After opening presents and cleaning up the most fun game ever shredded wrapping paper, we decided to walk around town and enjoy the nice quiet streets and Christmas lights of Vicenza. Nothing is open on Christmas, and it was rainy, so it was a bit of a ghost town. However, that made the walk just that much more pleasant.
This is what our afternoon and evening looked like:
Last year, Chelsea and Amanda came to spend Christmas with me, since the Hubs was deployed and I couldn't travel home. There was a huge, town wide exhibit of Nativity scenes that year, and one scene in particular really made us laugh. It is back again this year, although this picture doesn't do it justice. Baby Jesus is a blonde, bowl cut, baby doll. Then you have the Phantom of the Opera over on the right side, and a faceless angel up top. A little bizarre, and very entertaining to us.
The pup has recently learned how to jump through a hoop (I'm going to sell her to the circus!) and we've been seeing what other ways we could use her agility skills. So far it's just by making her jump on random things around town. Now if I could only teach her how to balance a ball on her nose...
Ok, funny story. (To me at least) I prepared some baked goods for the Italian family that owns the store below us. I made peppermint brownies, and peanut butter cookies, but that's beside the point.
Anyway, the mother doesn't speak any english, so when I handed her the box she was very happy and just kept saying "Auguri! Auguri! Auguri!" I thought I recognized the word, but I didn't remember what it was, so when I left, I plugged what I thought I had heard into my translator. What I plugged in was "anguria".
You guys, "anguria" means watermelon. It didn't occur to me that I could be wrong. Instead, I turned to John Ralph and said "I don't know why she kept telling me watermelon. Maybe she was saying my package looked like a watermelon? It was red, white, and green."
Then, later on in the day I saw this sign. Auguri! And it dawned on me. That is what she was saying! ...but I still needed to translate it. And that's when I realized she was telling me "Blessings!" She, in fact, was not telling me that my present looked like a watermelon, but instead, she was sending me blessings for my gift. Oh, the joy of language barriers.
This is our favorite bar. It's under the basilica and always decorated so nice. I loved their huge tree.
This is our main square and the city Christmas tree. I'm not going to lie. The Christmas lights this year were a little disappointing, but I think it was because last year they were amazing. We joked about budget cuts (which probably isn't a joke, but rather a reality). Although the red lights were a little odd, they definitely made their mark in my memory and I'll always remember our last Christmas in Italy reminding me of China town.
Furry girl on Christmas afternoon. All she wanted to do was splash in the rain puddles.
This is the alleyway beside our apartment. If you go to the end of this street and take a right, our apartment is right there. It was nice to have the Christmas lights around on our evening walks.
We had two friends over on Christmas evening for dinner. We made a rib roast, green beans, and mashed potatoes. Deeelicious!
I always think of the Grinch on Christmas and call the meat the "roast beast". Our roast beast was great, and I'm thankful I have a husband who knows how to cook meat. It's definitely not my favorite thing to prepare.
Mashed potatoes all whipped up and ready to eat!
And a big plate of green beans to have some "healthy" vegetables.
We are definitely blessed with good company and "family" here in Italy. This Christmas was one to remember. Although the tree is nearly bare (those needles didn't stand a chance), and the decorations are coming down, I'm thankful for the memories we made this year. I hope you found yourself surrounded by people you care about. Now to start thinking about those resolutions!
Auguri, Auguri! <3
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