to live in the snow – but I’m sure I’ll get my fill in Sweden and then be happy not to have to walk in it every day.  Although, I have preferred this freezing cold to the 2 months of endless rain we had before.  But now it really seems like Christmas with the snow!!  I have been missing all things familiar that make up the American Christmas but this has helped..  Merry Christmas!!